Eusebio Di Francesco (; born 8 September 1969) is an Italian

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and 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 ...

. He is the head coach of club

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Club career

Di Francesco started his career with Tuscan teams

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

and Lucchese. In 1995, he joined

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, 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 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 ...

with the ''giallorossi''. Following this triumph, he agreed to return to Piacenza, for 2

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: * 1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is now the most common sense of the word in all varieties of ...

lire (€1.03 million by fixed exchange rate) and then retired in 2005 following stints with

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

and

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

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 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 ...

, 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 Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

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 Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

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 The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

World Stars on 16 December 1998, held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

; he scored his only international goal during the match, which ended in a 6–2 victory to the Italians.

Style of play

Di Francesco was a hard-working and consistent

who, despite not being the most technically gifted footballer, possessed a solid first touch and an ability to make attacking runs into the area. Capable of playing both in

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 ...

or on the wing, he was known in particular for his leadership, versatility, and exceptional stamina, as well as his tireless runs up and down the flank.

Coaching career

Early years

After he retired from football, Di Francesco served as team manager for his former club Roma. He then served as the sporting director (in charge of transfers) for

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

club Val di Sangro in 2007. In 2008, he was appointed as head coach of

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

club Virtus Lanciano, being later sacked in January 2009 due to poor results. He then served as head coach of

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

in the

2010–11 Serie B The 2010–11 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) is the seventy-ninth season since its establishment in 1929, and the first one under the rule of the new Lega Serie B. A total of 22 teams contest the league, 15 of which retu ...

, guiding his team to an impressive season, also thanks to glimpses of attractive football. In June 2011, it was revealed Di Francesco had left Pescara by mutual consent to hold talks with

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 ...

club

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

regarding the vacant head coaching post at the club from

Salento Salento (; Salentino dialect, Salentino: ''Salentu''; Griko language, Salento Griko: ) is a Cultural area, cultural, List of historical states of Italy, historical, and geographic region at the southern end of the administrative region of Apuli ...

. He was removed from his coaching duties on 4 December 2011, after achieving only eight points in thirteen games, and leaving his side at the bottom of the league table.

Sassuolo

On 19 June 2012, Di Francesco was appointed the head coach of

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 ...

side

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

. At the end of 2012–13 season, he guided Sassuolo to the Serie B championship and promotion to the top-flight campaign. He was sacked on 28 January 2014 after a poor run of results, only to be re-appointed to the post on 3 March 2014 after results did not improve in his absence. From March 2014 onwards, results improved, and Di Francesco successfully coached to save Sassuolo from relegation thanks to a run of positive results (13 points in the season's final seven games). In June 2014, it was announced Di Francesco had signed an extension that will keep him contracted with Sassuolo until June 2016. He extended his contract again in April 2016, which would last until June 2019. Sassuolo finished the 2015–16 Serie A season in sixth place, sealing a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. The following season, Sassuolo managed to advance to the Europa League play-offs under Di Francesco, and eventually sealed a spot in the Europa League group stage.

Roma

On 13 June 2017, Di Francesco was appointed as Roma head coach, replacing

Luciano Spalletti Luciano Spalletti (; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian Association football, football Association football manager, manager and former association footballer, player. He was most recently the manager of the Italy national football team, Italian n ...

, who had left for Internazionale. In his first season, he finished third, qualifying for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. In the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, Roma qualified for the knockout round after topping a group including Chelsea and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. In the quarter-finals, Roma were able to overturn a 4–1 first-leg deficit to defeat

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and progress to the next round. They were eventually defeated by

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in the semi-finals (7–6 on aggregate). On 30 January 2019, Roma were knocked out of 2018–19 Coppa Italia, after being beaten 7–1 by

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 ...

. On 7 March 2019, Di Francesco was sacked by Roma following a Champions League exit in the round of 16 against Porto. At the time of his sacking, Roma were fifth in Serie A. Jim Pallotta, club's president, posted to Roma's official website:

Sampdoria

On 22 June 2019, he was appointed new head coach of

club Sampdoria. On 7 October 2019, with Sampdoria in last place in Serie A table and with six losses in seven league games, he left the club by mutual consent.

Cagliari

Di Francesco was appointed manager of another Serie A club,

, on 3 August 2020. Di Francesco was sacked on 22 February 2021.

Hellas Verona

On 7 June 2021, he was unveiled as the new Hellas Verona head coach, signing a two-year contract, until 30 June 2023, starting with the

2021–22 Serie A The 2021–22 Serie A (known as the Serie A Telecom Italia, TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 120th season of top-tier Italian association football, football, the 90th in a round-robin tournament, and the 12th since its organization under an ...

season. but following three defeats in the first three league games, he was sacked on 14 September 2021.

Frosinone

On 1 July 2023, Di Francesco was named the new head coach of newly promoted Serie A club

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

, replacing outgoing manager Fabio Grosso. Despite an impressive start of the season, Frosinone were eventually relegated on the final matchday of the season, leading Di Francesco to depart from the club with immediate effect.

Venezia

On 26 June 2024, Di Francesco was hired as the new head coach of newly promoted Serie A club

on a two-year deal.

Personal life

Eusebio Di Francesco has a son,

Federico Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick (given name), Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Italian language, Italian. People with the given name Federico Ar ...

(born in 1994), who followed his father's footsteps by becoming a footballer too. He plays as a winger and made his Serie A debut in March 2013 at the age of 18. Eusebio Di Francesco was named after the Portuguese Football legend

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;AS Roma *

: 2000–01

Manager

;Sassuolo *

: 2012–13

Individual

* Panchina d'argento: 2012–13 *Football Leader: 2013 (The First Serie B) * Enzo Bearzot Award: 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Francesco, Eusebio 1969 births Living people Footballers from Pescara Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Empoli FC players Lucchese 1905 players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players AS Roma players AC Ancona players AC Perugia Calcio players Italian football managers SS Virtus Lanciano 1924 managers Delfino Pescara 1936 managers US Lecce managers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Men's association football midfielders Serie A managers US Sassuolo Calcio managers AS Roma managers UC Sampdoria managers Cagliari Calcio managers Hellas Verona FC managers Frosinone Calcio managers Venezia FC managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen