Luca Fusi (; born 7 June 1963) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 ...

turned

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 ...

, 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 ...

or defender. He is the current head coach of

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione 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 ...

team Castel Rigone. During his club career he played for

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

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 ...

and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. He earned 8 caps for the

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 ...

and took part in the

1988 UEFA European Football Championship The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France were the defending champio ...

. He was known as an intelligent, hardworking, tactically versatile, and correct player throughout his career, with good technique and determination, and could also play as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 80 species in two genus, genera. One ...

, a role in which he was frequently deployed in his later career, following his athletic decline, due to his playmaking ability.

Club career

Fusi began his career with

, then playing for

from 1986 to 1988, and also winning a

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 ...

with the Genoan side. In 1988, he left Sampdoria to join

, winning a

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 ...

in 1989 and a

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 ...

championship type in 1990. In June 1990, he successively left Napoli to become part of the

midfield. Ironically for him, he scored his only Serie A goal for Torino away to Napoli on 16 February 1992, a left-footed strike from outside the area. Having won another

title in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, also reaching the 1992 UEFA Cup final, he moved to crosstown rivals

, where he won another

title and a personal third

in 1995, although he began to be deployed less frequently when Lippi switched to a zonal marking defensive system, which did not feature a sweeper, and collected only 10 appearances in the league in total, and 18 in all competitions throughout the season. He ended his career with Swiss side

AC Lugano FC Lugano is a Swiss professional football club based in Lugano. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its origina ...

, where he played from 1996 to 1997.

International career

Fusi made his Italy national team debut on 31 March 1988 in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, as a substitute for

Luigi De Agostini Luigi De Agostini (; born 7 April 1961) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer. He played as a Defender (association football), defender, primarily in the role of an attacking Defender (association football)#Full-bac ...

. He was also called up for Italy at the

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...

under manager

Azeglio Vicini Azeglio Vicini (; 20 March 1933 – 30 January 2018) was an Italian football coach and player, who also served as the President of the Technical Sector of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). One of Italy's most important coaches during ...

, but did not play in any of Italy's matches during the tournament as the team reached the semi-finals. In total, Fusi made 8 appearances for Italy between 1988 and 1992.

Coaching career

After two seasons as assistant coach at

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

, in 2007–08 season, Fusi served as head coach of Bellaria Igea of

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 ...

(fourth tier). In June 2008, he signed for Real Marcianise 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 ...

(third tier), guiding them to a mid-table finish. He is currently serving as head coach of

Foligno Foligno (; Central Italian, Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennine Mountains, Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clit ...

, another Lega Pro Prima Divisione team, for the 2009–10 season. He was removed from his managerial duties on 27 April 2010 due to poor results, with Foligno in 15th place, and replaced by Salvatore Matrecano. On 23 October 2013, Fusi became coach of Castel Rigone.

Honours

Club

Sampdoria *

: 1987–88 Napoli *

: 1989–90 *

: 1988–89 Torino *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

: 1991 *

: runner up 1991–92 *

: 1992–93 Juventus *

: 1994–95 *

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 ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

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 ...

: 1995–96 Individual *

Torino FC Hall of Fame This is a list of Torino FC players who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame Granata. History The Hall of Fame Granata (''granata'' is the English for "maroon", the club's traditional colour) was created by the Museo del Grande Torino e della ...

: 2023

References

External links

Career profile
*
Profile at FIGC.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fusi, Luca 1963 births Living people Footballers from Lecco Italian men's footballers Italian football managers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Italy men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players Italian expatriate men's footballers Como 1907 players UC Sampdoria players SSC Napoli players Torino FC players Juventus FC players FC Lugano players Serie A players Serie B players Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland AC Bellaria Igea Marina managers UEFA Europa League–winning players 20th-century Italian sportsmen