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| Thursday, August 15, 2002 16:35 EST |
Italian midfielder last played in Serie C2 in 1988
[Reuters]
MILAN -- Italian international Angelo Di
Livio, a World Cup player two months ago, has chosen to play
fourth division football next season.
Di Livio, 36, has signed a two-year contract with Serie C2
team Florentia Viola, the club who has replaced fallen
Fiorentina as the team of the city of Florence.
The former Juventus midfielder, who has won 40 caps for
Italy, was captain of the ill-fated Fiorentina last season.
Fiorentina was relegated from Serie A and has since ceased
to exist as a sporting entity after it was refused a place in
Serie B due to its acute financial problems.
With the newly-founded club Di Livio will earn less than a
tenth of the salary he picked up in Serie A last season, but
says pride and loyalty were more important than cash.
"It wasn't a difficult decision. In life there are more
important things than money," Di Livio told the daily Corriere
della Sera.
"I didn't want to be remembered as the captain of a team
that was relegated and a club that went bankrupt. Florence has
shown me so much affection and this is a way to repay that,"
added the midfielder.
Di Livio has played one season in Serie C2 in his career --
winning promotion with Perugia in 1988 before moving on to
Padova and Juventus.
With Juventus, Di Livio won three Italian league titles and
the European Cup in 1996.
His last competitive game was a substitute appearance in
Italy's 'golden goal' defeat to co-hosts South Korea in the
second round of the World Cup.
His next match will be against Forli in Serie C2 Group B on
September 1.
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