The Golazzo Collection, part two: Serie A icons and heroes from the 1990s
If you’re of a certain age, the 1990s was an extremely formative decade for many reasons, and one of them was football. Particularly Italian football, hitting that sweetspot of quality and accessibility with Gazzetta Football Italia and all of that. It was also an era that featured some of the great players, characters and icons, so on Golazzo we of course looked at plenty of them.
Please enjoy specials on Paolo Maldini, Gigi Buffon, Roberto Baggio, Beppe Signori, Gabriel Batistuta, Tino Asprilla, Dario Hubner, Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluca Vialli. And whatever you do, don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next one…
Part one of our Golazzo Collection, on Italian football’s mavericks, is here.
Paolo Maldini – a (Milan) man apart
James Richardson, James Horncastle and Gabriele Marcotti look back on the career of the peerless Paolo Maldini – was he the greatest Italian defender of the modern era?
40 years of Buffon
Jimbo and James Horncastle are joined by Atalanta youth product (and Scotland international) Richard Hughes to look back on the career on the one and only Gigi Buffon
The divine Roberto Baggio
Perhaps the finest Italian player of all time, Roberto Baggio. It’s a story of huge triumphs and great goals, but too many what-could-have-beens as well as distrusting managers and one legendary penalty miss.
The good, the bad and the Beppe
Giuseppe Signori is the star of the show this week as, but Beppe Gol’s route to the top was less than straight forward. Discarded by Inter for being too small, he spent seven years mooching around Serie B and C before finding his feet upfront for Foggia and then Lazio. Here, we discuss his Lazio debut in 1992, his amazing penalty technique and the lifetime ban hanging over his head that threatens to overshadow his legacy.
Gabriel Batistuta: The greatest centre forward of the 1990s
James Richardson and James Horncastle salute the genius of ‘Batigol’ whose stunning goals and flowing locks lit up Argentina and Italy. A hero at Fiorentina after 168 goals and staying on after relegation, Batistuta finally won a Scudetto after moving to Roma in his 30s.
FEATURE: Gabriel Batistuta can’t forget his past
Dario Hübner: The late blooming goal machine
Jimbo is joined by Richard Hughes, James Horncastle and Gabriele Marcotti to discuss Dario Hübner, the unglamorous striker with perhaps the most remarkable story of them all. Nicknamed ‘The Bison’, hard drinking and smoking Dario didn’t even play in Serie A until his 30’s and went on to win the Capocannonieri aged 35.
Tino tales – the astonishing Asprilla
Jimbo, James Horncastle and Gab Marcotti try to wrap their heads around the enigma that is Faustino Asprilla. The Colombian achieved legendary status at Parma, with silverware and sensational goals galore in the early 90s, before a move to Newcastle where narrative dictates his introduction cost them the Premier League title. But it’s Asprilla’s antics off the field that catch the eye as much as his talent on the pitch. We celebrate the dinosaur-dressing, gun-loving condom salesman in all his glory.
The little painter – Alessandro Del Piero
Jimbo is joined by Gab Marcotti to discuss one of Serie A’s greatest ever players, Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero. Originally thought of as the back-up to Baggio, 19 seasons later, Del Piero had established himself as a Juve icon, winning everything there was to win, including the World Cup with Italy. A humble man who went on a journey and inspired devotion in Turin…
Into the Vialli (part 1)
He’s the last man to lift the European Cup for Juventus. This week Golazzo brings you the first of a two-part special on Gianluca Vialli, with Jimbo, James Horncastle and Vialli’s co-author Gab Marcotti. The most expensive player in the world when he signed for the Old Lady, Vialli made his name winning the Scudetto at Sampdoria with his “goal twin” Roberto Mancini. We look back at the golden years for one of the most iconic footballers of the 90s.
Into the Vialli (part 2)
Jimbo, James Horncastle and Gab Marcotti return with the concluding part of our special on the great Gianluca Vialli. Having tackled Sampdoria and Juventus, we look at Luca’s move to England where he played for and eventually managed Chelsea to major silverware. Like a kid with the keys to a Ferrari, to quote Fabio Capello. We also examine Vialli’s complex relationship with the Italian national team and his falling out with Arrigo Sacchi. A relationship now rekindled within Roberto Mancini’s international set-up. Plus the concept of “owling” and the 1994 World Cup final.
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