Aimo Diana

Aimo Stefano Diana (; born 2 January 1978) is an Italian football manager and a former player. A player of wide range, he was capable of playing both as a wide midfielder or as a defender on the right flank. He is the head coach of club Union Brescia.

Club career

Born in Brescia, Diana is a product of Brescia Calcio's youth system. He made his debut for the first team in Serie B in 1997 and played his first Serie A game on 31 August of the same year against Inter Milan. He played one season with Hellas Verona F.C. in a co-ownership deal, helping the side to a final ninth position in the top level, and left for Parma A.C. in 2001.

Diana was used irregularly by the Emilia-Romagna side, winning the Italian Cup in his first season, but hardly featuring at all in 2002–03. In January 2003, he moved on loan to Reggina Calcio along with Emiliano Bonazzoli, posteriorly signing for U.C. Sampdoria at the end of the campaign. A key member from the start for the Genovese, he helped the team qualify for the UEFA Cup in his second year, scoring five goals in 32 matches; in early May 2005 he scored the game's only at Juventus FC and, the following week, also found the net, in a 3–0 home success against ACF Fiorentina.

In the 2006 summer, Diana signed for U.S. Città di Palermo for €5 million, with Sampdoria also selling Marco Pisano to the same club for €4 million and receiving Massimo Bonanni (50% for €2million), Pietro Accardi (€2 million) and Christian Terlizzi (50% for €1.5 million). He was regularly used in one 1/2 seasons and scored two goals, including the equalizer in a 2–1 home win by the ''Rosanero'' against A.C. Milan on 26 September 2007. On 30 January of the following year he was sold to Torino F.C. in a permanent move, for €1.2 million.

In early January 2010, ultras of Torino attacked club players during David Di Michele's birthday party. After the incident, Riccardo Colombo, Diana, Di Michele, Massimo Loviso, Marco Pisano, Francesco Pratali and Paolo Zanetti were transferred to other clubs, with only Rolando Bianchi, Angelo Ogbonna and Matteo Rubin remaining.

Diana joined AC Bellinzona in Switzerland on loan in early February 2010, making his Super League debut on the 21st in a 2–1 away loss against FC Luzern, eventually contributing solidly (15 matches, 14 starts) as the club narrowly retained its division status.

Subsequently, 32-year-old Diana returned to Torino. On 4 January 2011 he mutually terminated his contract, re-signing for Bellinzona (on a permanent basis) the following day.

International career

After impressing Sampdoria, Diana received his first call-up to the Italy national team, making his debut in a friendly match with Spain on 28 April 2004.

A regular for the ''Azzurri'' under Marcello Lippi, an injury prevented him from being picked to the squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. On 2 June 2007, in his last appearance, Diana assisted on Filippo Inzaghi's second goal against the Faroe Islands, in a 2–1 away win for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying.

Managerial career

After retiring, Diana became a youth coach at Feralpisalò, being successively promoted to head coach in November 2015. He completed the season in eighth place in the 2015–16 Lega Pro, not being confirmed for the following year.

In August 2016, he was hired new head coach of Pavia, but resigned shortly thereafter, following the club's exclusion from Serie D due to financial issues. In February 2017, he was signed by Lega Pro club Melfi, failing to escape relegation by the end of the season.

He returned into management in December 2017 as the new boss of Sicilian Serie C club Sicula Leonzio.

On 20 November 2018, he was appointed head coach of Serie C club Renate, in the relegation spot at the time. He guided Renate for three full seasons, the last of which ended with Renate topping the league for a long time until losing out to more renowned teams such as Como and Alessandria, and then losing to second-placed Girone B club Padova in the promotion playoffs. Following that, Diana agreed to leave Renate and accepted to join recently-relegated Serie C club Reggiana on a one-year deal, with an option of further extension in case of promotion to Serie B.

After guiding Reggiana to win promotion to Serie B as 2022–23 Serie C Group B champions, Diana left the Emilian club by the end of the season. On 27 June 2023, he was announced as the new head coach of ambitious Serie C club LR Vicenza. He was dismissed from his role on 18 December 2023 after a negative first half of the season that left Vicenza far from first place in the league table.

On 20 June 2024, Diana agreed to return to Feralpisalò, signing a two-year contract with the Serie C club, with Emanuele Filippini as his assistant. Following Feralpisalò's relocation to Brescia under the new denomination of Union Brescia, Diana stayed in at the new club.

Personal life

In 2016, Diana ran for office as a candidate for the city council of Flero, his town of residence, as part of a civic list backing the local Democratic Party mayor.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Parma
* Coppa Italia: 2001–02

Manager

;Reggiana
* Serie C: 2022–23

References

External links

*

Aimo Diana
at ''Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio'' (archived)
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diana, Aimo
1978 births
Living people
Footballers from Brescia
Italian men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Men's association football midfielders
Serie A players
Serie B players
Serie C players
Brescia Calcio players
Hellas Verona FC players
Parma Calcio 1913 players
AS Reggina 1914 players
UC Sampdoria players
Palermo FC players
Torino FC players
FC Lumezzane players
Swiss Super League players
AC Bellinzona players
Italy men's under-21 international footballers
Italy men's international footballers
Italian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland
Italian football managers
AC Reggiana 1919 managers
LR Vicenza managers
Serie C managers
Feralpisalò managers