The Tragic Tale of a World Cup Champion: Struggling to Make the Bench in Milan and Failing to Recommend Himself to Inter
At the request of a friend, let's talk about Christian Zaccardo, the unfortunate World Cup champion.
Christian Zaccardo was born on December 21, 1981, in Formigine, Italy. Although there are many football clubs in the area, they lack competitiveness, with neither the strength to stand in Serie A nor the conditions to cultivate elite youth training. Therefore, Zaccardo went to Bologna, 30 kilometers away, to start his youth training career.
This player is not very talented. At least, among the geniuses gathered in Italian football, he is not enough to see. In terms of physical quality, he lacks speed and explosive power. In terms of ball feeling, he is also not outstanding. The youth training coach of Bologna tailored it, simply arranged Zaccardo in the position of the wingback, and let him serve as a crouching wingback.
Talent is there, hoping that Zaccardo will be famous all over the world like Maldini when he is in his teens, which is impossible. After finishing his youth training career, he was first loaned to Spezia to practice in the Italian C League. Then return to Bologna and start from the substitute player. In the 2002-03 season, he determined his main position.
In the summer of 2004, Zaccardo bid farewell to Bologna and transferred to Palermo, the promoted horse, serving as the main right-back. And the main left-back at Palermo at that time was Grosso. One of them squatted in the back line, and the other actively assisted forward, working quite happily. With the help of this pair of flank combinations, Palermo performed well and ranked sixth in Serie A in the 2004-05 season.
Although it does not have the strength to compete for the championship, considering that this stage of Serie A, Juventus, Milan, and Inter Milan and other giants are in a state of gathering stars, Palermo's record is already quite good. Under this background, Palermo backbone players such as Toni, Zaccardo, Grosso, Barzagli, and Barone naturally received attention from the Italian national team and successively wore the blue army uniform.
By the time of the 2006 German World Cup, Zaccardo, Grosso, Barzagli, and Barone, these four Palermo players, were selected into the big list of the Italian national team together. There is also Toni, who played for Fiorentina at that time, and has a close connection with Palermo.
Having more club teammates is naturally a good thing. However, there are sometimes embarrassing places. Because Zambrotta is superb in strength and can go left and right, he has locked in a starting position for a wingback early. So Zaccardo and Grosso, this pair of good partners, suddenly became competitors. If Zaccardo wins, then Zambrotta will go to the left. If Grosso wins, then Zambrotta will be arranged on the right...
Whether to use Zaccardo or Grosso, Lippi was actually undecided at first and could only give them opportunities separately. However, the opportunity given by Lippi, Zaccardo could not grasp it. In the match between Italy and the United States, he scored an extremely explosive own goal, leaving Buffon with nothing but shaking his head and sighing...
It was this own goal that made Lippi make up his mind to directly establish Grosso. And Grosso's subsequent performance made everyone stare. This left-back, who was not very famous before, performed epically in the knockout stage, making great contributions to Italy's championship, and is still widely talked about today.
Because the contrast between Grosso and Zaccardo is too obvious, and Grosso's rise is closely related to Zaccardo's own goal. Coupled with Zaccardo's own goal, it is also the only goal lost in the sports war during this World Cup period of the Italian team...
These factors added up, Zaccardo naturally became the object of media and fans' teasing. As a World Cup champion, he showed himself in this image, which is really tragic. As a result, his situation in the Italian national team became increasingly embarrassing, and he failed to enter the big list of the Italian team participating in the 2008 European Cup.
In order to prove his strength again, Zaccardo transferred to Wolfsburg in the summer of 2008. The good news is that in his first season in the Bundesliga, his new club won the league championship. The bad news is that Wolfsburg's championship has little to do with Zaccardo. He only played 14 Bundesliga games in the 2008-09 season, not even a major rotation...
Zaccardo, who mixed to this point in the Bundesliga, ran away with a bucket in the summer of 2009 and returned to Serie A to become a member of Parma. Because the overall strength of the host is weak, it can only accumulate manpower on the defensive end, and Zaccardo, this kind of crouching wingback, is still useful. He played for Parma for three and a half seasons and was always the main player.
After regaining confidence in Parma, Zaccardo thought he could do it again, so in the summer window of the 2012-13 season, he transferred to Milan and fulfilled his dream of a giant.
However, Zaccardo's journey in Milan can only be described as a disaster. Although the Rossoneri were already on the decline at this stage, the World Cup champion Zaccardo had difficulty even making the bench in Milan. He played for two and a half seasons in the Rossoneri and participated in only 15 Serie A games in total...
Standing on the position of Milan, they naturally do not want to keep Zaccardo. Therefore, every transfer window period will spread rumors that Milan intends to trade Zaccardo. However, no matter how hard the Rossoneri try, they cannot find a taker and can only wait until Zaccardo's contract expires.
As for Zaccardo after leaving Milan, his life is not easy either. Even if he plays for teams like Carpi and Vicenza, he can only work short-term, breaking up after one season of cooperation. By the summer of 2017, Zaccardo was once in a state of being ignored.
I don't know what Zaccardo was thinking, but he actually recommended himself to Inter Milan under such circumstances. He publicly stated in an interview that he was willing to play for Inter...
A player who has difficulty making the bench in Milan, how could he be accepted by Inter? The result is predictable, Zaccardo's self-recommendation to Inter failed. He could only go online to look for a job, casting a wide net. He confidently stated in his resume that whichever team signs him would make a profitable deal.
A World Cup champion has fallen to this point, which is really tragic. Fortunately, his fame still has some effect, and there are clubs far away in Malta willing to accept him. Two years later, news of his retirement was reported.