Jonathan Zebina (born 19 July 1978) is a French retired professional footballer. Having started his career as a striker, he played right-back for much of his career before being increasingly used as a centre-back. During his playing career, Zebina was an athletic defender, with good man-marking skills. However, Zebina, at times, was criticised throughout his career for being error-prone.
He spent his club career with several French and Italian clubs, most notably Roma – with whom he won a Serie A title and a Supercoppa Italiana in 2001 – and Juventus. At international level, Zebina obtained his only senior cap for the France national team in 2005.
Club career Cannes Born in Paris, France, Zebina began his football career at US Palaiseau, first joining the club when he was seven years old and started out playing as a striker. However, due to competitions in the striker at the club's youth system, he was left out and soon playing in the right-back position. Zebina then played for ES Viry-Châtillon before joining AS Cannes, where he began his professional football career there.
After progressing through the youth system, Zebina made his debut for AS Cannes, where they were playing in the French Division 1 in a home game against Metz which ended 0–0 on 8 March 1997. He later made six more league appearances at the end of the 1996–97 season. The following year Zebina continued to develop and he made 21 league appearances as Cannes were relegated to Ligue 2.
Cagliari Zebina was then signed by Cagliari Calcio, whose president had spotted him during a match against Marseille while scouting Cyril Domoraud.
He made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 2–2 draw against Inter Milan in the opening game of the season. Since making his debut for Cagliari, Zebina was given a chance at a right-back position after injuries to two other defenders and soon made the position his own, in the process, he established a reputation as one of the most promising defenders in Europe. In the second half of the season, Zebina found himself placed in the substitute bench in a number of matches, at times, he returned to the starting line–up. In the last game of the season against Fiorentina, however, he scored an own goal, in a 1–1 draw. At the end of the 1998–99 season, Zebina went on to make twenty–four appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 1999–00 season, Zebina, however, suffered ankle injury that saw him out for the first two months to the season. But he made his first appearance of the season, starting a match and played 76 minutes, in a 2–2 draw against AC Milan on 17 October 1999. Following his return from injury, Zebina appeared four more matches before being on the sidelines once again for two matches. Following his return, he continued to regain his first team place, playing in the right-back position. However, he was unable to help the club, as Cagliari were relegated to Serie B. During his time at the club, Zebina made fifty–eight appearances in all competitions for the Sardinian club between 1998 and 2000.
Roma In June 2000, Zebina moved to AS Roma in a co-ownership deal for 9.5 billion Italian lire. Upon joining the club, he linked up with up with countryman and fellow full-back Vincent Candela and said: "I am very happy to be here. This is a big step for me from a professional point of view. I will try to give the best of myself. It doesn't scare me if I have to start off the bench. It will be a pleasure for me to fight for a place as a starter. My goal is to win against Roma and try to become stronger than Thuram."
Zebina made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 4–1 win against ND Gorica in the first round of the UEFA Cup. He helped Roma keep a clean sheet in the return leg by beating the opposition team 7–0 to advance to the next round. Zebina followed up by helping the club keep two clean sheets in the next two matches against Bologna and Leece. However, he suffered an injury that saw him miss two matches. But Zebina made his return to the starting line–up against Reggina on 12 November 2000 and helped Roma beat the opposition team 2–1. However, his return was short–lived when he suffered a broken toe during a match against Perugia on 3 December 2000 and was substituted in the 43rd minute, as the club drew 0–0. After a month on the sidelines, Zebina returned to the first team against Bari on 14 January 2001, coming on as a 55th-minute substitute, in a 1–1. However, he found himself on the sidelines on four occasions in the next three months. Despite his absence later in the 2000–01 season, Zebina remained in the first team regular, playing in the centre-back position and helped Roma win the Scudetto. In his first season at the club, he made twenty–six appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2001–02 season, Manager Fabio Capello was impressed with Zebina's performances and skills and Roma bought him outright in July 2001. He started in the Italian Supercup against Fiorentina and helped the club keep a clean sheet, in a 3–0 win to win the competition. Since the start of the 2001–02 season, Zebina continued to regain his first team place, rotating in playing either the right-back position or centre-back position. He made his UEFA Champions League debut against Real Madrid on 11 September 2001 and won a penalty, which Francesco Totti successfully converted the penalty kick, as Roma lost 2–1. Zebina helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 29 September 2001 and 16 October 2001 against Juventus, Perugia and Lokomotiv Moscow. He, once again, helped Roma keep three clean sheets out of the club's four matches between 16 December 2001 and 6 January 2002. However, in the second half of the season, Zebina found himself in and out of the starting line–up