the Round of 16 on a golden goal. Di Biagio made only one appearance in the tournament, however, playing in Italy's 2–0 opening win against Ecuador, where he assisted Vieri's second goal of the match with a long ball, in the 27th minute; he was substituted by Gattuso in the 69th minute. He made his final appearance for Italy in a friendly match against Turkey on 20 November 2002, in Pescara. Style of play Di Biagio was regarded one of Italy's best and most consistent midfielders during the later 1990s and early 2000s, and one of the best players in the world in his position during his prime, consistently providing excellent performances for Roma, Inter and the Italian National side; he often stood out throughout his career for his leadership. Di Biagio was a complete, tenacious and combative defensive midfielder, whose best strengths involved quickly breaking up the opposition's attacks, although he was also capable of getting forward when needed, due to his ability to make attacking runs into the area, which enabled him to contribute to his team's offensive play with goals. Furthermore, he was known for his ability to either set the tempo of his team's build-up plays with short exchanges, or start counter-attacks with long balls after winning back possession. Throughout his career, Di Biagio earned a reputation as a strong, aggressive, and hard-tackling midfielder, who had a knack for picking up cards; after Paolo Montero, he is the player with the most red cards in Serie A history. Although he was primarily deployed as a central or defensive midfielder, Di Biagio was capable of playing anywhere in midfield due to his tactical versatility, and played in every outfield position throughout his career, and was occasionally played in an attacking midfield role behind the forwards, or, even less frequently, as a centre-forward; he also played as a defender later in his career, once he lost his pace, functioning as a sweeper, as a full-back, or as a central defender. A hardworking player, Di Biagio was gifted with power, stamina, and tactical intelligence, as well as an acute defensive awareness and positional sense. He combined these attributes with a surprising technical ability, and was also capable of functioning creatively as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, due to his ball control, vision, and passing range. Indeed, his central holding midfield role under Zdeněk Zeman in the manager's 4–3–3 system