Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A former defensive midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli Calcio 1898 in 2007, and previously also played for several other Italian clubs throughout his career, including Roma and Internazionale, in particular. At international level, he also played 31 times for the Italian national side between 1998 and 2002, scoring 2 goals, representing his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, as well as at Euro 2000, where Italy reached the final. Club career Early career: Lazio, Monza, and Foggia Di Biagio was born in Rome. He initially played for Lazio (1988–89), making his Serie A debut with the side, and later played for Monza (1989–92) in Serie B and Serie C1, winning the Coppa Italia C1 in 1991. He later moved on to play for Foggia (1992–95) under Zeman, where he gained promotion to Serie A once again, establishing himself in the starting lineup of the club as a defensive minded central midfielder, who also served as a playmaker; he notably reached the semi-final of the Coppa Italia with Foggia during the 1994–95 season, attracting the attention of bigger Italian clubs. Roma Di Biagio began to achieve greater international exposure and fame in Italy due to his excellent and consistent performances whilst playing for Roma (1995–99), where he remained for five seasons, under managers Carlo Mazzone, Carlos Bianchi, and Zeman once again; he would make his career debut in European Competitions with the club. During his time at Roma, he was able to help the squad to a fourth-place finish during the 1997–98 season, and managed to subsequently reach the quarter-finals of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup and the 1997–98 Coppa Italia. His consistent performances led him to become a permanent member of the Italian national side during this period. Di Biagio would make 140 appearances for Roma in all competitions, scoring 18 goals. 15 of his goals were scored in Serie A in 114 appearances. Internazionale At the beginning of the 1999–2000 Serie A season, Di Biagio transferred to Internazionale, and became a regular first team member due to his continued high standard of performance. During the 2001–02 season, he narrowly missed out on winning the Serie A title to Juventus on the final match-day; he received criticism, however, for his despondent performance in a 4–2 defeat to Lazio at the