FCBARCELONA.CAT

22.05.2007 11:07

Zambrotta among the goals

David Puig

Gianluca Zambrotta's goal against Atlético de Madrid on Sunday was his second of the season and ensured that he has now scored more goals for Barça than he did in recent seasons with Juventus.

The Italian international full-back may be considered to be one of the best defenders in Europe, but has also shown that he has talent and accuracy when going forward. Against los Colchoneros, Zambrotta netted the Blaugrana's second of the evening three minutes before the break as the visitors to Vicente Calderón continued their rout. It was a goal of superb technique in which he controlled the ball on his chest before calmly lobbing it over Pichu, in the Atleti goal, and into the far corner of the net.

Debut goal in Huelva

Zambrotta's first goal for FC Barcelona came on March 17 of this year in the Nuevo Colombino against Recreativo. Barça won 4-0 in the 27th game of the league season and the 30-year-old scored the second goal of the even with a move that, much the one last weekend, saw him lift the ball with great accuracy when left with only the goalkeeper to beat.

23 goals since 1994

Throughout his career, Zambrotta has never scored on a regular basis. His other virtues have seen him earn plaudits around the globe with speed, anticipation, strength, intelligence, tackling and marking all making him a great player. Since making his debut for his hometown club, Como, in 1994, he has scored a total of 23 goals. His best season came in 1998-99 when he netted four times for Bari. During his final four seasons at Juve, though, he only managed to ever score just once, against Ancona in 2003, a figure that he has already doubled with Barça this term.

The most important goal

One the most important goals of Zambrotta's career came in the Italy colours as he scored in the World Cup Finals last summer as he helped his country to a 3-0 win over Ukraine in the quarter finals. The current Barça full-back, who was still a Juve player at the time, fired home from outside the area and had his effort recognised as one of the best goals of the entire tournament.