for Roma. He was also suspended on three occasions, including one against Inter Milan for slapping Álvaro Recoba, losing 3–0 on 24 March 2002. After serving a three match suspension, Zebina lost his first team place, as the club eventually surrendered their league title to Juventus at the end of the 2001–02 season. At the end of the 2001–02 season, he went on to make thirty–seven appearances in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2002–03 season, Zebina switched number shirt from fifteen to number five. At the start of the 2002–03 season, he was involved in a minor car crash, but escaped with cuts and bruises. The incident led Roma supporters booing him when his name was mentioned in the club's next match. Eventually, Roma supporters apologised for their actions to the player. Following his return, Zebina continued to regain his first team place, rotating in playing either the right-back position, centre-back position or left-back position. He helped Roma keep two consecutive clean sheets between 15 December 2002 and 21 December 2002 against Reggina and Torino. However, the start of the second half of the season saw Zebina suffered a muscular problems and was sidelined for a month. But he made his return to the starting line–up against Valencia in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage, losing 1–0. However, in a follow–up match against Udinese on 24 February 2003, Zebina was sent–off in the last minutes for a second bookable offence, in a 2–1 loss. After serving a one match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up against rivals, Lazio on 8 March 2003 but suffered a muscle injury and was substituted in the 26th minute, as the club drew 1–1. Following this, Zebina was later sidelined on two more occasions for Roma later in the 2002–03 season. Despite this, he played in both legs of the Coppa Italia final against Milan, as Roma lost 6–3 on aggregate. At the end of the 2002–03 season, Zebina went on to make thirty–one appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2003–04 season, Zebina continued to establish himself in the starting eleven, rotating in playing in either the right-back position or centre-back position. In early–September, Roma began talks with the player over a new contract. He scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–2 draw against Juventus on 21 September 2003. This was followed up by helping Roma keep seven league clean sheets between 28 September 2013 and 23 November 2003. However, in the second half of the season, Zebina found his himself sidelined on five occasions, due to injury and suspension. He also was sent–off on two occasions: the first one came against Siena on 22 February 2004 and the second one came against Villarreal on 25 March 2004. Despite this, Zebina helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 8 February 2004 and 22 February 2004. Despite being sidelined on two more occasions towards the end of the 2003–04 season, his contributions saw Roma finish in second place in the league behind Milan. At the end of the 2003–04 season, he went on to make thirty–two appearances and scoring once in all competitions. During his time at the club between 2000 and 2004, Zebina made 126 appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Juventus Towards the end of his spell in the Italian capital, AC Milan began to take notice of Zebina and reported that the player was on the verge of moving to the club as the 2003–04 season was coming to an end. He even rejected a new contract from Roma and was expected to leave the club at the end of the 2003–04 season. On 19 May 2004, however, Zebina elected to join Juventus on a free transfer, where he was reunited with departing Roma manager Capello. Zebina revealed that he had rejected moves to Chelsea, Liverpool and Milan in order to join the club. Zebina later explained his decision to join Juventus, saying that AC Milan wanted him to play "the second of Stam", while Inter Milan offered the player "an astonishing contract proposal", he felt the club "must have taken him for a young rookie".
However, Zebina had to wait for a month to make his debut for the club, due to a serving a suspension in both legs of the UEFA Champions League Play–Offs round against Djurgården that saw Juventus won 6–3 on aggregate to advance to the Group Stage. He made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in the opening game of the season against Brescia and set up a goal for David Trezeguet, in a 3–0 win. Zebina helped Juventus keep three consecutive clean sheets between 19 October 2004 and 28 October 2004. Having found himself in a competition with Gianluca Zambrotta and Alessandro Birindelli, Zebina won a first team place, playing in the right-back position at the start of the 2004–05 season. However, he suffered an injury that saw him out for weeks. But Zebina made his return to the starting line–up against Inter Milan on 28 November 2004 and helped the club draw 2–2. Following his return from injury, he regained his first team place, playing in the right-back position. At one point, Zebina played in the right–midfield position on two occasions between 13 February 2005 and 19 February 2005. He helped Juventus keep another three consecutive clean sheets between 9 March 2005 and 19 March 2005. However, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals against Liverpool on 5 April 2005, Zebina suffered a hamstring injury and was substituted in the 81st minute, as the club lost 2–0. After the match, he was sidelined with a hamstring injury for the rest of the 2004–05 season. Despite this, his contributions saw Juventus win the league (which they were later stripped of the league title). In his first season at the club, Zebina made thirty–one appearances in all competitions.