.jpg) Quagliarella playing forTorino in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fabio Quagliarella[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1983-01-31)31 January 1983 (age 42)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Castellammare di Stabia,Italy | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1988–1991 | Annunziatella | ||
| 1991–1993 | Pro Juventude | ||
| 1993–1997 | Gragnano | ||
| 1997–1999 | Torino | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2005 | Torino | 39 | (7) |
| 2002–2003 | →Fiorentina (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2003–2004 | →Chieti (loan) | 43 | (19) |
| 2005–2006 | Ascoli | 33 | (3) |
| 2006–2007 | Sampdoria | 35 | (13) |
| 2007–2009 | Udinese | 73 | (25) |
| 2009–2010 | Napoli | 34 | (11) |
| 2010–2014 | Juventus | 84 | (23) |
| 2014–2016 | Torino | 50 | (18) |
| 2016–2023 | Sampdoria | 242 | (89) |
| Total | 645 | (209) | |
| International career | |||
| 2000–2001 | Italy U18 | 8 | (1) |
| 2001 | Italy U19 | 9 | (1) |
| 2002–2004 | Italy U20 | 8 | (2) |
| 2004 | Italy U21 | 2 | (1) |
| 2007–2019 | Italy | 28 | (8) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Fabio Quagliarella (Italian pronunciation:[ˈfaːbjokwaʎʎaˈrɛlla]; born 31 January 1983) is an Italian former professionalfootballer who played as aforward.
Throughout his career, Quagliarella played for eight different Italian clubs, winning three consecutiveSerie A titles from the2011–12 to2013–14 seasons withJuventus. With the Turin-based club, he also won twoSupercoppa Italiana titles in2012 and2013, as well as winning the2002–03 Serie C2 withFiorentina. In the Italian top flight, Quagliarella also representedTorino,Ascoli,Udinese,Napoli andSampdoria.
At the international level, Quagliarella represented Italy fromunder-18 tounder-21 youth levels before his debut for thesenior team in 2007. He was part of Italy's squads forUEFA Euro 2008, the2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the2010 FIFA World Cup.
Individually, Quagliarella was awarded theSerie A Goal of the Year in 2009, achieved during his time atUdinese; in 2017 and 2018 respectively, he obtained the Premio Gentleman Fairplay and theScirea Career Award while playing for Sampdoria, which pertain to both personality and playing ability. During the2018–19 season while at Sampdoria, he scored in eleven consecutive league games, a feat only previously accomplished byGabriel Batistuta;[3] Quagliarella finished the campaign with 26 goals in Serie A, which saw him capture theCapocannoniere title as the league's top scorer, also being named the league'sbest forward.
Quagliarella grew up in the youth ranks of Gragnano,[4] thenTorino, where he made his debut inSerie A on 14 May 2000, in a 2–1 victory overPiacenza.
In 2002, given his limited playing opportunities, Quagliarella was sent on loan toFiorentina, at that time inSerie C2. In Florence, he scored just one goal in 12 games. In January, head coachAlberto Cavasin decided to cease the loan, whereupon Torino then sent him on loan toChieti inSerie C1. He also remained inAbruzzo the following season and scored 17 goals in 32 games during the2003–04 Serie C1 season. His time in Chieti ended with a total of 19 goals in 43 games; at the end of the season, he returned to Torino, in given the2004–05 season in Serie B.
At Torino, Quagliarella was an occasional starter, and with seven goals in 34 games, contributed to the club's promotion toSerie A. However, as a result of the bankruptcy of Torino Calcio, in August 2005, he was released on a free transfer and accepted a contract withAscoli. With Ascoli, he was ensured a starting spot in the lineup during the2005–06 season, scoring his first goal inSerie A on 21 December 2005, a 1–0 home win overTreviso.[5]
Quagliarella signed withUdinese in the summer of 2005. However, Udinese immediately sold half of his registration rights to newly promoted Ascoli as part of aco-ownership deal. He stayed at Ascoli for just one season, scoring just three times in 33 appearances, and his rights were bought back in full by Udinese in June 2006 for an undisclosed fee.
