Zola: It's my duty to be a role model

'I always wanted to act in a way which young players could aspire to and that gives me the energy to keep playing and working at the game.

'I do everything I can to be the right role model. It's a duty because we have to teach young players in the right way.'

No one could argue that that goal against Norwich in the FA Cup was, in its pure expression of genius, how everyone would like to see football played.

Fellow professionals could do worse than look to Zola for guidance. Morality is not something the game can lay much claim to recently but, in Zola at least, there is a player who is concerned enough about the battered image of football to try to mend the damage.

He said: 'When something bad happens the media immediately attacks the image of football. It's normal but the people who have done the wrong thing should think about what they have done.

'They're not only representing themselves they ' re also representing all footballers, because no one will blame the individual entirely. Football will get the blame and it would be good if they thought about that before doing anything stupid.

'There are players who do good and others who make mistakes, and sometimes the young players make them because they are inexperienced. I'm not trying to justify what some of them have done, but I hope people can see the good things in football. This game and sport can do very good things for society.

'I'm no priest but I know there are enough bad things in society already and football should be pure. It has a very important position in our social life and I like to think that those kind of actions, like the goal against Norwich, can show what is good in the game.

'I think a single gesture can be worth more than a thousand words. You can talk to a young player for hours about how to do this or that, or how to behave, but if you can capture their imagination with a piece of play then that is more powerful.'

He admitted to counselling some of the younger element at Stamford Bridge, although declined to say if that included Chelsea's most recent problem children - Jody Morris and John Terry.

It hardly matters. Zola's presence is a welcome counterbalance and, as his wonder goal has shown, his influence extends way beyond the environs of west London.

He said: 'I'm pleased for that goal because it has a lot of energy behind it and I'm sure a few young players of different ages have been trying to do the same thing since. That is the power of football.'

More, possibly, than at any other time, the fair-play mantra which Zola represents is one which football needs. He and his team-mates are next to come under scrutiny when Chelsea face Leeds tomorrow night. Zola knows what to expect but will treat the match the same as any other.

He said: 'I don't mind when someone tries to get the ball and he misses, because that can happen.

'I like aggressive defenders when they are correct but I don't like those who do it on purpose or who play a dirty game - if they try to intimidate you or injure you. I hate those kinds of players. I don't mind those who are hard but fair.'

Although he may sound like a prophet, Zola would prefer his feet to do the talking. As he has shown, the football world is a better place when that happens.