Quagliarella Fabio
Fabio Quagliarella is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Throughout his career, he has played for eight different Italian clubs, winning three consecutive Serie A titles during his spell with Juventus. At international level, he represented Italy from under-18 to under-21 youth levels before his debut for the senior national team in 2007. He was part of the UEFA Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup squads. Quagliarella is primarily known for his accurate and powerful striking ability from distance, as well as his ability in the air – both with his head and acrobatically –, and his penchant for scoring spectacular goals from volleys and shots anywhere outside the area. Usually a striker, he is a versatile forward, capable of playing anywhere along the front line, and has also been deployed as a winger, as a second striker, and even as an attacking midfielder, due to his technical skills and ability to provide assists for teammates.
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Quagliarella played for the Italian youth sides, known as the Azzurrini, from the 2000–01 season up until the 2004–05 season. He made his debut for the Italy U17 team (equivalent to the current Italy U18 side) on 5 September 2000 against Slovakia. The following season, he was a member of the Italy U19 team during their 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying campaign. Following his impressive performances with Sampdoria in the 2006–07 season, Quagliarella was called up to the Italian senior squad, known as the Azzurri, for a friendly against Romania in February 2007. However, his senior international debut was delayed, as the match was cancelled as a result of fan riots in Serie A that weekend. Quagliarella finally made his senior debut for Italy on 28 March 2007, in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Scotland in Bari, coming on as a substitute for Luca Toni in the final minutes of the 2–0 win. In Kaunas on 6 June 2007, he made his first start for Italy in a vital Euro 2008 qualifier against Lithuania, also scoring his first two goals for the national side in the eventual 2–0 win.[28] On 6 February 2008, he scored his third goal for Italy, and his nation’s third goal of the match, in their 3–1 triumph over Portugal in an international friendly in Zurich; this was also the 1200th goal scored by the Italian national side. Quagliarella was subsequently included in the Italian UEFA Euro 2008 squad by manager Roberto Donadoni; he made his only appearance of the tournament in Italy’s second group match, a 1–1 draw against Romania, coming on as a second half substitute for Alessandro Del Piero. Italy then bowed out of the tournament on penalties to eventual champions Spain in the quarter-finals. Quagliarella was subsequently called up to Italy’s 23-man squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa under returning manager Marcello Lippi; his only appearance throughout the tournament came in Italy’s second group match, a 1–0 defeat to Egypt. Italy were disappointingly eliminated from the tournament in the group stage following a 3–0 defeat to eventual champions Brazil in their final group match. Quagliarella was also included in the final 23-man Italian 2010 FIFA World Cup squad by coach Marcello Lippi; on 5 June 2010, he scored a header in a 1–1 away draw against Switzerland in Italy’s final friendly before the tournament. In Italy’s final match of Group F at the 2010 World Cup against Slovakia, Quagliarella came on at the beginning of the second half for Gennaro Gattuso, with Italy trailing 1–0, and in the space of 45 minutes, he contributed to teammate Antonio Di Natale’s goal, who scored from a rebound, and subsequently executed a beautiful 25-yard chip in injury time to bring the score to 3–2; furthermore, throughout the match, he also had a volley cleared off the line by Slovak defender Martin Škrtel, and had an equalising goal controversially ruled offside, although he was ultimately unable to prevent the Italians from losing 3–2, resulting in one of Italy’s most shocking World Cup eliminations. The match was his 21st cap for Italy, while his goal was his seventh overall. Although the Italian team was widely criticised in the media, Quagliarella was praised for his performance. Under Italy’s new manager Cesare Prandelli, Quagliarella scored Italy’s fourth goal in a 5–0 home win in a Euro 2012 qualifying match against the Faroe Islands on 7 September 2010. He later also appeared in a friendly against Romania held in Klagenfurt on 17 November, scoring the equalising goal in the 1–1 draw; although some sources cite Italy’s goal as an own goal, the Italian Football Federation recognises the goal as Quagliarella’s. On 2 September 2014, Quagliarella was recalled to the national team for a friendly match against the Netherlands and UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Azerbaijan and Norway under new Italy manager Antonio Conte, although he did not appear during the matches. On 3 October 2015, Quagliarella earned his most recent call-up, once again for Italy’s Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Azerbaijan and Norway; once again, he did not appear during the matches.
