Eusebio Di Francesco

Eusebio Di Francesco (Italian pronunciation: [euˈzɛːbjo di franˈtʃesko]; born 8 September 1969) is an Italian manager, and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently head coach of Serie A club Cagliari.

Eusebio Di Francesco
Di Francesco managing Roma in 2018
Personal information
Full name Eusebio Di Francesco
Date of birth (1969-09-08) 8 September 1969
Place of birth Pescara, Italy
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Cagliari (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1991 Empoli 102 (3)
1991–1995 Lucchese 139 (12)
1995–1997 Piacenza 67 (5)
1997–2001 Roma 101 (14)
2001–2003 Piacenza 61 (12)
2003–2004 Ancona 10 (0)
2004–2005 Perugia 30 (1)
Total 510 (47)
National team
1998–2000 Italy 12 (1)
Teams managed
2008–2009 Virtus Lanciano
2010–2011 Pescara
2011–2012 Lecce
2012–2014 Sassuolo
2014–2017 Sassuolo
2017–2019 Roma
2019 Sampdoria
2020– Cagliari
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Di Francesco started his career with Tuscan teams Empoli and Lucchese. In 1995, he joined Piacenza, where he had the opportunity to play regularly in the top flight. In 1997, he was signed by A.S. Roma, winning an Italian championship title in 2001 with the giallorossi.[1] Following this triumph, he agreed to return to Piacenza, for 2 billion lire[2] (€1.03 million by fixed exchange rate) and then retired in 2005 following stints with Ancona and Perugia.[3][4]

International career

During his time with Roma, Di Francesco also made 12 appearances for the Italian national team between 1998 and 2000, and was called up for a total of 16 times.[5] He received his first call-up while with Piacenza, under manager Cesare Maldini, when he was named in Italy's squad for 1997 Tournoi de France,[6][7] although he later turned down the offer in order to help Piacenza defeat Cagliari 3–1 relegation play-off in order to remain in Serie A.[8][9] He made his international debut on 5 September 1998, under Dino Zoff, in a 2–0 victory over Wales in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying match.[10][11] In addition to his 12 official appearances with Italy, Di Francesco also made an additional appearance for the Italian national team in an unofficial friendly match against the FIFA World Stars on 16 December 1998, held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Italian Football Federation; he scored his only international goal during the match, which ended in a 6–2 victory to the Italians.[12]

Style of play

Di Francesco was a hard-working and consistent midfielder, 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 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.[3][4]

Coaching career

After his retirement from football, he served as team manager for A.S. Roma. He then served as sports director (in charge of transfers) for Serie C2 club Val di Sangro in 2007.[13] In 2008, he was appointed as head coach of Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Virtus Lanciano, being later sacked in January 2009 due to poor results.[14]

He then served as head coach of Pescara in the 2010–11 Serie B, 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 in order to hold talks with Serie A club Lecce regarding the vacant head coaching post at the club from Salento.[15] 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.[16]

On 19 June 2012, Di Francesco was appointed the head coach of Serie B side Sassuolo. 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,[17] only to be re-appointed to the post on 3 March 2014[18] 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 final seven games of the season). In June 2014, it was announced Di Francesco had signed an extension that will keep him contracted with Sassuolo until June 2016.[19] He extended his contract again in April 2016, which would last until June 2019.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]

On 13 June 2017, Di Francesco was appointed as Roma head coach, replacing Luciano Spalletti, who left for Inter.[23] In his first season with the Serie A club, 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. In the quarter finals, Roma were able to overturn a 4–1 first leg deficit to defeat Barcelona to progress to the next round. They were eventually defeated by Liverpool 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. On 7 March 2019, Di Francesco was sacked by Roma following a Champions League exit in the round of 16 against Porto.[24] At the time of his sacking, Roma were 5th in Serie A. Jim Pallotta, club's president to Roma's official website:

On behalf of myself and everyone at AS Roma, I’d like to thank Eusebio for his work and his commitment. Since returning to the club, Eusebio has always acted professionally and put the club’s needs ahead of his own. We all wish him well for the future.

