Walter Zenga

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Walter Zenga
Personal information
Date of birth	April 28, 1960 (age 46)
Place of birth	Milano, Italy
Nickname	Uomo Ragno (Spiderman)
Playing position	Manager
Club information
Current club	Al Ain FC
Youth clubs
1977-1978	Inter Milan
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1978-1979 1979-1980 1980-1982 1982-1994 1994-1996 1996-1997 1997 1999	Salernitana Savona Sambenedettese Inter Milan Sampdoria Padova New England Revolution New England Revolution	3 (0) 23 (0) 67 (0) 328 (0) 41 (0) 21 (0) 22 (0) 25 (0)
National team
1985-92	Italy	58 (0)
Teams managed
1999 2000-2001 2002-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006 2007-	New England Revolution Brera FC Naţional Bucureşti FC Steaua Bucureşti Red Star Belgrade Gaziantepspor Al Ain FC
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Walter Zenga (born April 28, 1960 in Milan) is an Italian football (soccer) manager and former player, a long-time goalkeeper for the Italian national team and Inter Milan. He was also a member of the Italian squad that finished fourth at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California and the World Cup squad that finished third in the 1990 FIFA World Cup tournament held in Italy, in which Zenga started every game for the Azzurri.

Zenga came back to Inter Milan 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). Zenga became Inter's starter in his second year with the team, and continued in that position for 11 seasons, until 1994, winning the UEFA Cup in his last season with the club. After being the backup keeper at the 1986 World Cup, Zenga became the starter when Italy hosted the tournament in 1990, and led the team to a third-place finish. He ended up with 58 caps for his country. Since 1990 Zenga holds the record for most minutes without conceding a goal in the FIFA World Cup; he was not beaten for 518 minutes in total. [1]

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-coach, but only lasted a year in both those positions.

Zenga then went to Romania, first managing Naţional Bucharest and then Steaua Bucharest. In the summer of 2005, after being fired from Steaua before the end of the season, Zenga joined Red Star Belgrade, leading the Serbian team to a double (national league and national cup in Serbia & Montenegro). In the 2006 summer, Zenga was called to coach Turkish side Gaziantepspor; however, after a poor beginning (5 wins in 17 league matches), he resigned in January 2007 in order to accept an offer from United Arab Emirates club Al-Ain FC.

[edit] External links

• www.walterzenga.it
• www.zenga-muziektheathergroep.eu

	Italy squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup Third Place
1 Zenga | 2 Baresi | 3 Bergomi | 4 De Agostini | 5 Ferrara | 6 Ferri | 7 Maldini | 8 Vierchowod | 9 Ancelotti | 10 Berti | 11 De Napoli | 12 Tacconi | 13 Giannini | 14 Marocchi | 15 Baggio | 16 Carnevale | 17 Donadoni | 18 Mancini | 19 Schillaci | 20 Serena | 21 Vialli | 22 Pagliuca | Coach: Vicini

	Italy squad - 1986 FIFA World Cup
1 Galli | 2 Bergomi | 3 Cabrini | 4 Collovati | 5 Nela | 6 Scirea | 7 Tricella | 8 Vierchowod | 9 Ancelotti | 10 Bagni | 11 Baresi | 12 Tancredi | 13 De Napoli | 14 Di Gennaro | 15 Tardelli | 16 Conti | 17 Vialli | 18 Altobelli | 19 Galderisi | 20 Rossi | 21 Serena | 22 Zenga | Coach: Bearzot