Francesco Moriero played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, including Lecce (1986–1992), Cagliari (1992–94), Roma (1994–97), Inter Milan (1997–2000), and Napoli (2000–2002).
During the 1991–92 Serie B season, he set a personal best of 6 goals in 34 appearances, before moving to Cagliari in 1992, where he made his debut in European competitions, notably helping the team to reach the semi-final of the 1993–94 UEFA Cup.
[16] He made his final appearance for Italy on 9 October the following year, in a European qualifier against Belarus, under manager Dino Zoff, which ended in a 0–0 away draw.
On 27 July 2007, Africa Sports announced that they have sacked Moriero, appointing his assistant Salvatore Nobile as new boss.
On 7 August, Moriero signed for Serie C1's Lanciano,[17] guiding the club under massive financial issues that successively led to bankrupt, an auction-regulated sale and point deductions throughout the season.
He successively guided FC Crotone to win the Lega Pro Prima Divisione playoffs and achieve promotion to Serie B in the 2008–09 season.
[18][19] In September 2010 he was named new head coach of Grosseto in the Italian Serie B, replacing Luigi Apolloni, but was dismissed later in January 2011 due to poor results.
[29] Moriero was a right-footed, quick, diminutive, energetic, and highly technical midfielder, who was predominantly used as right winger; although he was primarily an offensive minded player, with a penchant for making attacking runs, and who was even used as an outside forward on occasion, he was also known for his work-rate, tactical intelligence, and defensive contribution off the ball, as well as his ability to track back, which enabled him to cover the flank effectively.
[9][30][31][32][33][34][35] He also had good vision and distribution, as well as a penchant for scoring with spectacular strikes from distance, or acrobatic goals from volleys and bicycle kicks.
[37] In addition to his skills and playing ability, Moriero was also known for his trademark celebration, which involved him pretending to polish his team-mates' football boots whenever they scored a goal.