Aimo Diana

Aimo Stefano Diana (Italian pronunciation: [ˈaimo ˈsteːfano ˈdjaːna]; born 2 January 1978) is an Italian football manager and a former player. A player of wide range, he was capable of playing both as a wide midfielder or as a defender on the right flank.

Aimo Diana
Diana as a Sampdoria player
Personal information
Full name Aimo Stefano Diana
Date of birth (1978-01-02) 2 January 1978
Place of birth Brescia, Italy
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder, right back
Team information
Current team
 Vicenza (manager)
Youth career
Brescia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2001 Brescia 93 (4)
1999–2000 → Verona (co-ownership) 25 (0)
2001–2003 Parma 26 (1)
2003 → Reggina (loan) 16 (1)
2003–2006 Sampdoria 94 (16)
2006–2007 Palermo 41 (2)
2008–2011 Torino 60 (3)
2010 → Bellinzona (loan) 15 (0)
2011 Bellinzona 16 (0)
2011–2012 Lumezzane 29 (1)
2013 Trento 13 (1)
Total 415 (28)
International career
1998–2000 Italy U21 3 (0)
2004–2007 Italy 13 (1)
Managerial career
2013–2015 FeralpiSalò (youth)
2015–2016 FeralpiSalò
2016 Pavia
2017 Melfi
2017–2018 Sicula Leonzio
2018–2021 Renate
2021–2023 Reggiana
2023– Vicenza
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He is the current head coach of Serie C Group A club Vicenza.

Club career

Born in Brescia, Diana is a product of Brescia Calcio's youth system. He made his debuts for the first team in Serie B in 1997, and played his first Serie A game on 31 August of the same year, against Inter Milan. He played one season with Hellas Verona F.C. in a co-ownership deal, helping the side to a final ninth position in the top level, and left for Parma A.C. in 2001.

Diana was used irregularly by the Emilia-Romagna side, winning the Italian Cup in his first season, but hardly featuring at all in 2002–03. In January 2003 he moved on loan to Reggina Calcio along with Emiliano Bonazzoli, posteriorly signing for U.C. Sampdoria at the end of the campaign. A key member from the start for the Genovese, he helped the team qualify for the UEFA Cup in his second year, scoring five goals in 32 matches; in early May 2005 he scored the game's only at Juventus F.C. and, the following week, also found the net, in a 3–0 home success against ACF Fiorentina.

In the 2006 summer, Diana signed for U.S. Città di Palermo for €5 million,[1] with Sampdoria also selling Marco Pisano to the same club for €4 million and receiving Massimo Bonanni (50% for €2million), Pietro Accardi (€2 million) and Christian Terlizzi (50% for €1.5 million). He was regularly used in one 1/2 seasons and scored two goals, including the equalizer in a 2–1 home win by the Rosanero against A.C. Milan on 26 September 2007. On 30 January of the following year he was sold to Torino F.C. in a permanent move,[2] for €1.2 million.[3]

In early January 2010, ultras of Torino attacked club players during David Di Michele's birthday party.[4][5] After the incident, Riccardo Colombo, Diana, Di Michele, Massimo Loviso, Marco Pisano, Francesco Pratali and Paolo Zanetti were transferred to other clubs, with only Rolando Bianchi, Angelo Ogbonna and Matteo Rubin remaining.

Diana joined AC Bellinzona in Switzerland on loan in early February 2010,[6] making his Super League debut on the 21st in a 1–2 away loss against FC Luzern, eventually contributing solidly (15 matches, 14 starts) as the club narrowly retained its division status.

Subsequently, 32-year-old Diana returned to Torino. On 4 January 2011 he mutually terminated his contract,[7] re-signing for Bellinzona (on a permanent basis) the following day.

International career

After impressing Sampdoria, Diana received his first call up to the Italy national team, making his debut in a friendly match with Spain on 28 April 2004.

A regular for the Azzurri under Marcello Lippi, an injury prevented him from being picked to the squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. On 2 June 2007, in his last appearance, Diana assisted on Filippo Inzaghi's second goal against the Faroe Islands, in a 2–1 away win for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying.[8]

International goals
Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.[9]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 November 2005Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland Ivory Coast1–11–1Friendly

Managerial career

After retiring, Diana took up a role as youth coach at FeralpiSalò, being successively promoted as head coach later in November 2015.[10] He completed the season in eighth place in the 2015–16 Lega Pro, not being confirmed for the following year.[11]

In August 2016, he was hired new head coach of Pavia,[12] but resigned shortly thereafter, following the club's exclusion from Serie D due to financial issues.[13] In February 2017, he was signed by Lega Pro club Melfi,[14] failing to escape relegation by the end of the season.

He returned into management in December 2017 as the new boss of Sicilian Serie C club Sicula Leonzio.[15]

On 20 November 2018, he was appointed head coach of Serie C club Renate, in relegation spot at the time.[16] He guided Renate for three full seasons, the last of which ended with Renate topping the league for a long time until losing out to more renowned teams such as Como and Alessandria, and then losing to second-placed Girone B club Padova in the promotion playoffs. Following that, Diana agreed to leave Renate and accepted to join recently-relegated Serie C club Reggiana on a one-year deal, with an option of further extension in case of promotion to Serie B.[17]

After guiding Reggiana to win promotion to Serie B as 2022–23 Serie C Group B champions, Diana left the Emilian club by the end of the season. On 27 June 2023, he was announced as the new head coach of ambitious Serie C club LR Vicenza.[18]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 4 February 2023[19][20]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
FeralpiSalò Italy 4 November 2015 10 May 2016 26 11 5 10 40 35 +5 042.31
Pavia Italy 2 August 2016 12 August 2016 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !—
Melfi Italy 20 February 2017 30 June 2017 14 5 4 5 12 16 −4 035.71
Sicula Leonzio Italy 5 December 2017 17 June 2018 21 8 7 6 24 18 +6 038.10
Renate Italy 20 November 2018 4 June 2021 101 40 33 28 113 94 +19 039.60
Reggiana Italy 4 June 2021 30 June 2023 69 43 15 11 115 50 +65 062.32
Total 231 107 64 60 304 213 +91 046.32

Honours

Player
Parma

Manager
Reggiana

Personal life

In 2016, Diana ran for office as a candidate for the city council of Flero, his town of residence, as part of a civic list backing the local Democratic Party mayor.[21]

References
  1. US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2006 (in Italian)
  2. "Diana e Pisano al Torino" [Diana and Pisano to Torino] (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 30 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  3. US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2008 (in Italian)
  4. Fabrizio, Turco (7 January 2010). "Il Torino è senza pace. Ora si parla di sciopero" [No peace at Torino. Strike a possibility now] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  5. "Torino fans in player restaurant attack". ESPN Soccernet. 7 January 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  6. "Diana al Bellinzona" [Diana to Bellinzona] (in Italian). Torino FC. 8 January 2010. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  7. "Diana, rescissione consensuale" [Diana, mutual rescision] (in Italian). Torino FC. 4 January 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  8. "Soccer – Inzaghi double gives Italy tight win in Faroes". Reuters. 2 June 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  9. "Diana, Aimo". National Football Teams. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  10. "Feralpisalò a sorpresa: saltano i "big", promosso Aimo Diana dalla Berretti. E' lui il nuovo allenatore" (in Italian). Calcio Bresciano. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  11. "Feralpi Salò-Diana, arriva già il capolinea" (in Italian). Bresciaoggi. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  12. "Il nuovo Pavia sotto la guida di Aimo Diana" (in Italian). Giornale di Brescia. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  13. "Pavia, squadra da rifare. Mister Diana dà l'addio" (in Italian). La Provincia Pavese. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  14. "Lega Pro Melfi, esonerato Bitetto. In panchina c'è Diana" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport – Stadio. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  15. "Serie C Sicula Leonzio, ufficiale: il nuovo tecnico è Diana" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport – Stadio. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  16. "UFFICIALE: AIMO DIANA È IL NUOVO TECNICO NERAZZURRO" [OFFICIAL: AIMO DIANA IS THE NEW BLACK-AND-BLUE COACH] (in Italian). Renate. 20 November 2018.
  17. "AIMO DIANA È IL NUOVO ALLENATORE DELLA REGGIANA" (in Italian). A.C. Reggiana 1919. 4 June 2021.
  18. "Aimo Diana nuovo allenatore del Vicenza. Come collaboratore avrà un ex biancoscudato" (in Italian). TgBiancoscudato. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  19. "Aimo Diana". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  20. Aimo Diana coach profile at Soccerway
  21. "Elezioni a Flero, l'ex centrocampista Aimo Diana si candida nel paese di Pirlo" (in Italian). Il Giorno. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
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