Fabio Quagliarella

At 41 years old, Fabio Quagliarella has this physical status:

Club career

Quagliarella grew in the youth ranks of Gragnano, Torino, and Torino, where he made his debut in Serie A on May 14, 2000, beating Piacenza in a 2–1 victory.

Quagliarella was sent on loan to Fiorentina in 2002, despite his limited playing opportunities. He had only one goal in 12 games in Florence. Alberto Cavasin, the head coach, decided to end the loan in January, but Torino followed him on loan to Chieti in Serie C1. During the 2003–04 Serie C1 season, he stayed in Abruzzo the following season and scored 17 goals in 32 games. His time in Chieti brought him a total of 19 goals in 43 games; at the end of the season, he returned to Torino in honor of the 2004–05 season in Serie B.

Quagliarella, a regular starter, was a starter, and with seven goals in 34 games, the club's promotion to Serie A was a success. However, he was released on a free transfer and signed a deal with Ascoli as a result of Torino Calcio's bankruptcy in August 2005. He was guaranteed a starting spot in the lineup during the 2005–06 season with Ascoli, scoring his first goal in Serie A on December 21, 2005, a 1–0 home win over Treviso.

Quagliarella was signed by Udinese in 2005. However, Udinese immediately sold half of his registration rights to newly promoted Ascoli as part of a co-ownership agreement. He stayed at Ascoli for only one season, scoring just three times in 33 appearances, and his rights were returned in full by Udinese in June 2006 for an undisclosed fee.

He was sold in co-ownership to Sampdoria on July 7, 2006, in exchange for Salvatore Foti's exchange. Quagliarella scored 13 goals in league play during his 2006–07 season with the Blucerchiati, gaining worldwide notice for several of his goals. His breakout season at Sampdoria culminated in a call-up to the Italian national team and a flurry of reports of a high-profile transfer abroad.

Both Udinese and Sampdoria were unable to decide on their co-ownership contract and went to a blind auction on June 21, 2007, following his great success in 2006–07. Sampdoria bid €6.5 million in the auction, but Udinese nabbed them out for €7.15 million. He began the 2007–08 season slowly, scoring just once in the season's first 11 games. However, he soon found his footing at the club, teaming Antonio Di Natale in a difficult strike partnership and scoring a total of 12 goals in the 2007–08 season. Quagliarella was able to secure a spot in the Italian squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament in Barcelona. Fabio continued his goal scoring at Udinese in the 2008-09 season, scoring 21 goals in all competitions, including eight in the UEFA Cup, where Udinese reached the quarterfinals.

Quagliarella signed a five-year contract with Napoli on June 1, 2009. He was partnered with Ezequiel Lavezzi and attacking midfielder Marek Ham'k in Napoli and scored 11 goals in Serie A to help Napoli qualify for the 2010-11 UEFA Europa League, which was their sixth-place finish in the league. In a 1–0 victory over IF Elfsborg, he played his last match for Napoli in the Europa League. He was an unused bench in the second leg, when Walter Mazzarri used Edinson Cavani to work with Lavezzi, who scored a brace to assist the team in qualifying.

Quagliarella signed for Juventus on loan for €4.5 million on August 27, 2010, with the Bianconeri having the opportunity to sign him permanently for €10.5 million. With nine league goals in 17 appearances before the winter break, he was the team's top scorer with nine league goals in 17 appearances. However, he suffered his right anterior cruciate ligament injury in the first match after the winter break, losing to Parma 1–4. He will be out for the remainder of the season.

Juventus redeemed his deal on June 22nd, 2011. Quagliarella has signed a three-year contract extension to remain with Juventus until 2014. He scored his third goal of the season against Napoli's former team on April 1st, but refused to celebrate due to his Neapolitan roots. Quagliarella signed a 12-month contract on April 30th, 2012, extending his contract with the club until the summer of 2015.

Quagliarella's first brace of the 2012–13 season came against Chievo on September 22, 2012. Quagliarella scored his first hat-trick of the season against Pescara on November 10 in a match that Juventus defeated 6-1. He scored his first goal in the Champions League in the club's first 2–2 away draw against defending champions Chelsea.

Quagliarella opened the scoring in the March 2013 Derby d'Italia versus Internazionale with a curled shot from 25 yards (23 meters), as well as Alessandro Matri's winner.

Torino acquired Quagliarella outright for €3.5 million, payable over three years, on July 17, 2014. After nine years of service, he returned to Torino after a three-year deal, which was an achievement. Quagliarella scored the 3–0 goal on September 7, 2014 from a penalty kick in the third round of the 2014–15 Europa League against Brommapojkarna on his return to action.

He won a penalty after being fouled by Inter's Nemanja Vidi, but Marcelo Larrondo missed it, ending the game goalless. Quagliarella scored his first goal for Torino in Serie A against Cagliari on September 24, 2014, resulting in a 2–1 victory. Torino defeated Copenhagen on October 2nd, scoring his first goal in Europe against Torino, who scored a penalty in the 93rd minute, resulting in a 1–0 victory for the Granata. He scored his first hat-trick for Torino in Serie A against Sampdoria on February 1, 2015, scoring 5-1. He scored the decisive goal against Juventus, 2–1, which gave Torino a victory in the Turin derby after just 20 years.

On February 1, 2016, Quagliarella's fans were loaned to Sampdoria with an obligation to buy following a string of controversies resulting from Quagliarella's inability to celebrate after a goal was scored against his former club Napoli. In a 3–1 away loss, he scored his first goal on his return from Inter Milan in the 92nd minute on February 20.

