Sergio Zanatta

Sergio Zanatta... he was 13 years old when his family moved from Italy to Vancouver, BC, CAN... worked as a sheet metal worker...

represented Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, two cycles of Olympic Qualifiers and one edition of the Pan American Games... was part of the first Canadian team to feature in Olympic Qualifiers in 1967... career 15 international appearances across five years from 1967 to 1971 with Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team, including three international "A" appearances... when he left international football in 1971, he ranked third all-time with 15 international appearances...

a four-time Canada Soccer National Championships winner (Challenge Trophy in 1966, 1969, 1977 and 1978) and one-time runner up (1968)... in 1978, teammates Gene Vazzoler and Sergio Zanatta were just the seventh and eighth four-time Canadian winners... a three-time Pacific Coast League winner (1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71), and one-time Western Canada League winner (1969)... a three-time all-star selection over a five-year span from 1969 to 1971... over the course of one decade, he was the Pacific Coast League’s eighth-highest scorer in the 1960s with 41 goals scored (even though he only debuted in 1965)... he was Columbus FC’s second-best goalscorer across their Pacific Coast League history (54 goals scored from 1965-66 to 1970-71, second best behind Bobby Smith’s 88 goals)...

wrote Jeff Cross after one match in December 1966, Zanatta was “the darling of the highly vocal Italan soccer community... (he) could just be the best left winger to his this town since the days of Dave Brown”... wrote Roy Jukich in December 1966, Zanatta “has shed the rough edges and acquired the polish of a real gem”... in a 1967 all-stars program, was noted as “one of the finest prospects to break into senior company in the past decade”... also once noted, his “devil-may-care attitude plays havoc with oppositions defence”... said Bill Brown of Toronto Falcons in 1968, “the lad has only one thing on his mind, to go after the ball and head for the goal”... wrote Mike Toth in 1971, “a winger with the ability to score goals when they are needed”... as noted in a 1972 all-star program, he was a “fast, explosive winger, always looking for goal”...

said Peter Greco in 2018, “Sergio Zanatta was probably among the top-five players that came out of Vancouver from (his) time”... said Dan Comuzzi in 2018, “Sergio Zanatta was instigator number one. That guy just kicked everyone and he was a pain in the butt (laughing)... even in practice he would kick us”...

said Robert Allen in 2018, “Sergio Zanatta was really good. He had speed, toughness, ball handling”... said Gary Thompson in 2018, “Sergio Zanatta was fast and skillful and he had an itch to him. He could make things difficult for your defence and he had a great shot. He was one of the very good players of the Pacific Coast League”... said Bruce Twamley in 2018, “Sergio Zanatta was a tenacious player, he ran around and kicked everybody, but he was a good player. He was a character, an entertainer”... said Len Brown in 2018, “Sergio Zanatta was undoubtedly the best left winger in Canada at the time. He had great ball control and he could score a goal with his left foot”...