Hunger and foolishness: The secrets behind Simone Zaza's success

Simone Zaza is no Steve Jobs. Their lives and careers could hardly be much more different: one a footballer and self-confessed homebody, the other, up until his death in 2011, a tech entrepreneur whose company changed the world. But they have at least one thing in common: a mindset captured by the phrase that Jobs famously shared with Stanford University’s graduating class of 2005.

"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

It was Zaza’s hunger that persuaded Antonio Conte to make him part of Italy’s Euro 2016 squad this summer. Another manager might have turned away from a player who started just eight competitive fixtures for his club side, Juventus, all season. It’s not as though Zaza had set the world alight in his nine all-time appearances for the national team, either, scoring only a single goal.

Conte, though, could look past those numbers. He had his own criteria for squad selection, one that was "based on the value of the man, not just the player."

Above all, he wanted individuals who were prepared to sacrifice and run themselves into the ground - to “eat grass”, as he is fond of saying. If anything, Zaza seems inclined to take such exhortations a little too literally. On Saturday, he had to be helped off the floor by a team trainer at the end of a punishing team practice that culminated in suicide sprints.

Even before that moment, his commitment was plain to see. Where some forwards love to grumble at defenders who go hard in the tackle at training, Zaza himself was drawing dark stares from Mattia De Sciglio over the weekend after crashing into the full-back once too often.

Both players are expected to start in Italy's final group game, against the Republic of Ireland, on Wednesday. The Azzurri’s success in wrapping up first place with a game to spare has allowed Conte the luxury of rotation, but Zaza might have been due this opportunity in any case.

It was he who came off the bench to set up Italy’s winner against Sweden. Zaza’s combative nature was to the fore as he sprinted forward and leapt above the far taller Erik Johansson to head the ball down for Eder just outside Sweden’s penalty area.

And perhaps, after Italy’s turgid overall performance in that match, Conte might also have concluded that his team could benefit from an injection of foolishness. Who better than Zaza to provide it? This is a man who had the Italian equivalent - follia - tattooed along the length of one finger.

He included it at the end of his Twitter profile, too, after his team-mates nagged him into setting up an account last week. Zaza’s freshly-coined hashtag, #LAFOLLIARENDESANIDIMENTE translates roughly to "a little foolishness keeps the mind healthy."

Related: Late victory over Sweden shouldn't overshadow Italy's glaring shortcomings

Do not mistake him for a loose cannon. Zaza, who turns 25 on Saturday, confesses that he could be hot-tempered in his younger years - once getting reported to the police after brawling with a "much bigger kid" as a teenager - but you could hardly accuse him of going off the rails. As he told it to Gazzetta dello Sport in 2014: "I’ve never smoked a joint, American poker doesn’t excite me, and I don’t like strong alcoholic drinks."

Nor, indeed, has he gone down the stereotypical path of lavish spending on fancy cars - preferring for many years to ride around on his little electric scooter. In fact, Zaza never even got around to learning how to drive. He has been studying for the theory part of his licence in-between games this summer.

Zaza’s foolishness instead manifests itself most clearly on the football pitch: in his natural aggression, yes, but also in the way that he takes risks and eschews the obvious option at times.

It was a trait that helped to win Juventus the title. Zaza might not have played often for the Bianconeri this season, but he scored the single most important goal of their season - an 88th-minute strike that sunk Napoli in Turin this February, propelling his team to the top of the table for the first time.

Shooting was not the obvious option when he received the ball with his back to goal and Kalidou Koulibaly closing in, a little more than 20 yards from goal. The percentage play would probably have been to attempt a through-ball to Alex Sandro ahead of him, darting into the box.

Juventus’s manager, Massimiliano Allegri, might have preferred Zaza to be more cautious still, protecting possession and a 0-0 draw that would hardly have been a disaster. The reigning champion still had 13 games to catch Napoli, after all, and momentum was with the Bianconeri.

Zaza, though, did things his way, spinning away from Koulibaly and crashing a brilliant shot into the far corner. The title was not technically won in that moment, but psychologically you could argue that it was.

Not even Zaza knows if he will be back at Juventus next season. He told reporters on Monday that he would like to return, but also that he needs to play more regularly. A number of leading clubs have made enquiries, including Leicester, West Ham and Borussia Dortmund.

For now, he insists he is focused on this tournament. The Republic of Ireland, in turn, might want to focus on him, if it hopes to beat Italy and give itself a chance of qualifying for the knock-out stage. Zaza might not have played often this season, but he did average a goal for every 119.5 minutes that he spent on the pitch - the best rate of any striker in the Italy squad.

Zaza gave us a flash of both his hunger and his foolishness - with a cheeky backheel flick that almost wrong-footed the defenders who thought he would only try to waste time by the corner flag at the end - against Sweden.

But now he wants to remind all of Europe of his talent for scoring goals.