Giacomo Raspadori (born 18 February 2000) is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and the Italy national team.

Club career

Sassuolo

Raspadori joined the youth academy of

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

in 2009, after a year with local club Progresso. On 9 August 2018, he signed his first professional contract with Sassuolo for four years. Raspadori made his professional debut with Sassuolo in a 3–1

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

defeat to

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

on 26 May 2019.

Napoli

On 20 August 2022,

signed Raspadori on a one-year loan with an obligation to purchase.On 14 September, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 3–0 away win over Rangers. On 4 October, he scored a brace and provided an assist in a 6–1 away win over

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

. On 12 October, he scored a goal in a 4–2 win over Ajax, in which his club managed to reach the

knockout phase A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

International career

Youth

Raspadori took part in the

2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (68th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footb ...

with the Italy U19 squad, scoring one goal in the tournament. He made his debut with the Italy U21 squad on 3 September 2020, playing against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in a friendly match. He took part in the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ch ...

where he scored one goal in the group stage phase.

Senior

In June 2021, Raspadori was called up by coach

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Samp ...

to the final 26-man squad for the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

tournament, despite never having been capped for the senior squad. On 4 June 2021, he debuted for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in a friendly win over the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, replacing

Ciro Immobile Ciro Immobile (born 20 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Lazio, which he captains, and the Italy national team. Immobile began his career at Sorrento. In 2009, he was purchased by Ju ...

in the second half. He made his only appearance of Euro 2020 on 20 June, in Italy's final group match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in Rome, coming on as a second–half substitute for Federico Bernardeschi; the match ended in a 1–0 victory to the Italians, allowing them to top their group, On 11 July, Raspadori won the European Championship with Italy following a 3–2

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, after a 1–1 draw in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. On 8 September 2021, Raspadori scored his first goal for the Italy senior national team, making the score 3–0 in an eventual 5–0 home win over

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

in a World Cup qualifier; ten minutes before, his off-goal shot also contributed to an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

from the opposing defender Edgaras Utkus. In September 2022, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over

, then a goal in a 2–0 away win over

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, to qualify his country to the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals.

Style of play

Raspadori is a quick, diminutive, and agile forward, with a low centre of gravity, who is capable of playing as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, as an out-and-out striker or

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

, and even as a winger in a 4–2–3–1 formation. A two-footed player, who possesses good vision and technical skills, he is capable of both creating and scoring goals. He is also known for his ability to provide depth to his team and either exploit or create space with his runs, although he is also capable of dropping deep and linking-up with midfielders. His playing style has drawn comparisons with

Antonio Di Natale Antonio Di Natale (; born 13 October 1977) is an Italian fotball coach and former professional player who played as a striker. After being a member of the Empoli youth side since 1994, Di Natale started his professional career with the Empoli ...

and

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a winger ...

, although he has cited

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest playe ...

as one of his major inspirations. In October 2021, he was described as "Italy's next centre-forward in the making" by Daniele Verri of ''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

''.

Personal life

In 2021, he was combining his football career with studying sports science at university.

Career statistics

Club

International

: ''Italy score listed first, score column indicates score after each Raspadori goal.''

Honours

Napoli *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Italy *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual * Serie A Player of the Month:

January 2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Orders

5th Class / Knight: '' Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'': 2021

References

External links

*
Profile
at

Lega Serie A The Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A (Italian for ''National Professionals League Serie A''), commonly known as LNPA or Lega Serie A (Serie A League), is the governing body that runs the major professional Association football, football com ...

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raspadori, Giacomo 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Bologna Footballers from Emilia-Romagna Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards US Sassuolo Calcio players SSC Napoli players Serie A players Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA European Championship-winning players European champions for Italy Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic