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Thu 27 May 2021 | 13:30

Top Facts About Walter Zenga

Walter Zenga; the goalkeeper who served Italy in the second half of 1980s and early 1990s is one of those top Italian goalkeepers to remembered. What do we know about Walter Zenga personal life and what does he do now?

Well, when we say

Walter Zenga personal life

, we surely mean any aspect of his personal life, that is, Walter Zenga childhood, wife and children, Walter Zenga parents, Walter Zenga stats - footballing stats we mean, Walter Zenga transfer market stats and for sure, Walter Zenga net worth and salary.

We also cover Walter Zeng digital life; we mean Walter Zenga social media accounts and how many followers he has, if he has ever any social media account - that’s for sure part of the top facts about Walter Zenga.

Top Facts About Walter Zenga You Might Not Know

And by the way, how old is Walter Zenga by now? Is he retired or still working as a manager? Here come some top facts about Walter Zenga.

Walter Zenga Childhood

Before anything else let’s get to know about

Walter Zenga age

. Walter Zenga was born on April 28, 1960 in Milan, Italy, so, by now (2021), he’s 61 years old. Zenga is still working as a manager and for the Italian club,

Cagliari

, but that is what we talk about when we are to talk about Walter Zenga stats. For now, let’s get to Walter Zenga childhood.

Well, about

Walter Zenga Childhood

, we should say, unfortunately not much information is at hand except for that he started playing football as a youth when he was 9 and with the Italian club, Macallesi 1927, whom he served for two years from 1969 to 1971. Zenga then joined Inter Milan at the age of 11 where he stayed for 7 years until 1978. So, Zenga is actually a product of Inter Milan; the club he also served for the 6 staring years of his career actually until 1994. As a child, Zenga was an Inter fan too and also was taken to Inter’s home stadium, San Siro, from time to time to watch his favorite club’s games.

We said we don’t know much about Walter Zenga childhood, but there is a quote from him that shows the former top Italian goalkeeper lived a pampered life in his childhood: “I was rich, unbeatable and pampered – the handsome playboy who thought he could do what he liked, a kind of happy-go-lucky man about town,” said Zenga once about his early life.

And Zenga started his youth career just one year earlier than it was legally allowed. Here is what he told about that and also about where he played football as a child once: “We played in the courtyard all day and then in the oratory. But we wanted to get there. To do this, I forged my date of birth, saying that I was from '59 and not from '60. Because then, if you were under the age of ten, you couldn't do competitive football. Then my father made things right.”

Walter Zenga Parents and Siblings

As for

Walter Zenga parents

, we should say they we only know his father is Alfonso Zenga, but honestly, we have no information at hand about his mother. We don’t know even about her name or if she is still alive or not. And what we know about Zenga’s father is that he always helped him in his early footballing life and as mentioned by Zenga himself, he always “made things right”.

If not a full-time goalkeeper - we have actually no information on that, Zenga’s father, Alfonso, at least served the Italian club,

Napoli

, as a goalkeeper in 1945-46 season. Zenga has a brother named Alberto but again on him we have also no reliable information to provide you with since it’s not even been released.

Walter Zenga Stats

Well, part of the

top facts about Walter Zenga

is surely concerned with his footballing life. As for

Walter Zenga stats

- we mean footballing stats, we should say that the top former Italian goalkeeper served Inter Milan for the majority of his career; actually for 16 years between 1978 and 1994 and during this time he made a total of 328 appearances for them only at league level.

The remaining 5 years of Zenga’s career was actually distributed between three clubs, namely Sampdoria, Padova, and the American club, New England Revolution, in the chronological order with Padova getting only one year from Zenga’s years of service. Zenga also served the lower-tier clubs, Salernitana, Savona, and

Sambenedettese

, on loan and from 1978 to 1982 when he was at Inter. In general, Zenga’s career lasted for 21 years from 1978 to 1999 during which he made a total of 636 club appearances 530 (83%) of which were at league level.

Zenga conceded 616 goals and collected 242 clean sheets in all his club appearances which means he conceded almost one goal (exactly 0.96) in each appearance and collected almost 2 clean sheets in every 5 appearances. The top former Italian goalkeeper also served the Italian U21 and senior national teams from 1984 to 1992 during which he made 15 appearances for the former in the two years from 1984 and 1986 that he served them and 58 appearances for the latter in 5 years from 1987 to 1992.

What is quite interesting about Zenga’s career - both player and managerial - is that he has managed almost three times more teams than he has played for. He has actually served more than 15 teams from different countries including Red Star Belgrade of Serbia,

Dinamo București

of Romania, Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia, Wolverhampton Wanderers of England, and Sampdoria of Italy from 1998 till now that he’s serving another team from his home-country: Cagliari.

Concerning

Walter Zenga transfer market stats

, we should say, unfortunately, there is no information about the transfer fees for which Zenga moved from this club to that during his career. Zenga was only sometime during 1998 without a club, and the interesting fact is that he rejoined the same club he had left, namely New England Revolution, in the same year.

Walter Zenga Style of Play and Management

A strong and physical goalkeeper, Walter Zenga was also a good shot-stopper with quick movements and brave reactions who, although was not bad at saving penalties - he had actually saved penalties from Roberto Baggio and Michel Platini, was often criticized in the media for his penalty-saving records.

In fact, like many other goalkeepers, Zenga was not a flawless goalkeeper either, and despite his strong points, he had weak points, too, that although they did not ruin his overall performance, they had their negative effects and caused him not to be that adoptable to new situations. Though considered as one of the top goalkeepers of his own time, Zenga was not the type of goalkeeper who could do well when not between the posts; we mean the time he had to come out of his goal to claim the ball from the crosses, for instance.

Zenga was also not a goalkeeper to be good with his feet, and as a result, he was not a good distributor either, yet he was composed with a strong mentality who could not only lead his own team from the back but also endure stressful situations and keep up his team’s spirits. As a manager, Zenga always preferred formations with 4 defenders; whatever he actually changed in his formations was in midfield or in front line; defensive-minded you say? Might be.

Walter Zenga Personal Life

Well, that, specifically is concerned with Walter Zenga wife and children. We have already given you a bit of information about Walter Zenga parents and siblings as part of the top facts about Walter Zenga, and now is the time for

Walter Zenga children

and wife! We shouldn’t actually say Walter Zenga wife but Walter Zenga wives! The top former Italian goalkeeper has married three women to this date.

Walter Zenga’s first wife is Elvira Carfagna to whom the Italian goalkeeper got married in 1982. The couple has a son together named Jacopo who was born a few years later after their marriage and became a footballer later. He has played for a number of lower-tier Italian clubs such as Casale,

Seregno Calcio

, and Cavenago, though he also spent some time with the top Italian clubs, Inter Milan and Genoa, as a youth.

Zenga’s marriage to Elvira Carfagna did no last more than 10 years as he fell in love with the host of Forza Italia Show, Roberta Termali, and married her in 1992 after separating from Elvira who then held grudges for what Zenga did and cut her relationship with him completely, however, that also didn’t last for long; actually until the marriage of her son, Jacopo, that she decided to mend her relationship with her ex-husband. She even once told the TV personality, Barbara d'Urso, that Zenga had always been a nice dad for their son.

Walter Zenga and Roberta Termali have two sons together: Nicolo and Andrea with the latter having been once a VIP competitor in the fifth season of an Italian TV program, namely Grande Fratello - meaning big brother in Italian. The interesting fact about Zenga’s former wives, Elvira Carfagna and Roberta Termali, is that both of them are sports enthusiasts with the former being actually a triathlete and the latter being interested in horse racing and football.

They say Roberta is very attached to her children especially Andrea who seems that has never been in good terms with his father. Why? Because his parents actually divorced when he was still a child and not mentally strong enough to bear the pain of such separation. As understood from one of his quotes, Andrea actually heard from his father a couple of times when he was a teenager and then after 13 years that he hadn’t seen him, he just met him at his brother’s wedding where he didn’t exchange a single word with his father except for “Goodbye” when they were leaving the party.

Andrea’s brother, Nicolo, has, however, a better relationship with his father despite the old bitter times. They say while Andrea has cut off any relationship with his father, Nicolo is trying to maintain one. It seems he has always tried so, but because of his father’s lesser attendance to his family due to his transfers and having to stay with the club he had signed with, he could never build a real “father-son relationship” with his father as he once quoted.

Nicolo Zenga is an entrepreneur. He is actually the vice president and sales manager at a construction company named IMT SRL where he has worked since 2008. He has also been engaged to the Italian model, Marina Crialesi, since 2020. The couple actually met on Instagram and soon after they had a lunch together in Rome where they fell in a love with each other that resulted in their engagement.

Well, and here comes Walter Zenga’s latest wife: Raluca Rebedea! She is actually a TV personality from Romania who, born in 1981, is 19 years younger than his husband, Walter Zenga. They say she is very interested in fashion and is also a travel blogger who has a large base of fans on Instagram, too.

“I was 43 years old, I was coaching National Bucharest and I had to return to Romania after having made a trip home. I met a girl who was on the same plane as me because she missed her previous flight. Today that girl is my wife,” said Zenga once about how he met the Romanian girl and married her. They actually got married to each other in 2005. Four years later in 2009, their daughter and actually Zenga’s only daughter, Samira Valentina, was born, and seven years later in 2012, their son, Walter Jr.

“I was 43 years old, I was coaching National Bucharest and I had to return to Romania after having made a trip home. I met a girl who was on the same plane as me because she missed her previous flight. Today that girl is my wife,” said Zenga once about how he met the Romanian girl and married her. They actually got married to each other in 2005. Four years later in 2009, their daughter and actually Zenga’s only daughter, Samira Valentina, was born, and seven years later in 2012, their son, Walter Jr.

However, the post was deleted a few hours later - actually after provoking too much suspicion - with Zenga denying everything and saying in an Interview: “We are still together, I had published the post but after eight hours I removed it.” He also said to the Italian weekly, Oggi, that he and Raluca were still together and everything was going well with them.

Walter Zenga Net Worth and Salary

As for

Walter Zenga net worth

and salary we should say that there are different says about how much the net worth of the Italian goalkeeper is. While there are claims that Walter Zenga net worth is around $1 to $5 million, more reliable and up-to-date source believe it is something between $800K and $1.750K which actually makes more sense if we consider that Zenga is not among today’s top footballers who make millions and millions of dollars.

About

Walter Zenga salary

, there is not much information at hand except for that the former top Italian goalkeeper was paid a yearly salary of around $860K when in charge at the Italian club, Sampdoria, and that he was not paid his salary for about a six month when serving Wolverhampton Wanderers and Al-Nassr as a manager. He actually moved from the former to another club, namely the Serie B club,

Crotone

, just because of such a long delay in his payment. Unfortunately, not more is revealed about Walter Zenga salary at other clubs despite the fact that he served more than 15 clubs during his career as a manager.

Walter Zenga’s Honors and Achievements

Let’s see what other

top facts about Walter Zenga

we have in store for you! Well, this is indeed the bright part of the story: Zenag’s honors and achievements. Since the top Italian goalkeeper served Inter Milan for the majority of his career you might have guessed that he also won all his club trophies with the Nerazzurri. That’s right; Zenga won all his club trophies with Inter Milan which includes one Serie A title in 1989-99 season, one

Italian Super Cup

in 1989, and two UEFA Cups in 1991 and 1994.

Zenga has also a few individual honors to his name too. He was named World's Best Goalkeeper by IFFHS in three consecutive years from 1989 to 1991, and UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year in 1990. He was also inducted into Inter Milan Hall of Fame in 2018. And as a manager? He actually won two club trophies, namely one Serbian SuperLiga and one Serbian Cup, both in 2005-06 season with the top Serbian club,

Red Star Belgrade

.

Walter Zenga Social Media Accounts

Well, part of the top facts about Walte Zenga is surely concerned with his digital life; we mean

Walter Zenga social media accounts

, and specifically the accounts he has on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, if any. The top former Italian goalkeeper has an account on

Instagram

, but no confirmed account - we mean with that famous blue tick - on Facebook and Twitter.

Actually there are a few accounts with the name “Walter Zenga” on Facebook and Twitter but none of them actually belongs to Walter Zenga himself. And on Instagram, the top Italian goalkeeper has around 207K followers which is not bad for a footballer. He has sent 1098 posts on the social media platform to this date (May 27, 2021) and follows 345 other people including the top former Italian goalkeeper, Gianluca Pagliuca and the top former Dutch footballer, Ruud Gullit.

Fast Facts about Walter Zenga

Here are some fast

facts about Walter Zenga

you might be interested in:

  • Born on April 28, 1960, Walter Zenga is exactly 61 years and 29 days old by now (May 27, 2021)

  • Walter Zenga’s zodiac sign is Taurus.

  • Walter Zenga is 1.88m tall and weighs 84Kg.

  • Walter Zenga received 27 yellow cards and one direct red card in club matches, and only one direct red card in international matches. So, in general, he received 27 yellow cards and 2 red cards during his career.

  • Walter Zenga’s jersey number was often 1 during his career, however, he also tried jersey number 12 with Inter Milan and the Italian Olympics team and jersey number 22 with the Italian national team.

  • After his career as a player, Walter Zenga appeared in an Italian soap opera named Costanza and also as a football pundit in Italian TV both for a short period before he actually went for management.

  • Rumor has it that after Italy 1990 World Cup where the host country finished third, Zenga had a romance with the American singer, Madonna, who called him Italy’s sexiest player at the time.

  • They say Walter Zenga was in a love relationship with a showgirl named Marina Perzy in 1980s; actually the time he was still married to his first wife, Elvira Carfagna.

  • Zenga endorsed Sega sometime during his footballing time. He was actually the face of Sega Mega Drive and Sega Mega System consoles alongside another former Italian footballer, Roberto Mancini.

  • In a game against the American club, Tampa Bay Mutiny, in 1997, Zenga went off to the sidelines and kissed his then girlfriend, Hoara Borselli - a model and an actress at the time, as a goal celebration! That actually caused some stir among the populace.

  • Although having been married to three women and not feeling bad about having girlfriends every now and then, Zenga never considers himself as playboy but a family man who cares about his family. “Wherever I go the important thing is for us (him his wife and children) to have a roof over our heads so we can be together. It's family that matters,” he was quoted once.

Walter Zenga is considered as one of the first footballers who actually pioneered the fashion of moving to US clubs at the end of one’s career by moving to the American club,

New England Revolution

, just two years before the end of his career as a player.

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source: SportMob



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