Javier Zanetti

Javier Adelmar Zanetti was born in Buenos Aires, on August 10, 1973.

Source Wikipedia

His first youth club was Independiente (1982-89). Independiente, los Diablo Rojos, were the club he supported as a child. He was then rejected as he was considered not physically strong enough for professional football.

Zanetti took a year off and concentrated on work and studies. He helped his father as a bricklayer and this helped him build up muscle. In 1990 he then joined the Talleres youth setup. Talleres are from Remedios de Escalada, in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.

In the 1992-93 season he joined the Talleres first team squad. The Tallerenes were in the 2nd tier and Zanetti played 33 league games with 1 goal.

In 1993 he stayed near Buenos Aires and joined Banfield who were in the top flight. He was with El Taladro (Drill) for two seasons and made 66 total appearances with 4 goals. It was here he started playing in the number 4 shirt. His positive performances earned him a move to a top European league.

In 1995 he signed for Inter in the Italian Serie A. He would stay an incredible nineteen seasons as a player. He played a phenomenal 858 matches with 21 goals. He rarely missed a game. The Nerazzurri finished 7th, 3rd, 2nd, 8th, 4th, 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 6th, 9th and 5th. He therefore won 5 consecutive league titles and also won a Champions League (2010), the Coppa Italia 4 times (2005, 2006, 2010, 2011), the Italian Supercoppa 4 times (2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010), a UEFA Cup (1998, with a goal in the final vs Lazio 3-0) and a World Cup for Clubs (2010).

The 2009-10 was the magical season when Inter won the "Triplete" (Scudetto, Coppa Italia and Champions League) under José Mourinho. His other managers include; Roy Hodgson, Gigi Simoni (UEFA Cup), Mircea Lucescu, Marcello Lippi, Marco Tardelli, Héctor Cúper, Roberto Mancini (Scudetto 3, Coppa Italia 2 and Supercoppa 1), José Mourinho (Scudetto 2, Champions League 1, Coppa Italia 1 and Supercoppa 1), Rafa Benitez, Leonardo (Coppa Italia 1, Supercoppa 1 and Club World Cup 1), Gian Piero Gasperini, Claudio Ranieri, Andrea Stramaccioni and Walter Mazzarri.

At almost 41 he retired after a great club career.

He also won 145 Argentina caps and scored 5 goals (Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, England, Japan and Uruguay). He is the 3rd most capped player after Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano. He was captain of the Albiceleste 25 times. He took part in two World Cups (1998 and 2002) and 5 Copa Americas. He was unlucky as far as trophies were concerned; 2 Copa America runners-up medals (2004, 2007) and 2 Confederations Cup runners-up medals (1995, 2005).

Zanetti was a superb defender cum midfielder. He could play as right full-back or basically anywhere in midfield. At 1.78 and 75 kilos he was physically strong and known for his athleticism and resistance. These characteristics earned him the nickname "El Tractor" and he was also called "Pupi". His speed, strength and stamina made him a formidable player especially on the right wing where he was unstoppable. He was a clean and fair player, respected by teammates, opponents and even opposing fans.

At Inter he is an absolute legend, up there with Giacinto Facchetti and Sandro Mazzola. In his honour the number 4 shirt will never be worn by another Inter player. He won 16 trophies, 15 as captain. He holds several records; most total matches (858), most Serie A matches (618), most European matches (160), most consecutive matches (167), most derbies (45), most years as captain (13), most trophies (16) and more.

Since retiring he has been involved in charity work, has opened a restaurant in Milan with former teammate Esteban Cambiasso, had three autobiographies published, been in a film and involved in his documentary film, Zanetti Story.

He has also remained at Inter as in 2014 he was nominated vice-president. He has swapped his number 4 Inter shirt for an Inter blazer but will always be El Tractor for the Beneamata fans.

 Sources

Wikipedia