On 7 July 2006, he was sold in co-ownership to Sampdoria, in exchange for the transfer ofSalvatore Foti.[6][7] During the2006–07 season with theBlucerchiati, 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 theItaly national team and numerous rumors of a high-profile transfer abroad.[8]
Following his breakout 2006–07 season, both Udinese and Sampdoria were unable to come 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 was outbid by Udinese, who paid €7.15 million.[7][9] At Udinese, he started the2007–08 season slowly, scoring just once in the season's first 11 games. However, he soon found his footing at the club, forming a dangerous strike partnership withAntonio Di Natale and scoring a total of 12 goals in the 2007–08 season.[10] This led to Quagliarella securing a place in the Italian squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 competition. Fabio continued his goal-scoring at Udinese in the2008–09 season, reaching 21 goals in all competitions, including eight goals in theUEFA Cup, where Udinese reached the quarter-finals.
On 1 June 2009, Quagliarella moved to his hometown clubNapoli for a transfer fee of €18 Million, where he signed a five-year deal.[11] At Napoli, he was partnered withEzequiel Lavezzi and attacking midfielderMarek Hamšík and scored 11 goals in Serie A to help Napoli qualify for the2010–11 UEFA Europa League with a sixth-place finish in the league. He played his last match for Napoli in the Europa League, in a 1–0 win overIF Elfsborg. He was an unused bench in the second leg, whichWalter Mazzarri used new signingEdinson Cavani partnered with Lavezzi, who the former scored a brace to help the team qualify.
On 27 August 2010, Quagliarella signed for Juventus on loan for a fee of €4.5 million, with theBianconeri having the option to sign him permanently for €10.5 million. Before the winter break, he was the team's top scorer with nine league goals in 17 appearances. However, he injured his rightanterior cruciate ligament on 6 January 2011, in the first match after the winter break, losing toParma 4–1. He would miss the rest of the season.[12] On 22 June 2011, his contract was redeemed by Juventus for €10.5 million. Quagliarella signed a three-year contract extension to stay with Juventus until 2014. On 1 April 2012, he scored his third goal of the season against former club Napoli and refused to celebrate due to his Neapolitan roots.[13] On 30 April 2012, Quagliarella signed a 12-month extension that would keep him tied to the club until the summer of 2015. On 22 September 2012, Quagliarella scored his first brace of the 2012–13 season againstChievo.[14] On 10 November 2012, Quagliarella scored his firsthat-trick of the season againstPescara in a match Juventus won 6–1. In theChampions League, he scored his first goal in the competition in the club's opening 2–2 away draw against defending championsChelsea.
Quagliarella opened the scoring in the March 2013Derby d'Italia game againstInter Milan with a curled shot from 25 yards (23 m), and made the pass forAlessandro Matri's winner.[15]
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On 17 July 2014, Torino purchased Quagliarella outright for €3.5 million, payable over three years.[16] This signalled his return to Torino after nine years, signing a three-year contract. Upon his return, Quagliarella scored the 3–0 goal on 7 August 2014 from a penalty kick in thethird round of the2014–15 Europa League againstBrommapojkarna.
