Diego Fuser played for Lazio from 1992 to 1998.
He was born in Venaria Reale (Torino) on November 11, 1968.
Fuser was formed in the Torino youth sector between 1983 and 1986. He then joined the first team and made his debut in the 1986-1987 season playing 3 games. The next year he increased to 16 games and he made his real breakthrough in 1988-89 making 30 appearances and scoring 4 goals.
At that point he moved away from home and signed for Milan. He only stayed one season playing 20 league games with 2 goals (plus another 12 games in other competitions) but winning a European Cup, European Supercup and Intercontinental Club Cup.
In 1990 he moved to Fiorentina on loan. He played regularly making 32 appearances with 8 goals (plus 6 games and 1 goal in Coppa Italia).
He was then recalled by Milan but in the 1991-92 season only got 15 league games and 4 goals (plus 7 games in Coppa Italia). He did however, no small detail, win the scudetto.
In 1992 he was sold to Lazio for 7 billion Lire (approx 3.5 million Euros). In his first season in Rome under manager Zoff he played 33 league games and scored an impressive 10 goals (plus 5 games and a goal in Coppa Italia).
Over the following five years Fuser would play with continuity for Lazio with Dino Zoff, Zdenek Zeman and Sven-Goran Eriksson. Between 1992 and 1998 he played: 188 league games with 35 goals, 28 games in Coppa Italia with 3 goals and 26 games in the UEFA Cup with 4 goals.
The peak of his Lazio career came on April 29 1998, when as captain he lifted Lazio's first trophy for 30 years, the Coppa Italia (defeating Milan 3-2 on aggregate).
The following season with the arrivals of Sinisa Mihajlovic, Ivan de la Peña, Dejan Stankovic, Sèrgio Conçeicão, Marcelo Salas and Christian Vieri (those were the days), Fuser was sold to Parma.
In Emilia Fuser played for three seasons making 86 league appearances with 10 goals, plus another 13 Coppa Italia games and 20 in Europe. With the Gialloblu of Parma he won 3 trophies; the Coppa Italia ('98 -'99), the UEFA Cup ('98-'99) and the Italian Supercoppa ('99).
In the summer of 2001 Fuser did the unmentionable, especially as former Lazio captain, and signed for Roma. At the time he made himself extremely unpopular with Lazio fans but luckily his time on the “other side of the Tiber” was not particularly memorable. He stayed two years but only played a total of 15 league games with 2 goals, 5 games in Coppa Italia , 5 in Champions League and one Super Coppa final (which Roma won in 2001). He left the Giallorossi without leaving much of a trace. It was a pity though that he had put a black mark on his Lazio career by joining the hated enemy team.
In 2003-2004 Fuser returned home to Torino in Serie B where he played 29 games with 2 goals. He did not manage to help them get promoted and they ended up 12th in mid-table.
Fuser at 36 then decided to continue playing but at a lower level. Between 2004 and 2012 he played for regional teams in and around Turin (Canelli, Saviglianese, Canelli again, Nicese and finally just 2 games for Colline Alfieri). He played another 135 amateur games and scored 41 goals. He finally retired from football on December 5 2012 at 44.
At International level Fuser earned 18 Under-21 caps (2 goals) and 35 full Italy caps (3 goals). He played in the 1996 European Championship and played a major role in Italy's qualification for Euro 2000, but then missing out on the finals due to injury.
Fuser was an attacking midfielder and played mainly on the right wing but also in the centre. He was a strong, physical player with good athleticism. He would often cover great distances with his bursts from midfield sometimes even going end to end. He had good technique, a precise cross and was dangerous on set pieces. One weakness was his heading, not his strong point, despite his 1.83 metre height.
He was well liked in his Lazio days. He had his own chant, a popular Japanese cartoon theme song by Actarus adapted to him. He did not maybe have the best footballing brain and would often make wrong choices between passing and shooting (and teams...) but he was hard-working, solid and reasonably skillful, so good to watch.
His faux pas of joining the enemy ranks will possibly be written out of the history books at some stage. What will remain are his 42 goals for Lazio and the image of Fuser lifting the Coppa Italia to the sky in 1998.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
1992-93 | 38 (11) | 33 (10) | 5 (1) | - |
1993-94 | 31 (2) | 28 (2) | 1 | 2 |
1994-95 | 45 (7) | 32 (5) | 6 (1) | 7 (1) |
1995-96 | 39 (6) | 32 (6) | 4 | 3 |
1996-97 | 38 (6) | 31 (4) | 3 | 4 (2) |
1997-98 | 51 (10) | 32 (8) | 9 (1) | 10 (1) |
Total | 242 (42) | 188 (35) | 28 (3) | 26 (4) |
Sources