Diego Fuser (; born 11 November 1968) is an Italian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, mainly on the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

, although he was also capable of playing in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

. Fuser was a quick, hard-working, and energetic player, with good technique, and crossing ability, who excelled at making offensive runs down the right flank and assisting strikers with accurate crosses. A tenacious, and physically strong winger, he also possessed notable stamina, a powerful shot from distance, and was accurate from set-pieces.

Club career

Born in

Venaria Reale Venaria Reale ( pms, La Venerìa) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northwest of Turin. Venaria Reale borders the municipalities of Robassomero, Caselle Torinese, Druent ...

Province of Turin The former Province of Turin ( it, Provincia di Torino; pms, Provinsa ëd Turin; french: Province de Turin) was a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it wa ...

, Fuser started his professional career with

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

in 1986. He played 49 games for them before moving to

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

(1989–92). During his two seasons at Milan he collected a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

(1989) medal and a

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in ...

(1988), as well as the 1989 European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup titles. During his time at Milan, Fuser also spent time on loan at

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

during the 1990–91 season, before completing a move to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in 1992. This turned out to be arguably his most successful time in football becoming a fan favourite while playing 188 games in six years, scoring 35 goals and winning the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

and reaching the UEFA Cup Final in 1998, as the club's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. After moving to

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

in 1998 he won the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, the Coppa Italia and the

Italian Super Cup The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

in 1999. He wore the number 14 shirt and captained the team in their 3–0 1999 UEFA Cup Final victory over

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

on 6 May. Fuser blotted his Lazio copybook by joining

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

in the summer of 2001, where he only played 15 games in two seasons, winning the

2001 Supercoppa Italiana The 2001 Supercoppa Italiana was a match played by 2000–01 Serie A winners Roma and 2000–01 Coppa Italia winners Fiorentina. The match took place on 19 August 2001 in Stadio Olimpico, Rome and resulted in a 3–0 victory for Roma. The go ...

, and managing second-place finishes in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

in 2002, and in the

in 2003. During the 2003–04 season he played for his original club Torino, in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

In the lower leagues

In 2004, he signed for A.S.D.C. Canelli, whom he helped to win its

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football. It is a regional league, composed of 28 divisions divided geographically. All 20 regions are represented by at least one division except for Piedmont and Ao ...

round during the 2005–06 season, earning promotion to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

. In 2008, together with fellow player and personal friend

Gianluigi Lentini Gianluigi Lentini (; born 27 March 1969) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a winger, usually on the left flank. He was once the world's most expensive footballer, when he moved from Torino to Silvio Berlusconi's Milan ...

, he moved to Saviglianese, a

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's lo ...

amateur club of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. He played also for the amateur clubs of Canelli and Nicese, which he simultaneously coached. In 2012, he played for another amateur club of Piedmont, Colline Alfieri Don Bosco in Promozione.

International career

Fuser initially represented Italy at Under-21 level on 18 occasions between 1987 and 1990, scoring 2 goals; he was notably a member of the team that finished in third place at the 1990 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, under manager Cesare Maldini. He also played for the senior

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

on 25 occasions between 1993 and 2000, scoring 3 goals, and he was a participant at the 1996 UEFA European Championship under manager

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach. He has twice managed AC Milan (1987–1991, 1996–1997), with great success. He won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then dominated European ...

, making 3 appearances as Italy were eliminated in the first found. He was also in Dino Zoff's provisional 26 man squad for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

before missing the final cut.

Personal life

Diego Fuser is married to Orietta. Their son Matteo died in 2011, at the age of 15, after struggling with illness.

Honours

Club

Milan *

: 1991–92 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 1989–90 * European Super Cup: 1989 * Intercontinental Cup: 1989 Lazio *

: 1997–98 *

runner-up: 1997–98 Parma *Coppa Italia: 1998–99 *UEFA Cup: 1998–99 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Roma *Supercoppa Italiana:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

*Serie A runner-up: 2001–02 *Coppa Italia runner-up: 2002–03

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuser, Diego 1968 births Living people People from Venaria Reale Association football midfielders Italian footballers Italy international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Torino F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players A.C. Milan players S.S. Lazio players Parma Calcio 1913 players A.S. Roma players Serie A players Serie B players Serie D players UEFA Euro 1996 players Italy B international footballers UEFA Cup winning players Footballers from Piedmont Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Turin