Zola's 100th Appearance in the Serie A

When Maradona played for Napoli, Zola, who had similar characteristics to Maradona, just sat down on the bench and watched the game. He did not complain, he just lay down and studied his greatest mentor, just waiting for the day when Maradona would leave his place for him. The people pretended great things from whoever wore the number 10 gear left from Maradona, but for the supporters Zola was the ideal successor to Maradona. The people loved Zola, and he in turn gave them more reasons to love him, he was certainly their newest idol. The match that saw Napoli against Cagliari in the second round of the 1992/93 season meant many things for Gianfranco Zola. It was his 100th appearance in Serie A, Napoli were looking for a placing in the UEFA cup. If no objective was reached in the season by the team, Zola would remain forever lurking under the shadow of Maradona. Fortunately, like what Maradona used to do before him, Zola went through Cagliari's defence and single-handedly scored the decisive goal in the 88th minute, an important goal to celebrate his 100th appearance.

Formation: Galli, Ferrara, Francini (4' Tarantino), Crippa, Corradini, Nela, Policano (74' Ziliani), Pari, Careca, Zola, Fonseca. On the bench: Sansonetti, Cannavaro, Bresciani.

Facts: In the fourth minute, Francini was injured seriously after a contact with Enzo Francescoli, and was substituted by Tarantino. Policano and Ferrara were shown the yellow card for Napoli, whilst for Cagliari Herrera and a player named Napoli met the same fate. Firicano of Cagliari was sent off in the 89th minute. The attendance in the San Paolo stadium was 52,396.

Photos:
Zola shoots before Matteoli can stop him.
Fonseca (ex-Cagliari) loses a penalty.
Careca passes between Festa and Herrera.
Zola scores the winning goal.