After being a member of theEmpoli youth side since 1994, Di Natale started his professional career with the Empoli senior side in 1995, and remained with the club until 2004, aside from brief loan spells withIperzola,Varese andViareggio. During his time with Empoli, he helped the club to achieveSerie A promotion during the2001–02 Serie B season, scoring 16 goals. His breakthrough came during the2002–03 Serie A season, as he scored 13 goals in the league and helped Empoli avoid relegation. Despite being unable to find the net as regularly or save Empoli from relegation the following season, his performances and consistent goalscoring earned him a transfer toUdinese in 2004.
During his time with Udinese, Di Natale's skill, leadership and ability to both score and create many goals played a key role in helping the club to third and fourth-place finishes in Serie A and qualify for theUEFA Champions League.[2] In 2007, he was named the club'scaptain. Di Natale's consistent goalscoring with Udinese saw him reach double figures for nine consecutive league seasons.[2] He won theSerie A top goalscorer award in2010 and2011, and was also awarded theSerie A Italian Footballer of the Year award for his performances in 2010.[2][3] A late bloomer, unlike most strikers, he enjoyed his most prolific seasons in front of goal well after age 30; between 2009 and 2011,Lionel Messi (82) andCristiano Ronaldo (86) were the only two players to have scored more league goals than Di Natale (67).[4] In 2015,France Football rated him as one of the ten-best footballers in the world who are over age 36.[5]
Also known as "Totò",[7] Di Natale was born in Naples on 13 October 1977 to Salvatore, a professional painter, and Giovanna. He has two brothers, Paolo and Carmine, and two sisters, Michela and Anna. He grew up in the 219 district of Pomigliano d'Arco. His beginnings at the "San Nicola" football school in Castello di Cisterna, affiliated with Empoli Football Club, led him to join the youth sector of the Tuscan club at the age of 13 in 1990.[8]
Despite being born inNaples, Di Natale made the move north for his footballing career, joiningEmpoli's youth system. While at Empoli, he was loaned out three times, enjoying success withViareggio in the 1998–99 campaign, where he scored 12 goals in 25 games for theTuscan side. Upon his return to his parent club, he finally made his breakthrough into the first team squad and established himself as an integral member of the side. He scored 6 goals in 25 appearances for Empoli during the1999–2000 campaign as Empoli finished in ninth place inSerie B.
Empoli won promotion to theSerie A in 2002 after finishing in fourth place during the2001–02 Serie B season with 67 points.[9] They finished with 60 goals, the largest tally in the competition, and Di Natale finished as the club's top goalscorer with 16 league goals. In Empoli's first season back in thetopflight, he helped the club fight off relegation by scoring 13 times in the league.[10] This included a hat-trick in Empoli's 4–2 defeat ofReggina on 17 November 2002.[11] The next season was less fortunate for Di Natale, who only scored five goals in the league. Following two seasons in the Serie A, Empoli were relegated back to the Serie B at the end of the2003–04 campaign.[12]
In the2007–08 season, Di Natale scored 17 league goals. The two most notable goals were scored on matchday 4, when Udinese played against Reggina. Forming a formidable attacking duo withFabio Quagliarella, Di Natale improved his goal tally, becoming the focal point of the attack. In 2007, he was namedcaptain of Udinese and his contract was extended to 30 June 2012.[14][15]
May 2010 saw the conclusion of Di Natale's best-ever season, scoring 29 goals in Serie A, and contributing 54% of Udinese's total goals.[16] He also surpassedOliver Bierhoff's club record for most league goals in a season, who had scored 28. A brace againstBari on 9 May 2010 saw Di Natale surpass the 100-goal mark in Serie A. For his performances, he was votedSerie A Italian Footballer of the Year and finished as the top scorer in Serie A. He also received theSerie A Fair Play award for interrupting play in a match whileLazio'sLibor Kozák was injured, with Udinese down 3–2 late in the match.[17] The2009–10 season saw Di Natale finish as runner-up for theEuropean Golden Shoe withChelsea strikerDidier Drogba on 29 goals,[18] five behindBarcelona forwardLionel Messi.[19] He also helped the club to reach the semi-finals of theCoppa Italia that season.
