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Example of definer and absolute scorer, Zamorano is one of the great Chilean soccer players in history. His incredible jump and his spectacular and acrobatic head shots still remain in memory. It was chosen as the third best header ever, in a survey carried out by FIFA, being surpassed only by Palermo and Klose.
Nickname Bam-Bam
The Chilean liked ‘The Flintstones’ and the announcer Juan Espinoza took the opportunity to nickname him in the same way as the son of the cartoon family.
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Origin of his nickname. Zamorano was nicknamed ‘Bam-Bam’ shortly after starting his career. The Chilean liked ‘The Flintstones’ and the announcer Juan Espinoza took the opportunity to nickname him in the same way as the son of the cartoon family. The fact that his name was Ivan and rhymed with his nickname was key. From that moment on, the nickname will accompany him throughout his career. Even once retired, he is still known that way.
The ‘mistake’ of Bologna. From his earliest years, Zamorano was a portentous portent. The first seasons he played in his native country, before making the leap to Europe. In 1988, after a campaign in the Cobreadino in which almost one goal per game came, he arrived in Europe. The curiosity is that Iván signs for Bologna in exchange for 320,000 euros, but he will never play there. The Italians yielded to St. Gallen of Switzerland having fulfilled the maximum quota of non-EU. “There were four foreigners, and being the youngest I was the sacrificed one,” he commented in the Real Madrid magazine years later. One of the biggest historical mistakes of the Emilia-Romagna club, who would soon realize his mistake, although too late. The Serie A team opted for another Chilean footballer, Hugo Rubio. However, a year later (things of destiny), the ‘Pajaro’ (nickname of his compatriot), started the season with physical problems and was loaned to St. Gallen. There, together with Zamorano, both will ‘swell’ to score goals. In two years, Ivan will score 47 in 61 games. The Güerin magazine nicknamed him then as “Iván il Temmible”. Zamorano was beginning to like himself.
A request from Cantatore. In 1990 Sevilla and specifically Vicente Cantatore set their eyes on Zamorano. The Chilean coach does everything possible to hire him for the Andalusian team, which ends up paying 2.2 million euros for the striker. Years later, Iván confirmed the good relations between them: “With Vicente Cantatore, at the end of the world”. At Sevilla, Zamorano is going through a period of ups and downs due to injuries and his goalscoring numbers decline. However it ends with good figures, 23 goals in 65 games. After his second season at Sevilla, he awakens the curiosity of another coach. In this case, Benito Floro’s …
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JUAN CARLOS TIRADO (DAILY AS)
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Brand new signing of Real Madrid. “I ask the Madrid fans for support, both in good times and bad, which is when it is most needed. And, above all, that they have faith and confidence that this team is going to give it their best to give back all the achievements and satisfactions they have experienced in previous years, “said Zamorano shortly after arriving at Real Madrid in the club’s magazine. Sevilla and the white club agreed to the transfer for just over 5.5 million euros (record of the time). Real Madrid was urgently looking for the substitute for Hugo Sánchez. “I am not going to Real Madrid as a substitute for anyone. I am Iván Zamorano,” said the forward after his signing. The Chilean arrived at a team that needed to recover its best version and whose objective was to win a league again after several seasons of hegemony at Barça. Real Madrid will be the team in which Zamorano exploits all its qualities for goal, scoring 101 goals in four seasons, which place him as one of the greatest in the history of the meringues.
Matches to remember at the White House. Zamorano was lethal at Real Madrid, with many games to remember. However, on the retina of white fans there are two marked with gold letters and both in the 1994-95 season. Real Madrid had several years of drought in the League and the obligation to rise champion was put between eyebrows to the entire white squad. Zamorano played a key role in that campaign, with 28 goals that earned him the highest scorer trophy. Of those 28 there were four keys. On January 7, 1995, at the Clasico at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid returned the little hand that the Blaugranas endorsed him a year earlier. Zamorano made three goals. Months later, ‘Bam-Bam’ scored the decisive goal that gave Real Madrid its 26th League, in a match with Deportivo. Amavisca scored the assist with a spectacular center to the area that the Chilean cushioned with his chest, to later score with a strong kick.
