On 24 September 1961, Dino Zoff made his Serie A bow with Udinese, the club of his region. Born in Mariano del Friuli on 28 February 1942, Zoff was thrown into the team aged just 19 by Luigi Bonizzoni, who chose him over first-choice keeper Franco Dinelli for the trip to Florence.
It wasn't the happiest of debuts as he found himself picking the ball out of the net five times, but he went on to play three more games under new coach Alfredo Foni in the 1961/62 season, conceding four times and always being among the best performers.
Zoff became Udinese's first-choice goalkeeper the following season, after the team had been relegated to Serie B, and made 36 appearances. At the end of the 1962/63 season, he was sold to Mantova, despite club president Dino Bruseschi being reluctant to let him leave.
Zoff quickly established himself at Mantova, before joining Napoli in 1967 and Juventus in 1972, where he grew into one of the best goalkeepers of all time.
After his Serie A debut in Florence, Dino Zoff made another 569 top-flight appearances for Udinese, Mantova, Napoli and Juventus, and earned 112 Italy caps, becoming the only Azzurri player to win both the European Championship and the World Cup.