Stefano Fiore

Stefano Fiore (born 17 April 1975) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as an attacking midfielder or on the right wing.

He was in charge as manager technical area of Nuova Cosenza Calcio in Serie D.

Fiore played for several Italian clubs throughout his career; he started out with Cosenza in 1992, before moving to Parma for a season in 1994, where he made his Serie A debut and won the UEFA Cup.

Fiore was born in Cosenza, and he began his professional footballing career with his domestic club in 1992.

He played just 11 games before moving to Parma in 1994.

He made his Serie A debut with the club at the age of nineteen, in a 0–0 away draw against Genoa, on 11 December 1994.

During that season, Parma came in third in Serie A, and reached the final of the Coppa Italia.

Their most prestigious success was achieved with their UEFA Cup victory over season rivals Juventus, and Fiore was inserted into the starting eleven by manager Nevio Scala, in the return leg of the final, which finished 1–1.

This allowed Fiore to gain international experience alongside his established teammates such as Gianfranco Zola, Fernando Couto, and Dino Baggio.

His limited playing time with them persuaded him to move to Padova for the following season, where he scored one goal in 24 games.

In the 1996–97 season, Fiore moved to Serie B side Chievo, where he was impressive, notching up two goals and plenty of assists.

He spent two seasons at Padova and Chievo, before returning to Parma again for two more seasons in 1997, where he broke into the starting line-up and won a double which consisted of his second UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia in 1999.

At youth level, he was a member of the team that won the 1997 Mediterranean Games, while at senior level he was selected to the Italy squads for UEFA Euro 2000, in which he scored one goal as his team reached the final, and UEFA Euro 2004.

This prompted former club, Parma, to re-sign the midfielder in 1997.

For the next two seasons he became a more permanent member of the squad; although he was mainly left on the bench during the 1997–98 season, he looked far more impressive than his main starting eleven contender, the ageing Dino Baggio, when he was given a chance, and he became a member of the starting line-up during the following 1998–99 season.

This season was Fiore's most successful season, as Parma finished fourth in Serie A, and won the Coppa Italia over Fiorentina.

Fiore also won his second career UEFA Cup with Parma that season, as they defeated Marseille 3–0 in the final in Moscow.

Fiore was one of the protagonists of Parma's triumphant European campaign that season, notching two goals in ten UEFA Cup appearances.

In June 1999 Fiore moved to Udinese under Luigi De Canio, originally a cash-plus-player deal in which Parma would receive Stephen Appiah and Márcio Amoroso, for a combined 90 billion lire transfer fees to Udinese, Fiore priced as 15 billion and the rest as cash.

His breakthrough with the club came during the 1999–2000 Serie A season, which saw him score a personal best of 9 goals in 33 appearances.

He subsequently moved to Udinese, where he spent two successful seasons, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000 and thus helping his team qualify for Europe.

At international level, Fiore won 38 caps for the Italy national football team between 2000 and 2004, and scored twice.

His fine form earned him a call to the national side for Euro 2000 at the expense of Dino Baggio, the man who had kept him out of the Parma team for so long.

His fine form continued and he scored 9 goals in 34 games in the 2000–01 season, during which he also won the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup with Udinese, which allowed them to qualify for the UEFA Cup that season.

In his first season at Lazio, Fiore initially played under his former Italy manager at Euro 2000, Dino Zoff.

Eventually, Fiore did move to Lazio in June 2001 along with teammate Giuliano Giannichedda, for a deal over 80 billion Italian lire.

Lazio had big money moves that season, they sold midfielder Juan Sebastián Verón and Pavel Nedvěd that month (June), and sold striker Marcelo Salas to Juventus for cash and Darko Kovačević.

They also got Jaap Stam to compensate part of Verón's transfer fees, as well as signing Gaizka Mendieta from Valencia.

Fiore could not find his best form for Lazio during the 2001–02 season, as the coach that replaced Zoff, Alberto Zaccheroni, persisted in playing him on the left side of midfield.

This resulted in Fiore losing his place in the national side for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

Zaccheroni was dismissed in 2002, and Fiore began to improve with a new coach, Roberto Mancini.

Fiore seemed more at ease playing in the centre of the squad's midfield, and he guided Lazio to fourth in Serie A, thus earning them a place in next season's UEFA Champions League, scoring six goals, and also notably reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup that season, only to lose to the eventual champions Porto.

Lazio won the 2003–04 Coppa Italia, in which Fiore was an inspirational player, finishing the tournament as top scorer with six goals in seven appearances including three goals across the two legs of the final against Juventus.

A move to Lazio ensued, where he won his second Coppa Italia in 2004, finishing as the competition's top-scorer.

His performances led to a transfer to Spanish side Valencia later that year, where he struggled to replicate his previous form despite initially winning the UEFA Supercup, and he was subsequently sent back to Italy on loan to Fiorentina, Torino, and Livorno during his three seasons with the club.

Fiore was in good form for Lazio the following season, despite the loss of several key players in the summer (and then Dejan Stanković in January 2004).

His impressive showings earned him a place on the national side for Euro 2004.

Due to the financial problems which Lazio were suffering, Fiore, along with Bernardo Corradi, were off-loaded to Spanish club Valencia, where he joined the Italian coach Claudio Ranieri, and compatriot Marco Di Vaio, signing a 3+1 years contract.

Corradi was priced at €10 million and Fiore at €6.6 million.

In 2007, he returned permanently to Italy, signing with Mantova for a season; after remaining inactive during the 2008–09 season, he moved to Cosenza in 2009, where he ended his career after two seasons.