The former attacking midfielder recounts: “For Ulivieri, I was the Anatrone. I coached the Bianconeri U23s, I was wrong to leave for Serie B. I could have gone to Inter.”
Lamberto Zauli was perhaps the first Italian prototype of a big and strong number 10. The number 10 was a normal type, technical and fast. Zauli introduced physicality, and it was no coincidence that he was compared to Zidane. An untenable comparison, but the initial Z of his surname, his massive body, and his ability to defend the ball made it suggestive, almost credible.
Let’s start with his date of birth: almanacs and Wikipedia say July 19, 1971.
“But I was born on July 17. It’s a mistake made when my first identity card was issued when I was 16. The clerk wrote 19, and that’s what has been passed down.“
Born in Rome, Montesacro.
”When I was two, my father Lorenzo, an anesthesiologist, moved to the hospital in Grosseto, and that’s where I grew up. Dad played for Grosseto in Serie C, as an attacking midfielder like me. We are Roma fans. They took me to the Olimpico to watch Liedholm’s Roma, the 1983 Scudetto winners, and I dreamed of becoming Falcao or Bruno Conti.”
Many nicknames. Let’s start with the first one, Il Principe (The Prince).
“My teammates at Vicenza gave me that nickname because I didn’t get my hands dirty with practical matters. If there was a dinner to organize, I would just show up to eat.”
Zauli, the poor man’s Zidane.
“That’s not accurate. In Vicenza, they called me the Zidane of Triveneto. In Palermo, President Zamparini introduced me as the Zidane of Serie B. We’re talking about nothing. Zidane was unique.“
Anatrone?
”Renzo Ulivieri created it at Modena. I was in the Primavera, tall and thin, and every now and then I would train with the first team and the coach would shout: ‘Give the ball to Anatrone because he knows how to defend it!’. I liked having the ball, I wanted it even if I was marked, I used my body, I didn’t lose control.“
Zaulik?
”Maybe at Bologna, but I’m not sure.”
Zaulì, with the accent on the i?
“Yes, that came from a newspaper headline. It referred to Platini, French like Zidane. Exaggerations.”
Francesco Guidolin was “his” coach: he had him at Ravenna, Vicenza, Bologna, and Palermo.
“I owe him a lot. We didn’t talk much, but we understood each other. At Ravenna, I played on the wing because I could still run. At Vicenza, he moved me behind Pasquale Luiso, the center forward, in a 4-2-3-1 formation that included a young Ambrosini as midfielder. At 20, ‘Ambro’ had the maturity of a 30-year-old.”
Is it true that in your debut at San Siro, in a Milan-Vicenza match, you showed up with a nutmeg?
“Yes, I did it to André Cruz (Rossoneri defender, ed.). I thought and still think that people go to the stadium to see moments of brilliance. So I tried it.“
With Vicenza, you reached the Cup Winners’ Cup semifinal against Chelsea. And you scored the winning goal, 1-0, in the first leg at the Menti.
”On a pass from Viviani, I caught everyone off guard with an acrobatic control. However, the ball went a little to my right. I kept it alive, moved it to my left foot and slotted it into the corner with my weaker foot. In the return leg in London, we took the lead with a goal from Luiso from my assist. Then they disallowed a goal for a non-existent offside, which today would be validated by VAR. We lost 3-1. It was Vialli and Zola’s Chelsea.“
An anecdote about Guidolin?
”He showed us crazy motivational videos. He would show up in the locker room dressed in camouflage to push us to fight.”
And what about Zamparini in Palermo?
“He wanted Serie A, he made some amazing signings, but at the beginning, not everything was going well, and the press was critical. One day, he showed up in the locker room, and we all stood up as if the principal had entered the school. We expected Zamparini to thunder and lightning. Wrong. He sided with us, defended us, and we turned things around. We were promoted to Serie A. I saw a photo of the Palermo team: there were Zaccardo, Grosso, Barone, Toni, and Barzagli, world champions in 2006. Only I didn’t go to that World Cup.”
Of that Palermo team, I was the only one who didn’t go to the 2006 World Cup…
Lamberto Zauli
In 2006, Del Piero and Totti were in his position…
“And before that, there were Baggio, Zola, and Mancini. An incredible wealth of talent. In the run-up to the 2002 World Cup, I heard that Trapattoni wanted to call me up, but then in Korea, the coach took Cristiano Doni, a number 10 of my level, let’s say. Doni, however, had scored more goals that season.“
Were you ever close to a big team?
” At the end of a Vicenza-Juventus match, Lippi approached me at the entrance to the tunnel leading to the changing rooms: ‘I hear you’re going to Inter. Well done, congratulations’. Then I didn’t go to Moratti’s Inter, and I don’t even know why. I guess it was meant to be.
Zauli the coach. Lots of provincial teams and Juve, between Primavera and Under-23 in Serie C. At Juve, he developed Fagioli, Miretti, Soulé, Iling junior…
“And Nicolussi Caviglia, Dragusin, De Winter, Barbieri. Miretti sees the game ten minutes before the others. Fagioli has absolute control of the ball. As for Soulé, many Lega Pro opponents told me at the end of the game: ‘Mister, this guy is on another level.’”
Why did you leave Juve?
“Because Südtirol called me for Serie B and I accepted the offer out of ambition, even though Manna and Cherubini, my managers at Juve, who were key figures in my career, asked me to stay. I dreamed of climbing the ladder, but at Südtirol it was all over before it began, due to misunderstandings. In hindsight, I made a mistake. In fact, I was crazy. You don’t leave Juve.”
