Stefano Fiore was born in Cosenza on 17 April 1975. After starting his career as an out and out midfielder, his technical skills combined with an eye for goal converted him into one of the best wide players of the early 2000s on the Italian scene.

He made his top-flight debut with Parma on 11 December 1994 in a match against Genoa, and he then went on to win two UEFA Cups and one Coppa Italia with the Emilian side. The true explosion of his talent, however, took place in Udine, where he had moved to in 1998 and with whom he immediately became one of the first names on the team sheet, leading to his merited selection for the national team. He then moved to Lazio where he won another Coppa Italia at the end of the 2003/04 season, proving to be a key player as shown by his double in the first leg of the final against Juventus. He moved to a very ‘Italian’ Valencia in the summer of 2004, where he won a European Super Cup but didn’t thrive. Finally, Fiorentina and Torino were his last stints at the highest level, before the ‘prodigal son’ completed the parable by returning to Cosenza in the Lega Pro where he retired. His first match for the Azzurri dates back to 23 February 2000 in a friendly against Sweden in Palermo under Coach Zoff’s guidance. He then contributed significantly at the following European Championship in Belgium and Holland. Overall, he made 38 appearances for Italy, scoring two goals.

Gianluca Mancini, an impressive central defender with excellent reading of the game as well as the ability to play just in front of a back four, was born in Pontedera on 17 April 1996.

He made his way in Fiorentina’s youth sector, who then sent him to Perugia in Serie B to learn his trade. His professional debut occurred on 11 September 2015 in a match against Pescara. Then, in the summer of 2017 he moved to Atalanta where he made his top-flight debut on 24 September against Fiorentina. The following season he made his way into Gasperini’s starting eleven and was an integral part of the historic third place finish that granted the club Champions League football. He then signed for Roma last summer and is already a stalwart there. After wearing the U21 shirt under Di Biagio’s guidance (as well as playing in their 2019 European Championship), he made his debut for the Azzurri on 26 March 2019 in Italy’s 6-0 win over Liechtenstein in Euro 2020 qualifying. So far, he’s earned three senior caps for Italy.