All smiles and looking relaxed, Graziano Pelle seems to have already made up for lost time now that his 29-year journey from a sleepy town in Lecce to the Italian national side has reached its destination. On Monday evening, Pelle scored the winner in Italy’s 1-0 victory over Malta.
It was certainly not an easy odyssey from San Cesario, a town of just 8,000 people, to Coverciano and the aptly-named Pelle has taken a few less trodden roads and highways to achieve his dream.
Certainly in Italy more than most countries, there seemed to be a taboo (which does admittedly look to be waning now) when it came to playing abroad and the harm it would do to a player’s Azzurri chances.
He failed to find the net with Lecce or Catania in spells as a youngster, with spells at Crotone and Cesena attracting the attention of Louis van Gaal’s AZ Alkmaar (playing a prank on the current Manchester United boss on the day of his signing showing his easygoing nature) but even then, his return was lukewarm at best: 14 goals across four seasons.
Spells at Parma and Sampdoria brought five goals across that period with a return to the Eredivisie giving him his last chance at making an impact and he certainly made the most of it.
In 57 appearances, he hit 50 goals across two years in Rotterdam, leading Southampton to splurge for a reported €10 million and four goals in his seven Saints appearances so far, including a quite magnificent bicycle kick against Queens Park Rangers, mean the man in form is now an Azzurri striker.
And he apologises for the delay. Speaking to the assembled media upon his call up, he showed no signs of being overawed or daunted by this latest step up in his career: “I think I deserved this call up,” he said firmly.
“It is my fault I have not been called up sooner but it is a special feeling to represent your country. I believe that I have now reached physical and mental maturity and so it is better to be here late than never.”
Six years have passed since he last wore the famous blue jersey at the Torneo di Tolonecon with the side preparing for the Olympic Games and he did clock up 26 appearances across the U20 and U21 sides, ending up with seven goals to show for it.
So it would seem making up for lost time is on the agenda but Pelle acknowledges that it will be difficult and that even previous late bloomers have perhaps not left it as late as he has to tackle the Italy scene.
He confessed: “Yes, I have heard the comparisons with Luca Toni [who received his first Italy call up at the age of 27] and he is a good example but by my age he had already won a World Cup…”
An objective that, at this time, will be far from Pelle’s mind. However, there is little doubt he deserves to be in the squad as one of Italy’s form strikers – not only since the start of the season but over the previous two seasons.
And his influence is already being felt within the campaign, taking young hotshot Ciro Immobile under his wing to advise him on what awaits him as an Italian striker on the continent.
“My experiences abroad have been great. I told Ciro that you learn to live the game in a completely different way and that it can be difficult to get used to this in the beginning.
“The problem is that we Italians love one thing; to complain. In fact, I always tell my teammates, ‘the day I stop complaining, is the day I’ll be dead!'”.
Complaints though will probably take a back seat for the moment — Pelle has a position to win on the field and a job to do, convincing a previously sceptical Italian audience that he can lead the nation to success. He has already taken the first step towards that, helping Italy maintain their perfect start in the Azzurri’s EURO 2016 qualifying campaign.
