From Foggia to Foggia, despite the age. Like it or not, the controversial Zdenek Zeman, born in 1947 in Prague, continues to be talked about even at the age of 74. Sitting on the bench of the team that launched him in the football that counts, he continues to teach "his" philosophy of football in Foggia, for what is the fourth return to the capital of Puglia, in the Serie C championship. to write a new page of the Zemanlandia saga, which in 2009 became a documentary film on the sporting achievements of Zeman's Foggia, capable of arriving in Serie A by winning the 1990-1991 cadet championship, and then conquering salvation for three seasons by touching a sensational access to Uefa Cup, vanished on the last day against Napoli.
A thousand benches
His phrases have often become footballing pearls of wisdom. The Bohemian maestro dispensed many of them in his 47 years as a coach, the vast majority spent in Italy (even on the Cagliari bench, in the 2014-2015 season which ended with relegation to Serie B, with exemption in December, to give way to Gianfranco Zola, returning to the helm of the rossoblùs in March and another farewell in April, replaced by Gianluca Festa). Mister "a thousand benches", but there are many more, he spared no one. From the players he coached and who often complained about physical sessions that were too hard. «Some players say I run too much? When I live on the waterfront, every morning I see a lot of people running around. And they are not paid by anyone ».
Or to those who pointed out the too many cigarettes he smoked: "I don't count them, otherwise I'd get nervous and smoke more." He has always tried to let his teams play to entertain the public: «In today's football», he said one day, «only the result counts. Nobody thinks about making people have fun. It no longer matters whether the audience goes to the stadium or somewhere else ». So, on the day of his umpteenth presentation in Foggia, he reiterated: "I'm here to play proactive football." And his outings against doping in football have been famous, raising gigantic controversies and very harsh reactions.
