Di Livio Angelo
Angelo di Livio was a football midfielder and defender. He played for several Italian clubs in Serie A throughout his career, coming to prominence with Juventus, where he won several domestic and international titles. At international level he also played for the Italian national side in two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Football Championships, reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2000. During his playing career he was known as “soldatino” (little soldier) or soldatino Di Livio, a nickname his Juventus teammate Roberto Baggio gave him because of Di Livio’s characteristic way of running up and down the flank. A quick, experienced, combative, reliable, and tactically versatile player, Di Livio was usually deployed on the wing, and was capable of playing on either flank, as a wide midfielder, or as a full-back or wing-back; he was also capable of playing in the centre, as a defensive midfielder. Although he was not the most naturally talented footballer, he was a highly consistent player, who was known for his pace, stamina, work-rate, strength, tenacity, man-marking, and crossing accuracy, as well as his ability to make attacking runs down the flank, which enabled him to have a successful career.
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Di Livio tireless running and quality crossing made him an important element in the dominant Juventus starting lineup from 1993 to 1999, during one of the most successful periods in the club’s history. With Juventus, he won three scudetti (Italian A League; 1995, 1997, 1998) and one Champions League title (1996), in addition to two Italian Supercups (1995, 1997), a Coppa Italia, an UEFA Supercup (1996), and an Intercontinental Cup (1996); he also reached the final of the 1994–95 UEFA Cup. In 1999, he moved to Fiorentina.
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The 1997 “Tournoi de France” French for “Tournament of France”, often referred to as Le Tournoi was a friendly international football tournament held in France in early June 1997 as a warm-up to the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The four national teams participating at the tournament were Brazil, England, hosts France, and Italy. They played against each other in a single round-robin tournament with the group winner also being the winner of the tournament. England won the tournament after collecting six points by winning their first two matches, against Italy and France, and losing one to Brazil. Brazil were second with five points, a product of a win and two draws. Their 3–3 draw with Italy included two goals from then 22-year-old Alessandro Del Piero and one goal apiece from Romário and Ronaldo as well as one own goal from each of the teams. Del Piero was the top goalscorer of the tournament with three goals scored while Romário scored twice. In the 21st minute of the opening match between France and Brazil, Roberto Carlos scored from a 35-metre curled free kick, often considered one of the best in the modern game.
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Di Livio was capped 40 times for Italy. He played for Italy at Euro 96, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 (where Italy finished in 2nd place), and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. His first cap came on 6 September 1995 against Slovenia; his last on 18 June 2002 against South Korea. For Italy, he was often used as a holding player to shut down games when the team was ahead, thus sealing the win.
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In 1999, Angelo Di Livio moved to Fiorentina, where he captained the team to win the Coppa Italia during the 2000–01 season. In 2002, when AC Fiorentina went bankrupt and was reborn as Florentia Viola in Serie C2, Di Livio showed his dedication by being the only player to stay with the team, as he played through the depths of Italian football on the climb back to Serie A in 2004, finally retiring after the conclusion of the 2004–05 Serie A season.
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Florentia Viola was the newly founded club that replaced bankrupt A.C. Fiorentina A.C. in the Italian domestic league system. Playing at Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, Florentia retained the support Fiorentina had had, and set Serie C2 spectator records due to the interest from fans accustomed to see Gabriel Batistuta, Rui Costa and a team challenging Italy’s top clubs. With Serie B set for an expansion to 24 clubs for 2003-04, owner family Della Valle successfully argued that Florentia should be granted the 24th slot on the basis of ‘historical merits’. It was widely seen as the Italian football federation compensated Florentia for being relegated two series instead of the normal one in case of bankruptcy. Florentia also won the rights to use the original Fiorentina name, the club being renamed ACF Fiorentina’ prior to the 2003-04 season.