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Quagliarella wears the number 27 in honour of Niccolò Galli, a former friend and youth academy teammate of his who used to wear this number; Galli died in a road accident in 2001.
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Fabio Quagliarella joined Sampdoria twice in two different moments of his career. The first one was on July 7th 2006, he was sold in co-ownership with Udinese, in exchange for the transfer of Salvatore Foti. During the 2006–07 season with the Blucerchiati, Quagliarella scored 13 goals in league play and earned attention worldwide due to the spectacular nature of many of his goals. His breakout season at Sampdoria led to a call-up to the Italian national team and numerous rumors of a high-profile transfer abroad. Following his breakout 2006–07 season, both Udinese and Sampdoria were unable to comes to terms on his co-ownership deal and went to a blind auction on 21 June 2007. In the auction, Sampdoria bid €6.5 million, but were outbid by Udinese, who paid €7.15 million. The second time was after a series of controversies with Torino’s fans, resulting from Quagliarella’s failure to celebrate after a goal scored against Napoli (Quagliarella former team), on 1 February 2016 when he was loaned to Sampdoria with an obligation to buy. He scored his first goal upon his return on 20 February against Inter Milan in the 92nd minute, in a 3–1 away loss. On 20 November, Quagliarella scored his 100th Serie A goal in the 84th minute of his 343th league appearance, and subsequently set up a goal for teammate Luis Muriel, as Sampdoria came from behind to defeat Sassuolo 3–2 at home. On 13 January 2017, he signed a new contract with Sampdoria that would keep him with the club until June 2019. On 21 January 2018, Quagliarella scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win over Fiorentina, but was later substituted in the 75th minute after picking up a knock;[ his hat-trick saw him set a new personal career seasonal best in Serie A, with 15 goals. He finished the 2017–18 Serie A championship with 19 goals in 35 appearances, among the best scorers of the championship. During the 2018–19 Serie A season, on 2 September 2018, Quagliarella scored the final goal of a 3–0 home win against Napoli, with what was described by the BBC as a “sensational” backheel volley. He later cited the goal as the best of his career. On January 26th 2019 Quagliarella scored two goals against Udinese, scoring for 11 games in a row and equalizing the record of Gabriel Batistuta who scored in all of the first 11 games of the season 1994/1995.
Watch Fabio Quagliarella amazing goal against Napoli
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In 2009, Fabio Quagliarella was hot property in Serie A. The Italian striker was becoming a feared goal scorer in Italy’s top tier, and, thanks to netting double figures in the previous three seasons, earned himself a big move from Udinese to Napoli for around €18m. A successful debut campaign followed in Naples, where he went on to score 11 goals. However, in 2010, despite apparent on the field success, Quagliarella hastily departed to Juventus in a loan deal in what was oddly low-profile move and shrouded in mystery. Napoli made a loss on a player, a €3million loss in total, who had arrived with a substantial reputation and had backed it up on the pitch – a situation which is almost unprecedented in modern football. In February 2017, Quagliarella revealed in an interview with Mediaset that during his time at Napoli he and his family were threatened by a stalker over a period of five years, which eventually led to his departure from the club.”This week marked the end of an off the pitch issue that had turned into a nightmare for me” Quagliarella said.”I have this huge weight taken off my shoulders and this is the real reason I had to leave Napoli and Naples. I was very happy there, but I was affected by this situation that turned into a genuine nightmare.I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone. I couldn’t leave my house, neither could my family. I thank the courts for ensuring the truth came out. It was even more painful because as the investigation was on-going, I couldn’t tell people about it, I couldn’t express what was happening to me.” The stalker has now finally been given a jail sentence for his crimes, allowing the striker to openly admit his ordeal, which included being aggressively pursued and having death threats made by the individual. Quagliarella endured something few of us will understand, but the fact he managed to recover his form and still enjoy an illustrious career in Italy’s top flight is a testament to his strong character.