In his first Serie A match back at the club, he won a penalty after being fouled by Inter'sNemanja Vidić, butMarcelo Larrondo missed it and the game finished goalless.[17] The following round, Quagliarella scored his first goal in Serie A for Torino againstCagliari on 24 September 2014 to secure a 2–1 win. He then scored his first goal in Europe with Torino on 2 October 2014 againstCopenhagen, with a penalty in the 93rd minute to secure a 1–0 win for theGranata. On 1 February 2015, he scored his first hat-trick for Torino in Serie A against Sampdoria, ending 5–1. On 26 April 2015, he scored the decisive goal against Juventus, 2–1, which handed a victory to Torino in theTurin derby after exactly 20 years.[18]
After a series of controversies with Torino's fans,[19] resulting from Quagliarella's failure to celebrate after a goal scored against his former club Napoli,[20] on 1 February 2016 he was loaned to Sampdoria with an obligation to buy.[21][22] He scored his first goal upon his return on 20 February againstInter Milan in the 92nd minute, in a 3–1 away loss.[23] On 20 November, Quagliarella scored his 100th Serie A goal in the 84th minute of his 343rd league appearance, and subsequently set up a goal for teammateLuis Muriel, as Sampdoria came from behind to defeatSassuolo 3–2 at home.[5][24]
On 13 January 2017, he signed a new contract with Sampdoria that would keep him with the club until June 2019.[25] 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;[26] his hat-trick saw him set a new personal career seasonal best in Serie A, with 15 goals.[27] He finished the2017–18 Serie A campaign with 19 goals in 35 appearances, among the best scorers in the league.
During the2018–19 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 theBBC as a "sensational" backheel volley. He later cited the goal as the best of his career. During the same match, he had previously also set upGregoire Defrel's second goal.[28] The aforementioned goal was later nominated for the2019 FIFA Puskás Award on 19 August 2019.[29]
On 26 January 2019, Quagliarella scored two goals from penalties – his 13th and 14th league goals in the past 11 games – in a 4–0 home win over his former club Udinese, also setting upManolo Gabbiadini's final goal; as a result, he equalledGabriel Batistuta'srecord of scoring in 11 consecutive Serie A matches in a single season, which the Argentine had set in 1994, with Fiorentina, during the1994–95 season. With his 143rd Serie A goal, Quagliarella also overtookChristian Vieri in28th place in the Serie A all-time goalscoring charts.[30][31][32] By the end of the season, Quagliarella scored 26 Serie A goals for Sampdoria, achieving theCapocannoniere title.[33] Quagliarella was named theSerie A Best Forward[34] and theSerie A Team of the Year.[35] Quagliarella was also ranked 94th inThe Guardian's list of "The 100 best footballers in the world" in 2019.[36]
On 22 May 2021, the final match of the2020–21 Serie A season, Quagliarella made his 500th appearance in Serie A against Parma, scoring the opening goal in an eventual 3–0 home win.[37] On 19 February 2022, he reached his 100th goal with Sampdoria, by netting a brace in a 2–0 victory overEmpoli.[38] With his 180th Serie A goal, Quagliarella also overtookGiampiero Boniperti in13th place in the Serie A all-time goalscoring charts.[39]
On 5 March 2023, Quagliarella made his 550th appearance in Serie A againstSalernitana, thus becoming the fifth outfield player to achieve this feat, followingPietro Vierchowod,Javier Zanetti,Francesco Totti andPaolo Maldini.[40] On 20 May, he scored a goal in a 5–1 defeat againstMilan, and in doing so at the age of 40 years and 109 days, he became the fourth oldest player to score a goal in Serie A, only behindZlatan Ibrahimović,Alessandro Costacurta, andSilvio Piola, as well as the fifth 40-year-old player to score a Serie A goal.[41][42] He also became the seventh player in Serie A to score in his 18th consecutive season and 19th straight calendar year, followingJosé Altafini,Gianni Rivera, Silvio Piola,Roberto Mancini,Roberto Baggio and Francesco Totti.[43] However, Sampdoria were relegated from Serie A following the2022–23 season after finishing bottom of the table, and on 7 July, Quagliarella was released after seven years with the club.[44]
After spending a few months as a free agent, on 19 November 2023, Quagliarella publicly announced his retirement from playing football.[45]
Quagliarella played for the Italian youth sides, known as theAzzurrini, from the 2000–01 season up until the 2004–05 season. He made his debut for the Italy U17 team (equivalent to the currentItaly U18 side) on 5 September 2000 againstSlovakia.[46] The following season, he was a member of theItaly U19 team during their2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying campaign.[47]
Following his impressive performances with Sampdoria in the 2006–07 season, Quagliarella was called up to the Italian senior squad, known as theAzzurri, for a friendly againstRomania in February 2007. However, his senior international debut was delayed, as the match was cancelled as a result offan riots in Serie A that weekend.
