Луиджи Ди Биаджио: Футбол өмірі мен мансабы

Italian association football player and manager

Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A former defensive midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli in 2007, and previously also played for several other Italian clubs throughout his career, including Roma and Internazionale, in particular. At international level, he also played 31 times for the Italy national side between 1998 and 2002, scoring two goals, representing his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, as well as at Euro 2000, where Italy reached the final.

Di Biagio was born in Rome. He initially played for Lazio (1988–89), making his Serie A debut with the side, and later played for Monza (1989–92) in Serie B and Serie C1, winning the Coppa Italia C1 in 1991. He later moved on to play for Foggia (1992–95) under Zeman, where he gained promotion to Serie A once again, establishing himself in the starting lineup of the club as a defensive minded central midfielder, who also served as a playmaker; he notably reached the semi final of the Coppa Italia with Foggia during the 1994–95 season, attracting the attention of bigger Italian clubs.

Di Biagio began to achieve greater international exposure and fame in Italy due to his excellent and consistent performances whilst playing for Roma (1995–99), where he remained for five seasons, under managers Carlo Mazzone, Carlos Bianchi and Zeman once again; he would make his career debut in European Competitions with the club. During his time at Roma, he was able to help the squad to a fourth place finish during the 1997–98 season, and managed to subsequently reach the quarter finals of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup and the 1997–98 Coppa Italia. His consistent performances led him to become a permanent member of the Italy national side during this period. Di Biagio would make 140 appearances for Roma in all competitions, scoring 18 goals. 15 of his goals were scored in Serie A in 114 appearances. Di Biagio remained at Inter until 2003, and during his four years at the club, he amassed 163 appearances, scoring a total of 18 goals in all competitions. Although he was unable to win a title during his time with the club, he did manage to reach the semi finals of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup with Inter, losing out to eventual Champions Feyenoord. He also reached the semi finals of the 2002–03 Champions League with Inter, under manager Héctor Cúper, losing out to cross city rivals and eventual Champions Milan on away goals. He also managed to win runners up medals in Serie A during the 2002–03 season under Cuper, as well as in the Coppa Italia during the 1999–2000 season, and the Italian Supercup in 2000, under Marcello Lippi.

Di Biagio subsequently moved to Brescia (2003–2006) during his later career, where he played alongside Roberto Baggio during the 2003–04 season, frequently playing as a sweeper or as a centreback/secondary defensive playmaker in Brescia's three man defence. Although Di Biagio managed a personal best of nine goals in Serie A the following year, Brescia were relegated to Serie B during the 2004–05 season, and Di Biagio finished his final season at Brescia playing in the Italian second division during the 2005–06 season. He collected only seven appearances that season, scoring two goals in 523 minutes. Ascoli finished second last in Serie A that season, and were relegated to Serie B. He retired at the end of the season, and returned to Polisportiva La Storta as a youth coach. Despite his reputation and ability as a midfielder, Di Biagio had an unfortunate club and international career, failing to win a major trophy, and only winning the Coppa Italia Serie C1 with Monza. Di Biagio has also briefly worked as a football pundit and commentator on Sky Sport.

