Shearer & Zola: a quick reminder of why they achieved 'legend status'

The names of the superstars Alan Shearer and Gianfranco Zola will lead out at the City of Manchester Stadium next month for the 'Match of the Century' were revealed this week and, as we continue the countdown to December 2, we remind you of the glittering careers of the all-time greats who will be on show to celebrate the PFA's 100th anniversary. Starting with the captains...

ALAN SHEARER (England Legends)

During his career, with Souithampton, Blackburn and his beloved Newcastle, former England skipper Alan enjoyed successes at both club and international level alike, and became one of the most prolific strikers of all time.

In total he scored 422 goals for club and country, averaging 25 goals a season for each of his 17 seasons as a player. Shearer currently holds the Premier League goalscoring record with 260 goals. He announced his international retirement following England's exit from Euro 2000 but continued to play for Newcastle until 2006, when he retired completely from football.

Yet, despite rattling up goals for fun at all levels throughout a career which only produced one winners' medal (the Premiership with Blackburn), Alan was initially rejected by Newcastle after they gave him a trial as a goalkeeper. As we all know it eventually cost Newcastle a small fortune to sign the player they could have had for nothing...and for longer.
Shearer made an instant impact at Southampton though, scoring three times on his debut against Arsenal at the age of 17 years and 240 days - making him the youngest player to score a hat-trick in top flight football, a record held for more than thirty years by Jimmy Greaves.

Having establshed himself as a firm favourite at the Dell, Shearer made his full England debut against France in February 1992, opening his international goal account in a 2-0 win. Shearer moved to Blackburn for £3.3m, even though Manchester United were believed to be courting him, and he was proved right as he scored goals galore, along with Chris Sutton, as Rovers won the league title in 1995.
He went on to score 30 goals in 63 appearances for England before calling it a day at international level so he could concentrate on his club football for Newcastle, for whom he broke Jackie Milburn's record of scoring over 200 goals for the Toon Army. Now a TV pundit and recipient of the OBE for his services to football.

GIANFRANCO ZOLA (Rest of the World XI)
Shearer will walk out at Eastlands on December 2, the day the PFA was formed 100 years ago, alongside another legend of the game in the shape of Gianfranco Zola; widely regarded as the most popular, and successful, foreign import the English game has known.

Franco signed his first professional contract with Sardinian team Nuorese in 1984. In 1986 he moved to Torres from Sassari and three years later he signed for Napoli in Serie A. The young and talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Italian 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'.

He later joined Parma and won the UEFA Cup before departing for Chelsea in November 1996 for £4.5m - and it certainly proved to be money well spent as he established himself as a firm favourite the the Stamford Bridge fans, who loved the Little Maestro.
He helped Chelsea win the FA Cup, League Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and the Super Cup before returning home to play out his days for Cagliari.

In his entire career, Zola played 627 games and scored 193 goals, including 59 for Chelsea. Now involved with the Italian Under 21 squad, his return of 35 caps for his country was considered a meagre one given his immense talent.
* More trips down memory lane next week as we reflect on the careers of all the stars who are looking forward to the Match of the Century.