Gianluca Zambrotta was born in Como on 19 February 1977. After making his Serie A debut with Bari, he went on to wear the shirts of prestigious clubs such as Juventus, Barcelona and AC Milan and win three Scudetto titles and four Super Cups across Italy and Spain. He began as a winger, but his conversion to full-back (Marcello Lippi’s idea) allowed him to make the ultimate leap in quality.

Dino Zoff who handed him his Azzurri debut in a friendly game against Norway in Pisa in 1999. Zambrotta immediately became a key player at the following European Championship held in Belgium and the Netherlands. He missed out on the final of that tournament due to suspension. The loss to France in Rotterdam faded into obscurity as Zambrotta went one better six years later in Germany: he became a World Champion and was one of the best players in the competition, even scoring one of his two Azzurri goals in the quarter-finals against Ukraine. Overall, he took part in three World Cups and three European Championships.

In 2010, he played his 98th and final match for the National Team against Serbia, only two games off the prestigious 100-cap club. He sits in ninth place in Italy's all-time appearance ranking.