The Azzurri goalkeeping kit, in its own way shape and form has always remained the same yet different, and somehow intrinsically, very Italian. Grey or black for the home kit seems to be standard, black shorts and black socks seem to be a template and the kit never seems to disappoint.
From Italia 90 to USA 94, to Euro 2000 to Euro 2016, Italian goalkeepers have always looked the part, Angelo Peruzzi aside – but I wouldn’t say that to his face. Italy has for so long had a strength and depth in the goalkeeping position enviable of most, so regardless of if you’ve worn the Italian number 1, 12 or 22, I bow before you and can only dream of what it must be like to play in goal for the Azzurri.
Please see my top five Azzurri goalkeeping jerseys, all for very different reasons.
5. Italy Euro 2000 – Kappa and Francesco Toldo
‘Rashies’ anyone?
Toldo, who went on to Italy 28 times, helped his country finish runner-up at Euro 2000, keeping three clean sheets during the tournament and in the epic semi-final against host nation Holland famously saving a penalty in regular time and two in the ensuing penalty shootout.
Toldo wasn’t supposed to start Euro 2000 as the Azzurri’s number one. Gianluigi Buffon was slated to be Italy’s number one pre-tournament however Buffon broke his hand shortly before the tournament.
The simple Kappa kit consisting of black socks, black shorts and grey goalkeeper kit stands out amongst the skin-tight Azzurri home shirts. The first among many kits across all codes to go ‘skin-tight’ to prevent the opposition from grabbing your jersey.
In the past, the ‘skin-tight’ kit has been attributed to the mind of Sir Clive Woodward, during his time as the English Rugby Union national team coach or the rugby league side, Bradford Bulls in the English Super League for coming up with the innovation but we’ll stick with Kappa for now.
Toldo’s performance against Holland was, and in my opinion still is, arguably one of the most dominant individual performances in recent Azzurri memory. The number 12 jersey Toldo wore against Holland, Christian Abbiati chose to wear number one for the tournament, now takes its rightful place in the Italian footballing museum in Florence.
4. Italy World Cup 1982 – Le Coq Sportif and Dino Zoff
As a child my favourite movie was ‘G’ole!’ the official 1982 FIFA World Cup documentary with Sean Connery as narrator. My brother and I watched this video so much we not only wore out the tape but knew the documentary and Connery’s script word for word.
As a goalkeeper growing up one of the first goalkeepers I learnt about as a child, was Dino Zoff.
All I knew was he played for Juventus, he was Italy’s captain and I never got sick of seeing him lift that world cup trophy. His jersey (if you can even call it that) was simple, classic and there was something about the grey, with the blue collar that won my heart.
It seems more like a woolen school jumper than a goalkeeper’s kit designed for the world stage. As an addition I always loved the blue socks matched with the black shorts, once again, simple yet effective. As a youngster playing in goal, I would often wear my school sports uniform to training as my school jumper was grey and my sports shirt collar was blue.
In my mind, I was Dino Zoff.
3. Italy World Cup 1994 – Diadora and Gianluca Pagliuca/Luca Marchegiani
The first time I cried over football was Roberto Baggio being substituted against Norway. By the time the final had arrived I was a battle-hardened and stoic 16-year-old Azzurri fan. How could Sacchi be so cold, so logical and so decisive and in his actions? Incredibile!
However, this tournament not only featured the above substitution but also showed off the best of Diadora. The Italian kit, and goalkeeping kit, was one for the ages.
Featuring the jacquard collar with the national colours, the Italian football association logo sublimated through the fabric, the jersey’s grip-like pyramid V like formation and brush stroke design across the sleeves this goalkeeping kit, available in both short and long sleeve, was ahead of its time.
I love the fact too that this tournament featured Luca Bucci (who played one game for four different clubs across four seasons – Parma, Pro Patria, Rimini and Napoli – has any one player represented a club on one occasion so many times?) as Italy’s third choice goalkeeper and within two years was to be ousted as Parma’s first choice goalkeeper by a certain 17-year-old.
2. Italy World Cup 1990 – Diadora and Walter Zenga
I blame the 1988-89 Inter Scudetto winning side for this.
In a side jam-packed with superstars, Zenga stole the show, and then backed it up with a superb Italia 90’, despite ‘that cross’ against Argentina.
The high gloss or ‘shiny’ silver, mixed up with the regular home shirt collar, hits the target and true to form for the late 80s’ and 90s’ it looked as though shoulder and elbow padding was not lacking. As a bonus Zenga’s Uhlsport gloves with his name and the Italian flag were so far out of this world from what I’d seen in Australia at the time. Throw in Zenga’s performances for both club and country, and his gold chain flying around the place, you’ve got yourself a classic kit.
1. Italy Euro 2016 – Puma and Gianluigi Buffon
This tournament for me has sentimental value and cannot be surpassed regardless of the outcome. The Italian goalkeeper jersey worn so valiantly by the great Gianluigi Buffon was again a simple, yet beautifully designed jersey and Puma hit the mark here.
Available in red, black, and grey, all three kits were elegant and unpretentious minimal design at its best. Featuring a black, blue and high vis yellow bar down the sleeve on all three kits, accompanied by a commonly themed black shorts with black socks, this goalkeeping kit set the standard for Puma and the template was adopted by club sides across Europe.
Buffon proved to be immense in this tournament and saved Italy on several occasions.
His performance against Spain in the quarter final was the greatest individual goalkeeping performance I’ve seen in person, in particular his save to Gerard Pique deny a goal, still gives me goosebumps to this day when I see the footage. Buffon added his own personal to his kit touch wearing multi coloured goalkeeping gloves, wearing one pink and one yellow goalkeeping glove.
For me, this Italian goalkeepers kit will stand the test of time and remain a classic for years to come..
I like the 2006 gold one the most
Great article.
Indeed Italy has produced throughout the years a number of towering goalkeepers, each and everyone adding on the team’s defensive approach, especially in the 90s. Personally I have been a fan of the legendary Pagliuca who aggressively guarded the posts and helped a somewhat ‘tired looking’ Italian squad (along with the 2 Baggios) limp all the way to the World Cup 94′ final and even kept them alive up to the quarter finals of World Cup 98′. At times he was simply ferocious, a beast-for me he was the best. And the baggy green and grey gk Diadora jerseys of 94′ just went along with his craziness. Magnificent shirts!