| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1969-03-31)31 March 1969 (age 56) | ||
| Place of birth | Lecce, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position | Right winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Flamurtari (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1992 | Lecce | 156 | (13) |
| 1992–1994 | Cagliari | 54 | (4) |
| 1994–1997 | Roma | 76 | (8) |
| 1997–2000 | Inter Milan | 56 | (6) |
| 2000–2002 | Napoli | 24 | (1) |
| Total | 366 | (32) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998–1999 | Italy | 8 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2007 | Africa Sports | ||
| 2007–2008 | Lanciano | ||
| 2008–2009 | Crotone | ||
| 2009–2010 | Frosinone | ||
| 2010–2011 | Grosseto | ||
| 2011–2012 | Lugano | ||
| 2012 | Grosseto | ||
| 2013 | Grosseto | ||
| 2013 | Lecce | ||
| 2014 | Catanzaro | ||
| 2016 | Catania | ||
| 2017 | Sambenedettese | ||
| 2018 | Sambenedettese | ||
| 2019 | Cavese | ||
| 2020–2021 | Dinamo Tirana | ||
| 2021–2023 | Maldives | ||
| 2024–2025 | Laçi | ||
| 2025– | Flamurtari | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Francesco "Checco" Moriero (Italian pronunciation:[franˈtʃeskoˈkekkomoˈrjɛːro]; born 31 March 1969) is an Italianfootball former player and currentmanager, who played as amidfielder, usually as awinger on the right flank. He is the current head coach of theFlamurtari.
Throughout his career, he played for several Italian clubs:Lecce,Cagliari,Roma,Inter Milan, andNapoli, winning anUEFA Cup title with Inter in1998. A formerItaly international, he took part at the1998 FIFA World Cup.
Francesco Moriero played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, includingLecce (1986–1992),Cagliari (1992–94),Roma (1994–97),Inter Milan (1997–2000), andNapoli (2000–2002).[1]
Originally from Lecce, he began his career with the local club's youth side, making his professional debut with the senior Lecce side during the1986–87 Serie B season.The following season, he made 35 appearances, scoring 3 goals, helping the team to gain promotion toSerie A. He played two seasons in Serie A with Lecce, making 86 appearances and scoring 4 goals, before Lecce were relegated to Serie B once again. During the1991–92 Serie B season, he set a personal best of 6 goals in 34 appearances, before moving to Cagliari in 1992, where he made his debut inEuropean competitions, notably helping the team to reach the semi-final of the1993–94 UEFA Cup.[1][2]
In 1994, he moved to Roma for 8.5 billion Lit. He spent 3 seasons with the club, becoming an important figure, making 75 appearances in Serie A, and scoring 8 goals. In May 1997, he had initially made a deal to sign forMilan, but in July, he signed with Inter for 1 million Lit. in an exchange between the two Milan clubs involvingAndré Cruz, who was initially about to sign a contract with Inter.[1][3]
He made his debut with Inter on the first matchday of the1997–98 Serie A season, on 31 August 1997, againstBrescia, at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. His most notable and successful career spell came with the Milan club, and in his first season, he won the1997–98 UEFA Cup under managerLuigi Simoni, notably scoring a goal from a bicycle kick against the Swiss teamNeuchatel Xamax during the tournament.[3] In thefinal he also set upRonaldo's goal shortly after coming on as a substitute.[4] Inter also narrowly missed out on the Serie A title toJuventus that season, as Moriero made 28 league appearances that season, scoring 3 goals. Although he made fewer appearances during the next two seasons due to injury (making 28 appearances in Serie A in total, scoring 3 goals), he also later reached the2000 Coppa Italia final with the club, underMarcello Lippi, before moving to Napoli in 2000.[5] During the2000–01 Serie A season, he made 14 appearances with Napoli, scoring a goal, although he was unable to save the club from relegation. He ended his career with the club in 2002, inSerie B.[1] In total he made 287 appearances in Serie A, scoring 21 goals.[5][6][7]
After making an appearance with theItaly national under-21 football team in a 1–0 win overGreece on 7 February 1990, under managerCesare Maldini,[8] Moriero also played for the seniorItaly national team; in total, he scored two goals in eight matches for Italy between 1998 and 1999.[8] He made his senior international debut on 28 January 1998, in a 3–0 home win overSlovakia, providing two assists during the match;[9] in his next appearance, in an international friendly againstParaguay on 22 April 1998, he scored his only two goals for Italy, one from a bicycle kick, as they won the match 3–1 at home.[8][10][11] Moriero was a participant for Italy at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, under Cesare Maldini once again, where Italy were eliminated in the quarterfinals to hosts and eventual championsFrance on penalties.[12] Although he was often alternated with the more defensive-mindedAngelo Di Livio on the right wing,[13][14] he still appeared in all five of Italy's matches during the tournament, and he assistedChristian Vieri's first goal in Italy's 3–0 win againstCameroon in their second group stage match, also starting the play for his second goal of the match.[15] He also combined withFilippo Inzaghi to initiate the play which led toRoberto Baggio's match winning goal againstAustria in Italy's final group match, as Italy won 2–1 to top their group.[16] He made his final appearance for Italy on 9 October the following year, in aEuropean qualifier againstBelarus, under managerDino Zoff, which ended in a 0–0 away draw.[8]
In 2006, soon after having successfully ended his studies at theCoverciano football coaching school, Moriero was appointed head coach of Ivorian clubAfrica Sports. On 27 July 2007, Africa Sports announced that they have sacked Moriero, appointing his assistantSalvatore Nobile as new boss.