Quagliarella finally made his senior debut for Italy on 28 March 2007, in aEuro 2008 qualifier againstScotland in Bari, coming on as a substitute forLuca Toni in the final minutes of the 2–0 win.[48][49] InKaunas on 6 June 2007, he made his first start for Italy in a vital Euro 2008 qualifier againstLithuania, also scoring his first two goals for the national side in the eventual 2–0 win.[50] 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 overPortugal in an international friendly inZurich.[51] This was also the 1200th goal scored by the Italy national side. Quagliarella was subsequently included in the ItalianUEFA Euro 2008 squad by managerRoberto Donadoni;[52] 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 forAlessandro Del Piero.[53] Italy then bowed out of the tournament on penalties to eventual championsSpain in the quarter-finals.[54]
Quagliarella was subsequently called up to Italy's 23-man squad for the2009 FIFA Confederations Cup inSouth Africa under returning managerMarcello Lippi;[55] his only appearance throughout the tournament came in Italy's second group match, a 1–0 defeat toEgypt.[56] Italy were disappointingly eliminated from the tournament in the group stage following a 3–0 defeat to eventual championsBrazil in their final group match.[57]
Quagliarella was also included in the final 23-man Italian2010 FIFA World Cup squad by coachMarcello Lippi;[58] on 5 June 2010, he scored a header in a 1–1 away draw againstSwitzerland in Italy's final friendly before the tournament.[59] In Italy's final match ofGroup F at the 2010 World Cup againstSlovakia, Quagliarella came on at the beginning of the second half forGennaro 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 defenderMartin 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.[60] The match was his 21st cap for Italy, while his goal was his seventh overall.[61] Although the Italian team was widely criticised in the media, Quagliarella was praised for his performance.[62]
Under Italy's new managerCesare Prandelli, Quagliarella scored Italy's fourth goal in a 5–0 home win in aEuro 2012 qualifying match against theFaroe Islands on 7 September 2010.[63] 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.[49][64][65]
On 2 September 2014, Quagliarella was recalled to the national team for a friendly match against theNetherlands andUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches againstAzerbaijan andNorway under new Italy managerAntonio Conte, although he did not appear during the matches.[66]
On 3 October 2015, Quagliarella earned another call-up, once again for Italy's Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Azerbaijan and Norway; once again, he did not appear during the matches.[67]
On 15 March 2019, he received a call-up fromRoberto Mancini forUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches againstFinland andLiechtenstein.[68] On 23 March 2019, Quagliarella came off the bench in the 80th minute for Italy, in a 2–0 home win over Finland; this was 3,048 days since his last appearance, which had come in November 2010.[69] On 26 March, Quagliarella was handed his first international start since 5 June 2010, and his first competitive start since 14 October 2009 (a 3–2 home victory overCyprus in a2010 World Cup qualifier, which was also held at theStadio Ennio Tardini in Parma), scoring twice from the penalty spot in a 6–0 home win over Liechtenstein to becomeItaly's all-time oldest goalscorer, at the age of 36 years and 54 days; he also set-upMoise Kean's goal during the match.[70][71]
An opportunistic yet hard-working forward, with an eye for goal, good off-the-ball movement, and a strong positional sense, Quagliarella was 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 fromvolleys and shots anywhere outside the area.[72][73] Usually astriker, he was a versatileforward, capable of playing anywhere along the front line, and was also deployed as awinger, as asecond striker, and even as anattacking midfielder, due to his technical skills and ability to create space and provideassists for teammates, in addition to scoring goals himself.[74][75] He was also an accuratepenalty taker.[76]
Although not a renowned sprinter, Quagliarella had his running speed clocked at 35.07 km/h in August 2021 at the age of 38, which made him one of the fastest players in the Serie A.[77]
