Fabio Bazzani was born in Bologna, on October 20, 1976.
After youth sector experiences at Bologna and Spal, his first club was local Bo.Ca at amateur level. In 1996 he moved to Sandonà, his first professional team, and a year later joined Venezia but only got 2 games. In 1998 he went to Varese in C1 (29 games - 3 goals) then in 1999 Arezzo in C1 (31 games- 20 goals). He then returned to Venezia in Serie B (39 games- 5 goals). The "Winged Lions" won promotion to Serie A but Bazzani moved on. In 2001 he was loaned to Perugia so still in Serie A (29 games -10 goals).
In 2002 he arrived at a bigger club when he joined Sampdoria but back in Serie B. Here he was reunited with manager Walter Novellino who had coached him in Venice. He had a good two and a half seasons with the Blucerchiati playing 83 league games with 31 goals. In the first they won promotion back to Serie A. In the second he scored 13 league goals and was called up by the "Nazionale". In his third he was not performing as well and had some clashes with the manager.
In January 2005 he came to Lazio who needed some reinforcements in attack to avoid relegation. At Lazio he played 15 league games and scored 3 goals (Palermo, Atalanta, Palermo again). The two goals against Atalanta and Palermo were decisive in Lazio's successful battle against relegation. They brought Lazio three extra points without which they would have gone down as they finished two points above the drop zone.
After his brief stint in Rome Bazzani returned to Sampdoria. He patched things up with Novellino and played another two seasons but with 27 league games and 2 goals due to a serious injury.
In 2007 he joined Livorno but was immediately loaned to Brescia. He was not accepted by the left-wing Livorno supporters group who accused Bazzani of having opposing political views. The player has always denied these alleged opinions but as it was he was "forced" to leave the Amaranto of Leghorn.
At Brescia he played 25 games in Serie B and scored 1 goal. He then spent a year at Pescara in Lega Pro (14 games- 2 goals), a year with Spal in Lega Pro (13 appearances- 3 goals). That was his last "biggish" team as he spent the last five years of his career at Mezzolara (near Bologna) in Serie D (122 games- 50 goals).
So it is fair to say Lazio were his biggest club but the peak of his performances came at Perugia and especially Sampdoria.
At International level he earned 3 Italy caps. His debut was against Poland in 2003 and the other two were against Romania and Iceland, all in friendlies.
Since retiring in 2015 he has become a manager. He started where he finished playing, at Mezzolara. He then followed his former Perugia manager Serse Cosmi as his assistant at Ascoli, Venezia and Perugia. In 2021 he was manager of Corregese in Serie D. He currently is a technical collaborator with his hometown club, Bologna.
Bazzani was a strong centre-forward. At 1.86 metres tall and 82 kilos he was a strong presence in opponent areas. He was particularly good in the air and acrobacy was one of his strong points. He was not overly technical but made up for it with old style physicality. At one point of his career, in particular his first two at Sampdoria, it looked as if he would have a bright future. This was confirmed by his call up to the National team but he never really reached those heights again.
At Lazio he was a welcome addition, as he had impressed as an opponent. In Rome however he was a slight disappointment, in the sense he never looked as good as he had when faced as an opponent. As mentioned he scored two very important goals for Lazio's survival in his brief period and every bit counts in the larger picture of history.
Off the field he gained the limelight for marrying a television starlet, Alessia Merz. Other trivia is that he is a massive basketball fan, supporting Fortitudo Bologna. The capital of Emilia is known as " Basket City" and Bazzani even bears a tattoo on his arm to confirm his allegiance. At football level he supports Milan but unfortunately for him he never got to play for the "Devils".
Lazio career
Season | Total apperances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
2004-05 | 16 (3) | 15 (3) | 1 |
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