Walter Zenga - Club Career

Club Career

Came back to Internazionale in 1982, after starting his professional career in 1978 in the lower divisions of Italian soccer (his first team was Salernitana in Serie C1, and he also played for Savona and Sambenedettese). Initially (in the 1982–1983 season) he was the substitute of Ivano Bordon, who was one of the top Italian goalkeeper of his era, as he had been Dino Zoff's reserve in the 1982 World Cup. However, Zenga played Inter's matches in the national cup, impressing enough the club that decided to don't buy another goalkeeper after Bordon's decision of playing for Sampdoria during the summer of 1983. Zenga became Inter's starter in the 1983–1984 season and at season's end he would have conceded only 23 goals, better than any other goalkeeper in that season. The next seasons would prove to be bittersweet for Zenga: although he continued to play excellently, he didn't manage to win any trophy. In Italy Inter was the main rival of the Hellas Verona F.C. who won the first (and to these days only) League title of its history in 1985, while in Europe he had to suffer two bitter and quite controversial defeats by the hands of Spanish giants Real Madrid, both times in the UEFA Cup semifinals. However, personal success was growing: he became a fan favourite due to his qualities and his love for the team, his fame was now nation wide thanks to his larger than life personality and he quickly established himself as one of the premier goalkeeper of the country. Proof was the inclusion of his name in the 22 players-list made by Italy's manager Enzo Bearzot for the 1986 World Cup. Initially the third goalkeeper behind Fiorentina's Giovanni Galli and Roma's Franco Tancredi, his name was taken in consideration by Bearzot before the match against the Michel Platini-led France due to the poor performances of Galli (who, in the end, played also against France).

Apart from enjoying the selection for a World Cup, the summer of 1986 proved to be important for Zenga also at club level. In fact, Inter signed Giovanni Trapattoni, who left Juventus F.C. after a highly successful 10-years stint, to manage the team. Meanwhile, the trio formed by Zenga, Giuseppe Bergomi and Riccardo Ferri (goalkeeper-right full back-stopper) was becoming the cornerstone of the team and of the Italian team also. In the 1986–1987 season Inter closely fought Napoli for the League title, finishing third also due to a series of injuries which plagued the team in the final weeks of the season (among the others, Marco Tardelli, Alessandro Altobelli and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had to watch the final matches from the bench). However, Zenga imposed himself as the best goalkeeper in Italy, finishing the 30 matches-long season conceding only 17 goals and by being picked by new Italy's manager Azeglio Vicini as the starter in the goalkeeping position.

The next season would prove to be disappointing for Inter and Zenga: the team struggled all the season, due to lack of compatibility between the two main forwards (team's captain Altobelli and the newly acquired Aldo Serena) and between the two offensive midfielders Gianfranco Matteoli and the Belgian Vincenzo Scifo. Plus Zenga, dissatisfied with the way the club was managed, decided to leave Inter and join the then dominant Napoli, in which were playing footballers like Diego Armando Maradona and Ciro Ferrara. However, the move didn't had a positive end and Zenga remained with Inter. The highlight of the season for Zenga was the participation in EURO 88, where he played all 4 matches played by Italy (a draw against Germany, two victories against Spain and Denmark in the group stage and the final loss against the USSR in semifinal). Here again Zenga was at the centre of controversy: in the first match against Germany he conceded a free kick inside the penalty area due to having made too many steps with the football in his hands (an infingment rarely sanctionated).

However the next season would prove to be one of the best for Inter and Zenga. The team, reinvigorated by the acquisitions of the young Italians Alessandro Bianchi and Nicola Berti, the Germans Andreas Brehme and Lothar Matthäus from Bayern Munich and the Argentinian Ramon Diaz dominated the season, winning the league title with a record haul of 58 points and breaking several other records during the year. Such a performance is even more impressive if the whole quality of the tournament is taken in consideration: in second position there was the Diego Maradona-led Napoli and in third position the future European champion Milan. Zenga ended the season allowing only 19 goals, the best goalkeeper again in that respect.

The 1989-1990 and 1990-1991 seasons proved to be bittersweet for Inter: although the team remained a title contender, it didn't manage to take another success on home soil, except for the victory in the Italian Supercup played in November 1989 against Sampdoria. The 1991 season turned up to be a close fight between Inter and Sampdoria, with the title decided in a match played in Milan: tired by the long European campaign and experiencing bad luck in the match, Inter was not able to win, losing 0–2 and letting the team of Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini winning the league title. However, Inter won the Uefa Cup that year, defeating, among the others, Aston Villa, Atalanta and Sporting Lisbon on the road to the final against A.S. Roma. Inter won the first match 2–0 and lost only 1–0 in Rome, achieving the first European success since the Sixties. After that match, manager Giovanni Trapattoni left the team, as he decided to go back to Juventus.

On a personal scale, Zenga experienced in these seasons the peack of his career. For three consecutive years (1989-1991) he was nominated by IFFHS the best goalkeeper in the world, in front of goalkeepers like Micheal Preud'homme, Rinat Dasaev and Andoni Zubizarreta.

Zenga continued to play for Inter until 1994, winning the UEFA Cup in 1991 and 1994, his last season with the club. After being one of the backup goalkeepers (third choice) at the 1986 World Cup, Zenga became the starter when during the Euro 1988. Zenga was still first choice goalkeeper when Italy hosted the tournament in 1990, and led the team to a third-place finish during which he set a record of five consecutive clean sheets, and a total of 518 minutes without conceding a goal, a record still standing. The record was somewhat fortunate, as Czechoslovakia scored against Italy in a first round match, only for the referee to incorrectly disallow it for offside. He finished his international career with 58 caps for his country.

In 1994, Zenga transferred to Sampdoria, and then to Padova two years later. He then moved on to New England Revolution and Major League Soccer. Zenga played in goal for them in the league's second season in 1997, then left to pursue an acting career (he and his girlfriend starred in an Italian soap opera). During a game versus the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1997, he celebrated a goal by running to the sidelines and making out with his girlfriend, as the Mutiny barely missed the open net straight from the kickoff. Zenga came back to the Revs in 1999, as a player-manager, but only lasted a year in both those positions.

During his playing career, Zenga was nicknamed Uomo Ragno (Spider-Man) due to his goalkeeping skills, especially his agility.