Stefano Fiore

Football player infobox
playername= Stefano Fiore
fullname = Stefano Fiore
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1975|4|17
cityofbirth = Cosenza
countryofbirth = Italy
height = height|m=1.81
currentclub = Unattached
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1992-1994
1994-1995
1995-1996
1996-1997
1997-1999
1999-2001
2001-2004
2004-2007
2005-2006
2006
2007
2007-2008
clubs = Cosenza Parma Padova Chievo Verona Parma Udinese Lazio Valencia → Fiorentina ("loan") → Torino ("loan") → Livorno ("loan") Mantova
caps(goals) = 11 0(1) 08 0(1) 24 0(1) 38 0(2) 54 0(2) 67 0(18) 95 0(17) 20 0(2) 38 0(6) 19 0(1) 16 0(2) 24 0(3)
nationalyears = 2000-2004
nationalteam = Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 38 0(2)
pcupdate = January 31 2007
ntupdate = January 31 2007

Stefano Fiore (born April 17, 1975 in Cosenza) is an Italian football (soccer) player who can play in central midfield or on the wing. He is currently unattached with any club. His main attributes are his precise passing and dribbling.

Football career

Parma and early years

Fiore was born in Cosenza, which is where his career began during 1992, the place where he was born. He played just 11 games before moving to Parma in 1994. His limited playing time with the "Gialloblu" forced him to move to Padova for the following season, where he scored 1 goal in 24 games. In the 1996-97 season, Fiore moved to Chievo Verona where he was impressive, notching up 2 goals and plenty of assists. This prompted former club, Parma, to re-sign the midfielder in 1997. For the next 2 seasons the Gialloblu left Fiore mainly on the bench, yet when he was given a chance he looked far more impressive than the ageing Dino Baggio.

Udinese

Fiore's career improved during the 1999-00 season after a move to Udinese. Here he scored 9 goals in 33 appearances. 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. He had a very successful tournament and scored what many regard as the goal of the tournament in the 2-0 victory over Belgium. Fiore returned to Udinese for the 2000-01 season despite rumours of a move to Lazio, Inter Milan and Juventus. His fine form continued and he scored 9 goals in 34 games.

Lazio

Eventually, Fiore did move to Lazio in 2001 in a deal worth €20 million, signing a four year contract. Fellow teammate, Giuliano Giannichedda, also joined him in Rome. Fiore could not find his best form for the "Biancocelesti" as coach, 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. Fiore admitted that he did not deserve to go due to his poor form for Lazio, but the midfielder was gutted.

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 midfield and guided Lazio to fourth in Serie A, thus earning them a place in next season's UEFA Champions League. Fiore was in good form for Lazio the following season, despite the loss of several key players in the summer. Lazio won the Coppa Italia, in which Fiore was an inspirational player. His impressive showings earned him a place on the national side for Euro 2004. However, Fiore was used sparingly by coach Giovanni Trapattoni, who preferred to play the Argentine born winger, Mauro Camoranesi. When he did start, the Azzurri looked a lot more creative, with Fiore nearly scoring from a spectacular volley against Bulgaria in the final group game. Despite the Azzurri winning this match, the damage was done in the 2 previous group games, and Italy exited the tournament early.

Valencia

Due to the financial problems that Lazio were suffering, Fiore, along with Bernardo Corradi, were offloaded to Spanish outfit, Valencia, where he joined with the Italian coach Claudio Ranieri, signing a 3+1 years contract. [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=203727.html] After a promising start, Valencia suffered a disastrous losing streak in October, which they never fully recovered from. They exited the UEFA Champions League early, and coach Claudio Ranieri was dismissed by mid February. Fiore could not adequately adapt to the demands of Spanish football, and was often left on the substitutes bench. In the summer of 2005, he returned to Serie A, with Fiorentina taking the midfielder on a loan spell. His form with the Viola was outstanding. He linked up well with fellow Italian striker, Luca Toni, and together they brought Fiorentina to a higher level, guding them to 4th in Serie A (before the Calciopoli verdicts saw them lose this place). Despite many fans and pundits alike claiming that he deserved a recall to the national side, Fiore missed out on Marcello Lippi's 23 man squad for the 2006 World Cup.

Surprisingly, Fiorentina decided not to take Fiore on a permanent basis despite his highly impressive loan spell. What made this even more surprising was that Valencia were willing to release Fiore for as little as £2 million. After much speculation linking the midfielder with Milan, Inter and Juventus, Fiore sealed a loan move to Torino on deadline day. In early 2007 he was linked with a move to either Manchester City F.C. or Parma F.C.; however, he was finally loaned to A.S. Livorno Calcio at the closure of the Italian transfer market, on January 31.

On February 11, 2007 he played his first Serie A match for Livorno against A.C. Milan [ cite web|title=Tactical Formation|work=Football-Lineups.com
url=http://www.football-lineups.com/wiki/_match3862.php | accessdate=February 15 | accessyear=2007]

In the summer 2007, he failed to find a club to settle, until 24 August, 2007, he signed with A.C. Mantova of Serie B, which he last experienced in 1997. After the season 2007-2008 ended, his contract with Mantova was terminated.

Fiore has most recently been linked to Canadian side Toronto FC of Major League Soccer in North America.

International goals

Honours

*1995 UEFA Cup winner Parma
*1999 UEFA Cup winner Parma
*1999 Italian Cup winner Parma
*2004 Italian Cup winner S.S. Lazio

References

External links

* [http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/fo/profiles/4356.html Stefano Fiore's record of achievements]