On 14 November 2010, Di Natale scored ahat-trick during a match againstLecce[20] and on 28 November, he scored a second consecutive home hat-trick during a match againstNapoli.[21] On 8 May 2011, he struck two first-half goals to give Udinese a 2–1 victory over Lazio and into fourth place with two matches remaining to play.[22] Despite him missing a late penalty, with a 0–0 draw against championsMilan on the final day, Udinese secured fourth place and a spot in the playoff round of the2011–12 UEFA Champions League.[23] During the2010–11 season, Di Natale had the best strike rate of any player in Italy, scoring 28 goals in 36 matches for a strike rate of 0.78 goals per match. This was also the third-best strike rate in Europe, behindReal Madrid'sCristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi.[24]
Di Natale playing for Udinese in 2011
On 23 October 2011, Di Natale scored a brace in a 3–0 defeat ofNovara which sent Udinese to the top of the Serie A table.[25] On 13 May 2012, he opened the scoring againstCatania on the final matchday of theSerie A season, andDiego Fabbrini added a second-half strike to secure four-straight Serie A victories and ensure Udinese a place in next season'sUEFA Champions League qualifying round.[26] On 4 July 2012, Di Natale signed a new two-year contract with the club.[27]
Di Natale's first goal of the2012–13 season came on 16 September 2012 when he scored Udinese's second goal within five minutes of the start of the match, but a red card toAndrea Lazzari and two late goals fromSiena condemned Udinese to a 2–2 draw.[28] On 6 January 2013, he scored a brace as Udinese defeated ten-manInternazionale 3–0, lifting Udinese to eighth in the table.[29] In Udinese's next league match, on 13 January, he scored two more goals as his side defeatedFiorentina 3–1 to extend their streak of five unbeaten Serie A matches.[30] Di Natale scored his 150th Serie A goal for Udinese on 3 March, converting from close range after a cross fromLuis Muriel, securing a 0–1 victory atPescara.[31] His last goal of the 2012–13 campaign came on the final matchday, on 19 May 2013, scoring Udinese's winning goal in a 5–2 defeat of Internazionale, confirming the club's place in theUEFA Europa League for the following season.[32]
Before the2013–14 season Di Natale was offered a contract with an annual salary of €10 million by Chinese clubGuangzhou Evergrande, which was coached by his former Italy managerMarcello Lippi at the time. However, Di Natale declined the offer and chose to stay with Udinese.[33] After Udinese's 3–1 loss toHellas Verona on 6 January 2014, he toldSky Sports Italia he would retire at the end of the 2013–14 season. "I have already decided, in June I'll stop playing football. It's already established."[34] On 8 March 2014, Di Natale scored his 185th Serie A goal, the winning strike in Udinese's 1–0 victory over Milan, to overtakeGabriel Batistuta on the all-timeSerie A scoring charts.[35] He ended the2013–14 season with 17 goals, making him the fourth-top goalscorer in Serie A, at age 36.[36] Despite previously announcing he would retire from professional football at the end of the2013–14 Serie A season, he confirmed on 30 May 2014 he had decided he would not retire and would continue to play on into the2014–15 season.[37]
Di Natale scored four goals in a 5–1 win overTernana in the third round of theCoppa Italia on 23 August 2014.[38] On 31 August, in Udinese's opening Serie A match of the2014–15 season, he scored two second half goals in a home win over newly promoted Empoli.[39] On 23 November 2014, he scored his 200th goal in his 400th appearance in Serie A.[40] On 2 February 2015, he was offered an $8 million contract by a yet unnamed team inMajor League Soccer (MLS); he had been linked to MLS expansion clubNew York City FC.[41] On 28 April, Di Natale scored his 205th goal in Serie A, matching Italian legendRoberto Baggio as the sixth-highest goalscorer inSerie A history, at age 37;[42] this was also his 700th career appearance.[43] The following matchday, on 3 May, he scored in a 1–0 victory over Hellas Verona, overtaking Baggio with his 206th goal in Serie A.[44] On 12 May, he once again took back his decision to retire at the end of the 2014–15 season, announcing his intention to play another season.[45] In late April 2016, Di Natale said he would leave the club at the end of the2015–16 season, although he also said he intended to continue playing professional football.[46] On 15 May 2016, he scored a goal from the penalty spot in a 2–1 home defeat toCarpi in his final appearance with Udinese, scoring a total of 191 goals in 385 league appearances during his 12 years with the club, and 227 goals and 63 assists for the club in all competitions.[47][48] He officially announced his retirement later that year.[49][50]
