Stefano Fiore was part of that great generation of Italian players who dominated the 1990s and 2000s such as Alessandro Nesta, Alessandro Del Piero and Fabio Cannavaro.
Born in Cosenza on April 17, 1975, he began his football career in the youth teams of Cosenza and in 1994-95 he signed for Parma where he won the UEFA Cup. In 1995-96 he was loaned to Padova and the following year to Chievo Verona. He returned to Parma in 1997-98 and the next year he won the Coppa Italia and a second UEFA Cup. In 1999 he signed for Udinese and in that season he earned his first cap with the Nazionale and was part of the squad that came second in Euro 2000 (where he played all the games and even scored a goal against Belgium). In the summer of 2000 Lazio signed both him and Giuliano Giannichedda but left them for another year on loan at Udine.
In 2001 he actually joined Lazio. His first year was a difficult one and he did not play as well as he had in previous years. This changed under manager Roberto Mancini and Fiore would become one the stars of a Lazio in financial difficulty yes, but strong on the pitch. He was the protagonist of the 2003-04 Coppa Italia win. He scored three goals in the semi-finals and three in the double final against Juventus.
Lazio however still had not finished paying for Gaizka Mendieta, so the club sold Fiore and Bernardo Corradi to Valencia to cover the debt. With the Spanish team he won a UEFA Super Cup in 2004 and in 2005 he was loaned to Fiorentina. The following year he signed for Torino but stayed only half a season, the rest was spent at Livorno. Once he became a free agent, he signed with Mantova in Serie B. He played his last two years of professional football with hometown team Cosenza in Lega Pro.
With Lazio he played 133 games (95 in Serie A, 14 in Coppa Italia, 16 in Champions League and 8 in the UEFA Cup) and scored 30 goals (17 in Serie A, 7 in Coppa Italia, 4 in Champions League and 2 in the UEFA Cup).
He played 38 times for Italy and scored two goals. He participated in Euro 2000 and Euro 2004.
When he stopped football he became Sports Director for Cosenza. He also did some punditry for Mediaset. He then began to collaborate with former teammate Massimo Oddo first at Perugia in 2019 and then at Pescara.
He will forever be remembered by Lazio fans for the wonderful win in Coppa Italia that marked the end of an era.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Cup |
2001-02 | 40 (5) | 30 (3) | 2 | 8 (2) | - |
2002-03 | 46 (9) | 33 (6) | 5 (1) | - | 8 (2) |
2003-04 | 47 (16) | 32 (8) | 7 (6) | 8 (2) | - |
Total | 133 (30) | 95 (17) | 14 (7) | 16 (4) | 8 (2) |
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