On 7 August, Moriero signed forSerie C1'sLanciano,[17] guiding the club under massive financial issues that successively led to bankrupt, an auction-regulated sale and point deductions throughout the season. He successively guidedFC Crotone to win the Lega Pro Prima Divisione playoffs and achieve promotion toSerie B in the 2008–09 season.
He then served as head coach of Serie B clubFrosinone from July 2009 to April 2010.[18][19]
In September 2010 he was named new head coach ofGrosseto in the Italian Serie B, replacingLuigi Apolloni, but was dismissed later in January 2011 due to poor results.[20] In the season 2012–13 he was again named head coach of Grosseto, but on 1 October 2012 he was sacked.[21]
On 30 June 2013, Moriero signed with his former club, Lecce, although he was dismissed 24 September.[22]
On 1 July 2014, he was hired byCatanzaro,[23] although he was later sacked once again by the club on 9 November.[24]
In May 2017 he was appointed coach ofSambenedettese. He was fired in November, but was later called back in April 2018.[25][26] He left the club again on 30 June 2018.
In June 2019 he joinedCavese, but was fired in September after 4 Serie C matches without wins.
On 30 December 2020, he was announced as the new head coach ofAlbanian clubDinamo Tirana, withFabrizio Miccoli as his assistant.[27] On 2 March 2021, both Moriero and Miccoli resigned from their coaching roles at the club, after having been in charge of only two league games for the Albanian club.[28]
On 21 October 2021, Moriero was unveiled as the new head coach of theMaldives national football team on a two-year deal; his appointment made Moriero the first ever coach from a World Cup winning country to coach the Maldives in the history.[29]
Moriero was a right-footed, quick, diminutive, energetic, and highly technical midfielder, who was predominantly used as right winger; although he was primarily an offensive minded player, with a penchant for making attacking runs, and who was even used as anoutside forward on occasion, he was also known for his work-rate, tactical intelligence, and defensive contribution off the ball, as well as his ability to track back, which enabled him to cover the flank effectively.[18][30][31] Moriero's main attributes were his acceleration, pace,dribbling skills, agility, flair, and creativity; these characteristics enabled him to beat opponents in one on one situations, get up the wing, and provide width to his team by overloading the flanks, giving his team a numerical advantage when attacking. He was also known for his ability to create chances and provideassists for strikers with hiscrossing ability and long balls from the right flank.[9][30][31][32][33][34][35] He also had good vision and distribution, as well as a penchant for scoring with spectacular strikes from distance, or acrobatic goals fromvolleys andbicycle kicks.[10][11] Regarded as one of the best wingers of his generation,[30] during his prime, his world class performances, characteristics, playing style, and position on the pitch earned him comparisons with esteemed former Italian wingersFranco Causio,Bruno Conti, andRoberto Donadoni, as well as Portuguese wingerLuís Figo.[31][36] However, despite his talent, Moriero also garnered a reputation for being inconsistent at times.[37] In addition to his skills and playing ability, Moriero was also known for his trademarkcelebration, which involved him pretending to polish his team-mates' football boots whenever they scored a goal.[5][6][7][38]
Inter[39]
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