Quagliarella scored his 100th Serie A goal in the 84th minute of his 343rd league appearance, as Sampdoria came from behind to beat Sassuolo 3–2 at home on Sunday.

He signed a new deal with Sampdoria on January 13, 2017 that will keep him with the club until June 2019.

Quagliarella scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 home win over Fiorentina on January 21, 2018, but was later suspended in the 75th minute after picking up a knock; his hat-trick set a new personal record in Serie A with 15 goals. He scored 19 goals in 35 appearances in the 2017-18 Serie A championship, making him one of the best scorers of the season.

Quagliarella scored the final goal of a 3–0 home win against Napoli on September 2nd, 2018 in what was characterized by the BBC as a "sensational" backheel volley. Later, he cited the goal as the best of his career. Gregoire Defrel's second goal had been set up during the same game. On August 19, 2019, the aforementioned goal was later nominated for the 2019 FIFA Puskás Award.

Quagliarella scored on penalties for his 13th and 14th league goals in the last 11 games, as a result, he tied Gabriel Batistuta for his all-time record of scoring in 11 consecutive Serie A matches in a single season, which the Argentine had achieved in 1994, with Fiorentina. Quagliarella defeated Christian Vieri in 28th position in the Serie A all-time goalscoring rankings for his 143rd Serie A goal. Quagliarella scored 26 Serie A goals for Sampdoria by the end of the season, winning the Capocannoniere championship. Quagliarella was selected as the Best Forward and Team of the Year in Serie A. In 2019, Quagliarella was also ranked 94th in The Guardian's list of "The 100 top footballers in the world."

Quagliarella scored the first goal in a tense 3–0 home victory on May 2221, the final match of the 2020–21 Serie A season. Quagliarella scored 100th goals with Sampdoria on February 19, 2022. Quagliarella scored his 180th Serie A goal and climbed to 13th place in the Serie A all-time goalscoring rankings, surpassing Giampiero Boniperti in 13th position.

International career

Quagliarella played for the Italian youth teams, also known as the Azzurrini, from 2000–05. On September 5, 2000 against Slovakia, he made his debut for the Italy U17 team (equivalent to the current Italy U18 team). He was a member of the Italy U19 team during their 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying campaign, which was the following season.

Quagliarella was called up to the Italian senior squad, the Azzurri, after his excellent results with Sampdoria in the 2006–07 season. However, his senior international debut was postponed, as a result of fan protests in Serie A that weekend, the match was cancelled.

Quagliarella's senior debut against Scotland in Bari on March 28, 2007, when he came as a replacement for Luca Toni in the final minutes of the 2–0 victory. In Kaunas on June 6, 2007, he made his first appearance for Italy in a vital Euro 2008 qualifier against Lithuania, as well as scoring his first two goals for the national team. In Italy's 3–1 victory over Portugal in an international friendly in Zurich on February 6, he scored his third goal and his country's third goal of the match. It was also the Italian national team's 1200th goal scored by the Italian national team. Quagliarella was later named in Italy's second team match, a 1–1 draw against Romania, and he was allowed to play in the Italian UEFA Euro 2008 squad, defeating Romania in Quagliarella's second group match, a 1–1 draw. In the quarter-finals, Italy then fell out of the tournament on penalties to eventual champions Spain.

Quagliarella was later selected by Italy's 23-man squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa under new coach Marcello Lippi; his only appearance in the tournament was in Italy's second group match, a 1–0 loss to Egypt. Following a 3–0 loss to eventual champions Brazil in their final group match, Italy was barred from the tournament in the group stage.

Coach Marcello Lippi had also selected Quagliarella in the final 23-man Italian 2010 FIFA World Cup squad, scoring a header against Switzerland on June 5, 2010 in Italy's final friendly before the tournament. Quagliarella scored in Italy's final match of Group F against Slovakia, and then scored a stunning 25-yard run off the line, leading to the Italians' 3–2 loss, despite being unable to prevent the Italians from losing 3–2. The game was his 21st cap for Italy, while his seventh goal was his seventh overall. Despite the fact that the Italian team had been widely mocked in the media, Quagliarella's contribution was lauded.

Quagliarella scored Italy's fourth goal in a 5–0 home victory over the Faroe Islands on September 7, 2010 under Italy's new manager Cesare Prandelli. He later appeared in a friendly against Romania in Klagenfurt on November 17th, scoring the equalizing goal in the 1–1 draw; although some reports cite Italy's goal as their own goal, Quagliarella's.

Quagliarella was called back to the national team by September 2nd, 2014, for a friendly match against the Netherlands and UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier matches against Azerbaijan and Norway, although he did not appear during the games.

Quagliarella received another call-up for Italy's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Norway on October 3rd, 2015; once more, he did not appear during the matches.

Roberto Mancini called him up to UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches against Finland and Liechtenstein on March 15, 2019. Quagliarella came off the bench in Italy's 80th minute in a 2–0 home win over Finland on March 23, 2019, the first time he had appeared in November 2010. Quagliarella's first international appearance since 5 June 2010, with his first competitive appearance since September 11, 2009 (a 3–2 home win over Cyprus in a 2010 World Cup qualifier), scoring twice from the penalty spot in a 6–0 victory over Liechtenstein over 6 years and 54 days; he also set up Moise Kean's goal during the match.

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