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Claudio Villa / Grazia Neri (Getty Images)
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Inter and its fight to be a starter. Zamorano leaves Real Madrid after finishing the 1995-96 season and signs for Inter. His stage in the Italian team is defined as that of a constant struggle to get a place in eleven. “I ended up in Madrid as a figure and I was a figure in European football. And I’m going to play in Italy, Inter. I also come as a figure and I think that within 9 I have it for myself, saved. Inter buys from Ronaldo and I thought: “Extraordinary, I play with the best footballer in the world by my side,” Zamorano said at a press conference at Icare in 2006. The situation was different. In 1999 Vieri arrived, adding more competition to the Forward: “I imagined that my position was secure … but on the bench. All of Europe was talking about this pair but I discovered something: neither Ronaldo nor Vieri sacrificed themselves for the other. I knew from a young age that teams are not made only with stars. A sacrificial player was missing, someone who ran more than the others. “Finally, Zamorano alternated ownership with both players, without one being above the other:” I studied the competition, analyzed its weaknesses and strengths to find where to enter . I convinced the coach. And in the end, during those five years, Ronaldo and Vieri alternated with me. It is a leadership that I have been gaining on the court. “At Inter Zamorano he played 148 games, scoring 40 goals. In addition, in 1998 he got UEFA (his first and only European title), scoring a goal in the final.
The anecdote of the 1 + 8 of his shirt. After arriving at Inter, Zamorano maintains the number that has accompanied him throughout his career: the 9. However, after the hiring of Ronaldo by the Milan team, two players ‘competed’ for that number. The first season with both on board ended with the Chilean carrying the 9 and the Brazilian holding the 10. Nike, sponsor of the Italian team and Ronaldo, urged that he change and in this way the Brazilian recovered the 9 for commercial reasons. It was then that the Chilean came up with a genius. “The sports director, Sandro Mazzola, told me to take a number with the number nine on it. I asked him if he could add the plus sign and he said no. I spoke with the president, Massimo Moratti, who asked the Italian Federation. So I played with number 18, that is, with 1 + 8, and I didn’t lose number nine, “he commented in The Guardian last year.
The Sa-Za pair. Zamorano and Salas formed in Chile one of the best soccer societies in history. The ‘Sa-Za’ as they were called. Despite the fact that Iván is eight years older than Marcelo, both agreed on the selection for eight years. His ‘moment’ came during the qualification for the 1998 France World Cup. Both players understood each other and complemented each other perfectly and with 23 goals, they led ‘La Roja’ to a World Cup 16 years later. Zamorano scored 12 goals, the highest number yet in a CONMEBOL Ranking. Iván also disputed the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000, taking the bronze medal; and where he scored six goals in five games, being the top scorer. It disputed a World-wide one (previously named), where Chile fell in quarters against Brazil; and four America’s Cups, achieving a second and a third place as best results.
His last years in soccer. In 2001 we met a Zamorano in his last years of his career. After leaving Inter, at 34, he signed for América de México. Although the requirement is somewhat lower than in Europe, ‘Bam-Bam’ continues to score goals with ease. In the Aztec country he will be between 2001 and 2002, playing a total of 78 matches in which he scored 38 goals. In 2003 he returned to Chile, to finish his career at Colo-Colo. In eleven games he scored four goals. “I played for teams that I never imagined playing. At Inter, in Colo Colo, it was my father’s dream before he died. I had nothing pending, but when I go to Argentina, I go there a lot, I love when the fan Boca, River and Independiente stop me on the street and tell me ‘you missed playing in Boca, you would have been an idol in the first game because of how they played’, the one next to River tells him that ‘he should have played in River , with the Matador Salas they would have marked the Za-Sa duo in River, it would have been extraordinary ‘and the one from Independiente comes out and tells me that’ you are a supporter of Independiente, you would have gotten the red card ‘, “commented Ivan, a month ago a direct with Instagram with ex-player Sorín.
Dream fulfilled
“The most important goal of my life was to dedicate myself to football. Looking back I see that I did things well, I tried hard and I set myself very clear challenges that I met.”
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The effort has its reward. “The most important goal of my life was to dedicate myself to soccer. Looking back I see that I did things well, I tried hard and I set myself very clear challenges that I fulfilled. Soccer has wonderful things and, as a scorer and striker, knowing that the The essence is the goal, that the goal is an inseparable companion, “said Zamorano on FIFA.com. Zamorano returned greatness to Real Madrid, in a period of Barça’s reign, fought against Ronaldo and Vieri for a position at Inter, filled the Chileans with hope with a dream team and above all scored goals of all colors (348 specifically): “I made many important goals in my career. The one that gave the title to Real Madrid in 1995, the one that gave the UEFA Cup to Inter Milan, those of the national team. They are many and all very significant.” Zamorano’s career, therefore, is summed up in the phrase: ‘Every effort has its reward’.
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