Dino Zoff comments on Donnarumma’s duck and is drastic about'Italy eliminated
Legendary goalkeeper of 1982 World Champion Italy Dino Zoff in an interview with affidabile.org commented on the Azzurri’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup: “I don’t know if Italy has lost its identity, but this is the third time we’re not going to the World Cup, so it’s something more. One can happen, two also, but on the third one it means we have significant problems. It probably affects a little bit of everything, even who goes on the field.”
“First of all one has to play according to one’s strength. If one is not that strong and wants to play as if one is, one loses. One has to adapt to the historical moment we are living, without immediately aspiring to big things, but taking smaller steps.” Zoff pointed to Antonio Conte as one of the possible candidates for the Azzurri bench: “Certainly, Conte is one of the favourites, a very experienced coach, like others. I didn’t want to make rankings: we are talking about high-level profiles anyway.”
Zoff in the long interview also talked about how the role of the goalkeeper has changed in recent years and about Gianluigi Donnarumma’s mistake, who on Sunday in the Manchester City-Arsenal match made a mistake with his feet, causing the Gunners’ goal. “A goalkeeper must know how to use his hands properly. Playing with the feet is a plus, but one should not overdo it. If a goalkeeper touches more balls with his feet than a center forward, something is wrong.”
“If he then plays well with his feet but does not come out on crosses, it is still not good. It is always the exaggeration that is the problem. It is also true for VAR: it is useful on clear episodes, but if it intervenes on everything it becomes negative and slows down the game.”
On what would change about Italian soccer: “You should whistle less. Too many players get knocked down for minimal contact. I would introduce a simple rule: those who stay on the ground are taken out automatically, without the referee taking responsibility for sending them out, and they stay out 3 minutes. This would eliminate a lot of opportunistic behavior.”