— Jim Pallotta to AS Roma's official website

On 22 June 2019, he was appointed new head coach of Serie A club Sampdoria.[25] On 7 October 2019, with Sampdoria in last place in Serie A table and with 6 losses in 7 league games, he left the club by mutual consent.[26]

Di Francesco was appointed manager of yet another Serie A club, Cagliari, on 3 August 2020.[27]

Personal life

Eusebio Di Francesco has a son, Federico (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.[28] Eusebio Di Francesco was named after the Portuguese Football legend Eusébio.[29]

Managerial statistics
As of 3 August 2020[30]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Virtus Lanciano 23 June 2008 27 January 2009 20 6 3 11 25 32 −7 030.00
Pescara 12 January 2010 22 June 2011 62 24 17 21 68 63 +5 038.71
Lecce 24 June 2011 4 December 2011 14 2 2 10 11 25 −14 014.29
Sassuolo 19 June 2012 28 January 2014 67 31 15 21 104 90 +14 046.27
Sassuolo 3 March 2014 13 June 2017 142 52 39 51 200 196 +4 036.62
Roma 13 June 2017 7 March 2019 87 46 18 23 151 104 +47 052.87
Sampdoria 22 June 2019 8 October 2019 8 2 0 6 7 17 −10 025.00
Cagliari 3 August 2020 Present 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
Total 400 163 94 143 566 527 +39 040.75

Honours

Player
Roma[1]

Manager
Sassuolo[31]

Individual
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gollark: It's in-place.
gollark: Maybe it should be `res[8..<^1]` but who knows.

References
  1. Terry Daley (20 September 2015). "Francesco Totti reaches landmark but Roma icon is approaching the end". ESPN FC. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  2. "Lupatelli va al Chievo, Di Francesco a Piacenza" [Lupatelli to Chievo, Di Francesco to Piacenza] (in Italian). A.S. Roma. 29 June 2001. Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  3. "Di Francesco, Eusebio" (in Italian). enciclopediagiallorossa.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  4. "DI FRANCESCO EUSEBIO" (in Italian). tuttocalciatori.net. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  5. "Di Francesco, Eusebio" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  6. "French feast to comfort soccer starved". irishtimes.com. 3 June 1997. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  7. "TORNEO DI FRANCIA, TORNA PAGLIUCA CON 3 DEBUTTANTI" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 31 May 1997. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  8. Licia Granello (3 June 1997). "ITALIA IN TRAPPOLA MALDINI HA I NERVI" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  9. "LO SPAREGGIO: CAGLIARI – PIACENZA 1-3" (in Italian). storiapiacenza1919. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  10. "Eusebio Di Francesco: Le partite disputate con la maglia dell'Italia" (in Italian). Italia1910. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  11. "Galles-Italia 0-2" (in Italian). Rai Sport. 5 September 1998. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  12. Giancarlo Padovan; Franco Melli (17 December 1998). "L' Italia fa la festa al resto del mondo" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  13. "Lo staff tecnico e la dirigenza" (in Italian). Polisportiva Val di Sangro. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
  14. "Via Di Francesco, arriva Pagliari" (in Italian). Lanciano.it. 2009-01-27. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  15. "Il Pescara sceglie Zeman Di Francesco verso Lecce" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  16. "Serse Cosmi nuovo allenatore". US Lecce (in Italian). 4 December 2011. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  17. "Sassuolo dispense with Di Francesco". UEFA.com. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  18. "Communicato Ufficiale". SassuoloCalcio.it. 4 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  19. "Sassuolo, Di Francesco rinnova fino al 2016" (in Italian). Il Resto del Carlino. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  20. "Sassuolo Calcio e mister Eusebio Di Francesco insieme fino a Giugno 2019" (in Italian). U.S. Sassuolo Calcio. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  21. "Sassuolo: 'Italian success story'". Football Italia. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  22. Pietro Razzini (25 August 2016). "Europa League, Stella Rossa-Sassuolo 1-1, Berardi segna ancora" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  23. "Official: Di Francesco new Roma coach". Football Italia. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  24. "AS Roma announced today that head coach Eusebio Di Francesco has left the club with immediate effect".
  25. "DI FRANCESCO È IL NUOVO ALLENATORE DELLA SAMPDORIA" (Press release) (in Italian). Sampdoria. 22 June 2019.
  26. "U.C. SAMPDORIA: COMUNICATO STAMPA DEL 7 OTTOBRE 2019" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. Sampdoria. 7 October 2019.
  27. "Di Francesco è il nuovo allenatore del Cagliari" (Press release) (in Italian). Cagliari Calcio. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  28. "DI FRANCESCO FEDERICO" (in Italian). tuttocalciatori.net. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  29. Elena Baiguera Beltrami (2 June 2016). "Eusebio Di Francesco operato all'anca a Tione" (in Italian). Il Trentino (Corriere delle Alpi). Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  30. "Eusebio Di Francesco career sheet". footballdatabase. footballdatabase. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  31. "Serie B, Sassuolo e Verona promosse in A. Ascoli e Vicenza retrocesse" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 18 May 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  32. "Panchina d'Oro, vince Conte, poi Montella e Mazzarri" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  33. "Football Leader 2013: premiato Di Francesco, tecnico Sassuolo" (in Italian). Calciomercato.com. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  34. "Di Francesco wins Bearzot Award" (in Italian). Football Italia. 13 April 2018.
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