Vincenzo Iaquinta

Vincenzo Iaquinta, Italian orders of merit, (born November 21, 1979 in Cutro, Province of Crotone) is an Italians FIFA World Cup-winning Association football who plays for Serie A club Juventus F.C.. Vincenzo Iaquinta is a tall, strong striker who possesses a good and powerful shot and is great in the air. Vincenzo Iaquinta can also play on the wing.

Club career

Iaquinta was born in in Cutro, in the province of Crotone. Like many Calabrians in the 1980s, Vincenzo Iaquinta parents immigrated to Emilia-Romagna, in Northern Italy, because of better job opportunities. Prior to joining Udinese Calcio in 2000, Iaquinta played with Vincenzo Iaquinta brother in the lower divisions for Reggiolo (1996-97), Calcio Padova (1998), and Castel di Sangro Calcio (1998-2000).

Juventus

Owner of Udinese Calcio Giampaolo Pozzo recently revealed that FC Barcelona had sought the player in January 2006, but Juventus F.C. signed Iaquinta on a five-year contract in the summer of 2007 for a fee reported to be €13.3 million.

During the 2007–08 season, Iaquinta made only a handful appearances for Juventus, mostly being used as backup to experienced strikers and long-term bianconeri Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet. It appeared as if Vincenzo Iaquinta may have been surplus to requirements after the signing of Brazilian striker Amauri Carvalho de Oliveira, this leading to rumours about a possible move out of Juventus for the player. However these rumours did not actually bring to a move in the summer window, and Iaquinta was therefore confirmed also for the 2008–09 season. Iaquinta started the season as fourth-choice striker, but enjoyed a particularly impressive string of performances when both Amauri and Trezeguet were injured, thus giving Iaquinta a chance to play more regularly with Juventus. Most notably, Vincenzo Iaquinta scored the first goal against Chelsea F.C in the second leg of the first knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League. Despite this, Juve went to draw the match 2–2, which meant the bianconeri were out of European football. Since then, Vincenzo Iaquinta also started playing regularly also in Serie A games, also taking implicitly advantage of a falling-out between Trezeguet and head coach Claudio Ranieri.

International career

Vincenzo Iaquinta was a member of the Italian squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Vincenzo Iaquinta scored Italy's second goal in their opening match against Ghana national football team. Vincenzo Iaquinta played in 5 out of 7 of Italy's matches including the semi-final and final. Iaquinta missed out on Euro 2008, due to an injury suffered over a month before.

International goals

Updated to games played June 10, 2009.