Gianfranco Zigoni (; born 25 November 1944 in Oderzo) is an Italian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

or as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Nicknamed ''Zigogol'' by his fans, he was a prolific goalscorer, and played with several major

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

throughout his career in the 1960s and the 1970s, including

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

and

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

. He was capable of playing both as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

and as a left winger, and was known in particular for his talent and skillful playing style, as well as his 'colourful' personality and 'rebellious' character.

Career

Zigoni started his professional career at the age of 17 with

, playing only four games in three seasons with the ''bianconeri'' (scoring one goal), and being successively loaned out to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

in 1964. With the ''rossoblu'' jersey, he spent a season in the

, with the loan being renewed for another year following Genoa's relegation to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

. In 1966 he returned to Juventus, and stayed with the ''bianconeri'' until 1970, then leaving the club also because of his strained relationship with then Juve boss

Heriberto Herrera Heriberto Herrera Udrizar (24 April 1926 – 26 July 1996) was a footballer and manager who played international football for both Paraguay and Spain as a defender. Career Herrera played for Club Nacional of Paraguay and for several Spanish t ...

. During this period, he also played his only game with the Italian team, a 1–0 win against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on 25 June 1967. He successively signed for

, spending two seasons under the guidance of Helenio Herrera and scoring 12 goals with the ''giallorossi''. In 1972, he moved to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, quickly becoming a team mainstay and a fan favourite, and playing six seasons with the ''scaligeri''. In 1978, aged 34, he signed for

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

, playing two seasons with the ''rondinelle'' mostly as a backup player. In 1980, he left professional football and returned to his native Oderzo, joining the local

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

team, Opitergina. In 1983, he joined an offer from

Terza Categoria The Terza Categoria is the lowest level of amateur football in Italy. It is the ninth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Terza Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the ...

club US Piavon, playing until the age of 43.

Personal life

Zigoni has four children. Of them,

Gianmarco Gianmarco is an Italian masculine given name. Its English equivalent is " John Mark" and it is short for "Giovanni Marco". It may refer to: * Gianmarco Bellini- Italian Air Force officer *Gianmarco Cavagnino- Italian architect *Gianmarco Pozzec ...

, an A.C. Milan player, has later become a footballer and made his debut with

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

in January 2009. He also scoring a goal in his first professional match.

Honours

;Juventus *

: 1962–63, 1966–67 *

Coppa delle Alpi Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majorit ...

: 1963 ;Roma *

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

: 1972

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zigoni, Gianfranco 1944 births Living people People from Oderzo Italian men's footballers Juventus FC players Genoa CFC players AS Roma players Hellas Verona FC players Brescia Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football forwards Italy men's international footballers Footballers from the Province of Treviso