Quagliarella wore thenumber 27 in honour ofNiccolò Galli, a childhood friend and youth academy teammate of his who used to wear this number; Galli died in a road accident in 2001, at the age of 17.[78]
In February 2017, Quagliarella revealed in an interview withMediaset that during his time at Napoli, he and his family were threatened by a stalker over five years, which eventually led to his departure from the club.[79]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Europe[b] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Torino | 1999–2000 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | Serie B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | |||
| Fiorentina (loan) | 2002–03 | Serie C2 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 15 | 1 | |
| Chieti (loan) | 2002–03 | Serie C1 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | 2 | |
| 2003–04 | Serie C2 | 32 | 17 | 4 | 0 | – | 36 | 17 | ||
| Total | 43 | 19 | 4 | 0 | – | 47 | 19 | |||
| Torino | 2004–05[c] | Serie B | 36 | 8 | 4 | 2 | – | 40 | 10 | |
| Ascoli | 2005–06 | Serie A | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 33 | 3 | |
| Sampdoria | 2006–07 | Serie A | 35 | 13 | 7 | 1 | – | 42 | 14 | |
| Udinese | 2007–08 | Serie A | 37 | 12 | 2 | 0 | – | 39 | 12 | |
| 2008–09 | Serie A | 36 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 48 | 21 | |
| Total | 73 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 87 | 33 | ||
| Napoli | 2009–10 | Serie A | 34 | 11 | 2 | 0 | – | 36 | 11 | |
| 2010–11 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 34 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 11 | ||
| Juventus | 2010–11 | Serie A | 17 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 9 |
| 2011–12 | Serie A | 23 | 4 | 4 | 0 | – | 27 | 4 | ||
| 2012–13 | Serie A | 27 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 35 | 13 | |
| 2013–14 | Serie A | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 4 | |
| Total | 84 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 102 | 30 | ||
| Torino | 2014–15 | Serie A | 34 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 46 | 17 |
| 2015–16 | Serie A | 16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – | 18 | 5 | ||
| Total | 50 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 64 | 22 | ||
| Sampdoria | 2015–16 | Serie A | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 16 | 3 | |
| 2016–17 | Serie A | 37 | 12 | 1 | 0 | – | 38 | 12 | ||
| 2017–18 | Serie A | 35 | 19 | 1 | 0 | – | 36 | 19 | ||
| 2018–19 | Serie A | 37 | 26 | 2 | 0 | – | 39 | 26 | ||
| 2019–20 | Serie A | 28 | 11 | 1 | 1 | – | 29 | 12 | ||
| 2020–21 | Serie A | 33 | 13 | 0 | 0 | – | 33 | 13 | ||
| 2021–22 | Serie A | 33 | 4 | 2 | 2 | – | 35 | 6 | ||
| 2022–23 | Serie A | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 25 | 1 | ||
| Total | 242 | 89 | 9 | 3 | – | 251 | 92 | |||
| Career total | 647 | 210 | 41 | 7 | 35 | 18 | 723 | 235 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 2007 | 7 | 2 |
| 2008 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 3 | 2 | |
| Total | 28 | 8 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 June 2007 | Darius and Girėnas Stadium,Kaunas, Lithuania |  Lithuania | 1–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualification |
| 2 | 2–0 | |||||
| 3 | 6 February 2008 | Letzigrund,Zürich, Switzerland |  Portugal | 3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 4 | 5 June 2010 | Stade de Genève,Geneva, Switzerland |  Switzerland | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 5 | 24 June 2010 | Ellis Park Stadium,Johannesburg, South Africa |  Slovakia | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2010 FIFA World Cup |
| 6 | 7 September 2010 | Stadio Artemio Franchi,Florence, Italy |  Faroe Islands | 4–0 | 5–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification |
| 7 | 26 March 2019 | Stadio Ennio Tardini,Parma, Italy |  Liechtenstein | 3–0 | 6–0 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
| 8 | 4–0 |
Torino[81]
Fiorentina[81]
Juventus[81]
Individual
Italy squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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