Luigi Di Biagio

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.

Luigi Di Biagio (born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player.

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.

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.

Di Biagio was regarded one of Italy's best and most consistent midfielders during the later 1990s and early 2000s, and one of the best players in the world in his position during his prime, consistently providing excellent performances for Roma, Inter and the Italy national side; he often stood out throughout his career for his leadership.

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.

He represented Italy at Under-23 level at the 1993 Mediterranean games, where they reached the final under manager Cesare Maldini.

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.

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 made his senior debut for Italy on 28 January 1998, in a 3–0 friendly home win against Slovakia, under Cesare Maldini.

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.

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.

At the beginning of the 1999–2000 Serie A season, Di Biagio transferred to Internazionale, and became a regular first team member due to his continued high standard of performance.

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.

During the 2001–02 season, he narrowly missed out on winning the Serie A title to Juventus on the final match-day; he received criticism, however, for his despondent performance in a 4–2 defeat to Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, on his final league appearance of the season, despite initially scoring a goal during the match.

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.

Under Giovanni Trapattoni, Di Biagio was also a member of Italy's 2002 World Cup squad that was eliminated by co-hosts South Korea in the Round of 16 on a golden goal.

He made his final appearance for Italy in a friendly match against Turkey on 20 November 2002, in Pescara.

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.

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.

Di Biagio signed for Ascoli in November 2006, but the bid was not considered to be valid by the federation, since the player was not released for free by Brescia before the 30 June deadline.

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.

The bid was therefore postponed until January 2007, and in the meantime Di Biagio went on training with Ascoli, and played from November to December with Promozione club Polisportiva La Storta from Rome, coached by his friend and former Dundee and Lazio footballer Alessandro Romano.

Di Biagio played his first Ascoli match on 14 January 2007, against Cagliari.

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.