Tesser, a defender, started his playing career with Treviso. He moved to Napoli in 1978, where he played two seasons. He then played for Udinese from 1980 to 1985, and then for some lower league teams, including Perugia and Catania. He was also capped for the Italian U-21 side.
Managing career
After his retirement, Tesser began a coaching career in 1992 for Serie D sideSevegliano, and successively became a coach at the youth level for Udinese and Venezia. His first professional coaching job came in 2001, for Serie C2 side F.C. Südtirol. In 2003, he replaced Ezio Rossi at the helm of U.S. Triestina Calcio of Serie B. After a very good season, followed by a poorer one, Tesser moved to Cagliari Calcio of Serie A in 2006, but was fired just after the first league match by team chairman Massimo Cellino. In July 2006 he was named coach of Ascoli, replacing Marco Giampaolo. However, after a serie of struggling results ended in a 1–0 home defeat to Empoli F.C. in the 11th matchday, Tesser was fired and replaced by Nedo Sonetti. Tesser started the 2007–08 season at the helm of Serie B side Mantova, with the aim to fight for a promotion spot; however, results did not confirm the initial goals, and he was sacked on 24 February 2008, leaving Mantova in seventh place, seven points far from the fourth playoff spot. In January 2009 he accepted a coaching offer from Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Padova; however, his stint with the patavini lasted only one month, as he was sacked later on February. In June 2009 he was named Novara manager. His tenure proved to be highly successful, as he led his club to become Lega Pro Prima Divisione champions in his first season in charge. In the 2010–11 season, Tesser repeated himself as he guided Novara to third place in the final table, then winning a second consecutive promotion to Serie A after defeating Reggina and Padova in the playoffs. The Serie A comeback however proved to be particularly difficult for Novara, who only won 12 points after the first 20 games: this cost Tesser the job, as he was removed from his managerial duties on 30 January 2012 following a 2–0 away loss against Palermo; he was replaced by veteran coach Emiliano Mondonico. On 6 March 2012 he was recalled by Novara as head coach, but on 31 October 2012 he was again sacked. On 13 June 2015 Tesser was appointed as the head coach of Avellino, replacing Massimo Rastelli. In the summer of 2016 he was hired by the Cremonese. He was dismissed from Cremonese on 23 April 2018. On 4 July 2018 Tesser has been appointed as the new head coach of Pordenone Calcio. On his first season as Pordenone bass, he guided the small Friuli club to direct promotion to Serie B as Serie C/B champions.
