Eusebio Di Francesco

Eusebio Di Francesco (Italian pronunciation: [euˈzɛːbjo di franˈtʃesko]; born 8 September 1969) is an Italian manager and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the head coach of Serie A club Lecce.

Club career

Di Francesco started his career with Tuscan teams Empoli and Lucchese. In 1995, he joined Piacenza, where he had the opportunity to play regularly in the top flight. In 1997, he was signed by Roma, winning an Italian championship title in 2001 with the giallorossi. Following this triumph, he agreed to return to Piacenza, for 2 billion lire (€1.03 million by fixed exchange rate) and then retired in 2005 following stints with Ancona and Perugia.

International career

During his time with Roma, Di Francesco also made 12 appearances for the Italy national team between 1998 and 2000, and was called up for a total of 16 times. He received his first call-up while with Piacenza, under manager Cesare Maldini, when he was named in Italy's squad for 1997 Tournoi de France, although he later turned down the offer in order to help Piacenza defeat Cagliari 3–1 relegation play-off in order to remain in Serie A. He made his international debut on 5 September 1998, under Dino Zoff, in a 2–0 victory over Wales in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying match. In addition to his 12 official appearances with Italy, Di Francesco also made an additional appearance for the Italy national team in an unofficial friendly match against the FIFA World Stars on 16 December 1998, held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Italian Football Federation; he scored his only international goal during the match, which ended in a 6–2 victory to the Italians.