Diego Fuser (; born 11 November 1968) is an Italian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, mainly on the

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

, although he was also capable of playing in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. Fuser was a quick, hard-working, and energetic player, with good technique, and crossing ability, who excelled at making offensive runs down the right flank and assisting strikers with accurate crosses. A tenacious, and physically strong winger, he also possessed notable stamina, a powerful shot from distance, and was accurate from set-pieces.

Club career

Born in

Venaria Reale Venaria Reale () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northwest of Turin. Venaria Reale borders the municipalities of Robassomero, Caselle Torinese, Druento, Borgaro T ...

Province of Turin The province of Turin (; ; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Turin. Geography It ...

, Fuser started his professional career with

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in 1986. He played 49 games for them before moving to

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

(1989–92). During his two seasons at Milan he collected a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

(1989) medal and a

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...

(1988), as well as the

1989 European Super Cup The 1989 European Super Cup was the 14th European Super Cup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's European Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup competitions. The 1989 Super Cup was played on a home-and-away basis ...

and

Intercontinental Cup Intercontinental Cup may refer to: Football * FIFA Intercontinental Cup, an association football competition involving the club champions of the six confederations of FIFA * Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004), an association football competition o ...

titles. During his time at Milan, Fuser also spent time on loan at

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

during the 1990–91 season, before completing a move to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

in 1992. This turned out to be arguably his most successful time in football becoming a fan favourite while playing 188 games in six years, scoring 35 goals and winning the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 1998, as the club's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. After moving to

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in 1998 he won the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, the Coppa Italia and the

Italian Super Cup The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous sea ...

in 1999. He wore the number 14 shirt and captained the team in their 3–0 1999 UEFA Cup final victory over

Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Founded in 1899, OM has ...

on 6 May. Fuser blotted his Lazio copybook by joining

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

in the summer of 2001, where he only played 15 games in two seasons, winning the

2001 Supercoppa Italiana The 2001 Supercoppa Italiana was a match played by 2000–01 Serie A winners Roma and 2000–01 Coppa Italia winners Fiorentina. The match took place on 19 August 2001 in Stadio Olimpico, Rome and resulted in a 3–0 victory for Roma. The goal ...

, and managing second-place finishes in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

in 2002, and in the

in 2003. During the 2003–04 season he played for his original club Torino, in

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

In the lower leagues

In 2004, he signed for ASDC Canelli, whom he helped to win its

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

round during the 2005–06 season, earning promotion to

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

. In 2008, together with fellow player and personal friend

Gianluigi Lentini Gianluigi Lentini (; born 27 March 1969) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a winger. Once dubbed the "new Gigi Meroni", Lentini began his senior career with hometown club Torino in 1986, with whom he won a Serie B titl ...

, he moved to Saviglianese, a

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's ...

amateur club of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. He played also for the amateur clubs of Canelli and Nicese, which he simultaneously coached. In 2012, he played for another amateur club of Piedmont,

Colline Alfieri Don Bosco A.S.D. Asti, known as Asti and formerly A.S.D. Alfieri Asti or A.S.D. Colline Alfieri Don Bosco (Colline Alfieri D.B. or just Colline Alfieri), is an Italian football club based in Asti, Piedmont. FIGC registration number of the club is 63,519. ...

in Promozione.

International career

Fuser initially represented Italy at Under-21 level on 18 occasions between 1987 and 1990, scoring 2 goals; he was notably a member of the team that finished in third place at the

1990 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 1990 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which spanned two years (1988–90), had 30 entrants. San Marino competed for the first time. USSR U-21s won the competition. The 30 national teams were divided into eight groups (six groups of 4 + t ...

, under manager

Cesare Maldini Cesare Maldini (; 5 February 1932 – 3 April 2016) was an Italian professional football manager and player who played as a defender. Father to Paolo Maldini and grandfather to Daniel Maldini, Cesare began his career with Italian side Trie ...

. He also played for the senior

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

on 25 occasions between 1993 and 2000, scoring 3 goals, and he was a participant at the

1996 UEFA European Championship The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

under manager

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach, best known for having twice managed AC Milan. Sacchi is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and his Milan side (1987–1991) is widely regarded ...

, making 3 appearances as Italy were eliminated in the first found. He was also in

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is the oldest ever ...

's provisional 26 man squad for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

before missing the final cut.

Personal life

Diego Fuser is married to Orietta. Their son Matteo died in 2011, at the age of 15, after struggling with illness.

Honours

Milan *

: 1991–92 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1989–90 *

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Lazio *

: 1997–98 *

runner-up: 1997–98 Parma *Coppa Italia: 1998–99 *UEFA Cup: 1998–99 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Roma *Supercoppa Italiana:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

*Serie A runner-up: 2001–02 *Coppa Italia runner-up: 2002–03

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuser, Diego 1968 births Living people People from Venaria Reale Men's association football midfielders Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Torino FC players ACF Fiorentina players AC Milan players SS Lazio players Parma Calcio 1913 players AS Roma players Serie A players Serie B players Serie D players UEFA Euro 1996 players Italy men's B international footballers UEFA Europa League–winning players Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Turin 20th-century Italian sportsmen