Di Biagio was a regular member of the national side during the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was capped 31 times for Italy between 1998 and 2002, scoring two goals. After a strong season with Roma, Di Biagio represented his country in the 1998 World Cup, appearing in each of Italy's five matches, and notably scoring a headed goal from a Roberto Baggio cross in the second group stage match against Cameroon, which ended in a 3–0 win for Italy; his goal being the 100th goal for Italy in World Cup matches. In the round of 16 match against Norway, Di Biagio set up Vieri's match winning goal, and helped Italy to keep a clean sheet. Despite a strong tournament, in which he was considered to be one of the best performing midfielders, he missed the decisive penalty in the quarter final shootout against hosts and eventual champions France, after a 0–0 deadlock following extra time, hitting the crossbar, as Italy were eliminated from the tournament. Di Biagio continued to be a key player for Italy under Dino Zoff, and he went on to represent Italy at Euro 2000, starting alongside Albertini in midfield, and winning a runners up medal as Italy lost 2–1 to France in the final on a golden goal. Di Biagio had another successful tournament for Italy, and he scored Italy's first goal against Sweden, heading in a Del Piero corner, in Italy's final group match, which ended in a 2–1 win, and which allowed Italy to top their group and progress to the quarter finals. In the victorious semi final penalty shootout against co hosts the Netherlands, he took Italy's first penalty, and was able to convert it successfully on this occasion. It was the first penalty he had taken after the infamous miss which struck the crossbar during the 1998 World Cup, which immediately eliminated Italy from the competition. Di Biagio made only one appearance in the tournament, however, playing in Italy's 2–0 opening win against Ecuador, where he assisted Vieri's second goal of the match with a long ball, in the 27th minute; he was substituted by Gattuso in the 69th minute. He made his final appearance for Italy in a friendly match against Turkey on 20 November 2002, in Pescara. consistently providing excellent performances for Roma, Inter and the Italy national side; Throughout his career, Di Biagio earned a reputation as a strong, aggressive and hard tackling midfielder, who had a knack for picking up cards; after Paolo Montero, he is the player with the most red cards in Serie A history. Although he was primarily deployed as a central or defensive midfielder, Di Biagio was capable of playing anywhere in midfield due to his tactical versatility, and played in every outfield position throughout his career, and was occasionally played in an attacking midfield role behind the forwards, or, even less frequently, as a centre forward; he also played as a defender later in his career, once he lost his pace, functioning as a sweeper, as a full back, or as a central defender. A hardworking player, Di Biagio was gifted with power, stamina, and tactical intelligence, as well as an acute defensive awareness and positional sense. He combined these attributes with a surprising technical ability, and was also capable of functioning creatively as a deep lying playmaker in midfield, due to his ball control, vision, and passing range. Indeed, his central holding midfield role under Zdeněk Zeman in the manager's 4–3–3 system has also been likened to that of a metodista ("centre half," in Italian football jargon), due to Di Biago's ability to dictate play in midfield, launch quick attacks, or assist his team defensively, as well as to maintain his position and thus allowing his teams to maintain a high defensive line with little space between the attack and the defence. Despite his more defensive playing role in midfield, Di Biagio also possessed a powerful shot from distance, and was a dangerous free kick and penalty kick taker, which also enabled him to contribute offensively

On 25 July 2011, he was named the coach of Italy's under 20 side. On 2 July 2013, Luigi Di Biagio stepped up an age group to replace Devis Mangia as Italy's under 21 coach. He made his debut as the Italy under 21 coach on 14 August 2013, in a friendly match against Slovakia, which was won 4–1 by Italy. He eventually helped the U 21 side to qualify for the upcoming 2015 Under 21 European Championship in the Czech Republic, as Italy defeated Slovakia once again in the play offs. In the final tournament, Italy were placed in a group containing England and eventual finalists Portugal and Sweden, the latter of whom would go on to win the tournament. Italy finished third in their group, and were eliminated in the first round with four points. Di Biagio led the Italy under 21 side to the semi finals of the 2017 UEFA European Under 21 Championship, where they were eliminated by Spain on 27 June, following a 3–1 defeat. On 5 February 2018, Di Biagio was confirmed to be the caretaker manager of the senior Italy team for their two friendlies on 23 March and 27 March 2018 against Argentina and England respectively. On 17 March 2018, Di Biagio called up veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon for the two friendlies, despite his initial decision to retire. Di Biagio's first match as Italy coach ended in a 2–0 defeat to Argentina. His second, and final match as caretaker manager, ended in a 1–1 draw to England. On 15 May, it was announced Di Biagio would return to the under 21 side, after the appointment of Roberto Mancini. Following the Italy U 21 side's first round elimination in the 2019 UEFA European Under 21 Championship, held on home soil, Di Biagio announced his resignation as the under 21 side's manager on 25 June 2019. On 10 February 2020, he was officially nominated as the new coach of Serie A team S. P. A. L. following the sacking of Leonardo Semplici. With fifteen matches still to be played, the club were at the bottom of Serie A at the time of his nomination. On 2 August 2020, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

+ List of international goals scored by Luigi Di BiaglioNo. DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 17 June 1998 Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France 1 0 3 0 1998 FIFA World Cup2 19 June 2000 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands 1 0 2 1 UEFA Euro 2000