Di Natale made his debut with theItaly national team on 20 November 2002, under managerGiovanni Trapattoni, in a friendly match againstTurkey.[51] He won few caps in later years, scoring his first goal on 18 February 2004 in a friendly match against theCzech Republic, a game which ended in a 2–2 draw.[52]
Di Natale participated in the2010 FIFA World Cup under managerMarcello Lippi, and was assigned thenumber ten shirt.[55] Italy was placed into Group F at the finals, drawing their first two group stage matches by a score of 1–1 toParaguay andNew Zealand, respectively.[56][57] In their final group match on 24 June, he scored a goal in the 3–2 defeat againstSlovakia, which resulted in Italy finishing bottom of itsgroup and going out in the first round.[58]
In 2012, Di Natale was included in the Italy squad forEuro 2012, under managerCesare Prandelli, making five appearances throughout the tournament, appearing in every match save the quarter-final againstEngland. After coming on as a substitute in the first match against defending champions Spain, on 10 June 2012, he scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw, curling a right-footed shot past goalkeeperIker Casillas after receiving a through-ball fromAndrea Pirlo;[59] this was the only goal that Spain conceded throughout the entire tournament.[60] Italy eventually reached thefinal of the tournament, which was played on 1 July 2012, at theOlympic Stadium inKyiv. The Italians suffered a 4–0 defeat to Spain, with Di Natale making a substitute appearance during the match.[61][62]
Following the tournament, Di Natale retired from international football.[63] Although Prandelli called him up for the2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, Di Natale turned down the offer, as he was exhausted from the regular season and wanted to do well in the next season so that he would be called up to play on the Italian team at the2014 FIFA World Cup.[64] However, he was not called up for that tournament the following summer.[65] In total, he scored 11 goals scored in 42 matches for theAzzurri.[66]
A quick, mobile, diminutive and versatile player, gifted with good tactical intelligence, speed, and a lethal eye for goal, Di Natale was capable of playing anywhere along thefront line; throughout his career he was deployed in thecentre as a lonestriker, outwide on the left in an attacking trident, or even in a deeper, creative,supporting role, due to his positional sense, vision and ability to both score andcreate goals. He was mainly known for his pace, control, flair, technical skills and sense of space in the area, as well as his ability to make attacking runs to beat the defensive line and subsequently finish off chances. Due to his opportunism, composure in front of goal, and ability to strike the ball well with either foot despite being naturally right-footed, he was able to score from any position on the pitch.[4][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]
On 4 September 2018, Di Natale was hired bySpezia as technical collaborator for the first team.[87] He was subsequently put in charge of the club's Under-17 youth team in July 2019,[88] a role he left in September 2020.[89]
On 11 April 2021, Di Natale was named new head coach ofSerie C clubCarrarese, in what represented his first managerial role in his career, taking over fromSilvio Baldini, a former manager of his during his days at Empoli.[90] After guiding Carrarese to safety in his short stint in charge of the club in the 2020–21 season, Di Natale signed a two-year deal to remain in charge of the Tuscanian club.[91] After completing the2021–22 Serie C with theApuani, on 11 July 2022 Di Natale mutually rescinded his contract with Carrarese.[92]
While playing for Empoli, at age 19 Di Natale met his future wife, Ilenia Betti, whom he married on 15 June 2002. The couple have two children together, Filippo and Diletta.[93] In August 2010, he rejected a transfer to Italian giantsJuventus because his children had grown up in Udine and his family was settled and enjoyed living there.[94]
Di Natale took financial responsibility for the disabled sister of Udinese teammatePiermario Morosini, who died on 14 April 2012 when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while playing on loan forLivorno. Morosini's death left his sister with no other living relatives.[95]
