Gianfranco Zola is considered one of the best foreign imports ever. (©GettyImages)
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My three legendary Z-ealots are Gianfranco Zola, Christian Ziege and Theo Zagorakis.
Gianfranco Zola
Born on July 5, 1966 in Oliena, Sardinia, Gianfranco Zola is considered one of the best foreign imports ever. Chelsea fans certainly loved him as they voted 'Franco' the club's greatest player! Plucked at the age of 23 from the obscurity of Torres in Italy's Serie B to act as Diego Maradona's understudy at Napoli, he became known in Italy for his free-kicks. Indeed, he held the record for free-kick goals in Serie A until his record was broken by Sinisa Milhailjovic in 1999-2000. Zola went on to play for Parma and made 35 appearances for Italy.
He scored the goal that gave Italy victory over England at Wembley in the World Cup qualifier in February 1997, but won his final cap in the tense 0-0 draw against Glenn Hoddle's team in Rome later that year - a result that consigned Italy to a play-off for a place in France 1998 and Zola's international career to the past.
When he arrived at Chelsea in November 1997, he was an instant hit - turning in a series of devastating displays that won him the Player of the Year award for the 1996-97 season. As a striker, he was quick off the mark, due to his alertness and remarkable fitness, aided by his healthy life-style. He played all over the opponents' half and was always looking for the best position to either receive the ball, whether deep or wide and to go and play in 'danger' areas.
He made controlling the ball and passing look a lot easier than it was, while his touch, balance and quick feet enabled him to quickly find space to make things happen. He was also brilliant at keeping the ball, working his way out of tight situations before slipping 'killer' passes, particularly short, first-time ones. Strike partner Mark Hughes recalled: "He sent in these inch-perfect passes which were so accurate that you didn't have to break stride."
Always a great favourite with the Stamford Bridge fans, when Franco scored the winner in the European Cup Winner's Cup Final in1997/98 he cemented his place in Chelsea history. In the 2001/02 season, however, Eidur Gudjohnsen secured Gianfranco's starting place and, although his contract at Stamford Bridge was extended, he now began taking on coaching duties. By then he had played 266 games for Chelsea, scoring 64 goals.
His last game for the Blues was against Liverpool in May 2003 and he left the club after they failed to offer him a contract in the summer due to financial problems prior to the 'Roman' invasion. Ironically, as soon as the buy-out was complete, Chelsea immediately offered him a new contract, but he had already agreed to move to Cagliari
Zola's honours with the Blues include winners' medals in the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, League Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup and European Super Cup medals in 1998 and the Charity Shield in 2000. He also picked up runners-up medals in the Charity Shield in 1997 and the FA Cup in 2002.
Christian Ziege
Christian Ziege was born in Berlin on February 1, 1972 and began life as a goalkeeper. After spells with various local clubs he was converted to an outfield player and joined Bayern Munich. He later moved to Italy with AC Milan. A left-sided player with two great feet, a mark of his quality is the way he brings out the best in his teammates. However, his career has been blighted by several serious injuries, the first of which forced him to miss Germany's 1994 World Cup campaign.
In the summer of 1999, Bryan Robson persuaded Ziege to join Middlesborough and he did so well that Liverpool tabled a £5.5million bid for him in the summer of 2000. At Anfield, he demonstrated on numerous occasions that his left foot was the equal of anyone's in Europe, and his delivery from set pieces was a potent weapon. But the free-kick specialist suffered injury and a loss of form, losing his place to Jamie Carragher during the season and missing out on the run-in to Liverpool's Cup Treble.
Though on the 'subs' bench for both the FA and UEFA Cup finals, he still scored from the spot in the Worthington Cup final penalty shoot-out, and set up Michael Owen's second goal in the 2-0 UEFA Cup win in Rome. Moving to Tottenham in 2001, he became an instant hit scoring five goals from the left wing-back position in his first two months! He joined Borussia Moenchengladbach in 2004 and has earned 72 German caps thus far.
Theo Zagorakis
The rise of Theo Zagorakis from reserve-team footballing journeyman in England to hero of Greece's Euro 2004 campaign has been one of the tournament's great stories.
Theo was born on 27th October 1971 in Kavala, Greece. Signed by Leicester City in February 1998 for £750,000 from PAOK Salonika, he was unlucky never to make an impact during his two-year spell. In fact, Zagorakis was not even certain of a first-team place, occasionally playing in FA Premier Reserve League South matches, although he did replace Robbie Savage in the last minutes of Leicester's losing1999 League Cup Final appearance.
Teammate Robbie Elliott commented: "He was always first pick in five-a-sides and was brilliant on the ball. It just took him a bit of time adjusting to the English style of play."
He ultimately moved to AEK Athens in summer 2000. He is an aggressive battler, although in tournament guides he is unfairly dismissed as Greece's 'hardworking captain and most-capped player'. However, Greece's 65th-minute winning goal against France in the Euro 2004 quarter final was brilliantly made by Theo, his deft flick over Bixente Lizarazu, followed by a pinpoint cross inviting the fulminating finish it received. He has played over 90 times for Greece.
