Today in Serie A – March 24, 2007: Pazzini’s Hattrick at the New Wembley | OneFootball

On March 24, 2007, it really seemed like Italy had found the centravanti they had been looking for for so long. Giampaolo Pazzini was 22 years old and was a solid Fiorentina striker. He spearheaded Italy U-21’s attack as the Azzurrini faced England U-21 in the game that raised the curtain on the new Wembley Stadium.

The original temple of English football had been torn down and rebuilt from scratch to meet the modern standard of the game – a need than in Italy we seem to be deaf to when it comes to our stadiums. Surprisingly, it was an U-21 friendly match, albeit a prestigious one, to be chosen to inaugurate the new ground.

It took only 28 seconds (!) for Pazzini to open the scoring with a sharp right foot shot. But he was far from finished on that night. After England came from behind and built a 3-1 lead, Pazzini scored twice more, first deflecting home an Andrea Mantovani cross and then setting the score at 3-3 with another deadly right foot conclusion.

That was the climax of Pazzini’s career, who enjoyed a few more prolific seasons at Sampdoria before moving to Inter and then to Milan. Pazzo did not necessarily do bad either with the Nerazzurri or the Rossoneri but, for some reason, his career never really took off or lived up to the hype that his magic Wembley night created.

He went on to collect only 25 caps for Italy’s senior squad, scoring four goals. His only appearance in a major tournament came in a disgraceful 1-1 tie to New Zealand at the 2010 World Cup.

Pazzini’s professional experience ended in Verona, where he spent the last five seasons of his career, save for a short loan stint at Levante in Spain. In the 2016/17 campaign, he achieved his career best scoring tally with 23 goals, but that was in Serie B.

Giampaolo Pazzini surely had a respectable career. But when you bag a hattick on your Wembley debut at 22 and manage to get featured on the front cover of a famous video game alongside Wayne Rooney, you must surely have thought that you were destined to even greater things…