He spent the first decade of his playing career playing in Italy, most notably with Napoli, alongside Diego Maradona and Careca, and at Parma, before moving to English side Chelsea, where he was voted the Football Writers' Player of the Year in the 1996–97 season. In 2003 he was voted Chelsea's greatest player ever.[4] He was capped 35 times for Italy from his debut in 1991, appearing at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and Euro 96.
Zola began his managerial career with West Ham United in 2008 in the Premier League, after a stint with the Italian U-21s, before being sacked in 2010. Zola most recently became manager of Watford in July 2012 until he announced his resignation on 16 December 2013.
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Born in Oliena, Zola signed his first professional contract with Sardinian team Nuorese in 1984. In 1986, he moved to the Sassari-based team Torres, where he spent three seasons. In 1989, he signed for Napoli in Serie A. The young and talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Serie A title in 1990. Maradona would prove to be a big influence on Zola's career. The two would spend hours practising free kicks together after training and Zola later said that "I learned everything from Diego. I used to spy on him every time he trained and learned how to curl a free-kick just like him."
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