page_title: Graziano Pellè
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Graziano Pellè / International career
caption_attribution_description: English: Azerbaijan-Italy, 10 September 2015, Graziano Pellè.
context_page_description: Graziano Pellè is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Chinese club Shandong Luneng.
  Pellè began his career at local Serie A club Lecce, and was loaned to three lower-division sides before moving to the Dutch club AZ in 2007. He won the Eredivisie title in his second of four seasons at the club. After brief spells back in Italy with Parma and Sampdoria, he returned to the Dutch top flight, where his consistent scoring for Feyenoord earned Pellè an £8 million transfer to Southampton in July 2014. In July 2016, after two seasons in the Premier League, Pellè moved to Shandong Luneng for an estimated transfer fee of £12 million.
  Pellè represented Italy at under-20 and under-21 level. He also played for the nation's Olympic team in 2008, but was not selected for the tournament. He scored on his senior international debut in 2014 and represented Italy at UEFA Euro 2016, where the team reached the quarter-finals.
context_section_description: Pellè scored four goals for Italy under-20 at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands, including a brace in their 4–1 group stage win over Canada. He also netted an extra-time equaliser for a 2–2 draw with Morocco in the quarter-finals, and converted in the penalty shootout which his team lost nonetheless.
  After a successful loan spell with Cesena, Pellè earned a call-up to the Italian under-21 side at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he collected three appearances, all as a substitute. In the fifth-place playoff match against Portugal, he scored the first penalty kick in the shootout win, with a Panenka-style penalty. The win secured Italy the final European spot at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He was part of the preparation for the tournament but was ultimately not selected to the final 22-man squad for the Olympics.
  On 4 October 2014, Pellè received his first call up to the Italy senior side for the Azzurri's UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Azerbaijan and Malta. He made his debut as a starter away to Malta on 13 October 2014, scoring the only goal of the game from close range after a corner in the 29th minute. He netted a second goal in the 29th minute on his third appearance on 31 March 2015, heading Italy into the lead in a 1–1 friendly draw against England at Juventus Stadium in Turin. On 3 September 2015, he finished Antonio Candreva's cross for the only goal of the home qualifier against Malta in Florence. He scored the match-winning goal in Italy's 2–1 home win over Norway on 13 October, which allowed Italy to top their Euro 2016 qualifying group and extended their unbeaten run in European qualifying to 50 matches; Pellè was also Italy's top scorer during the qualifying campaign, with three goals.
  On 31 May 2016, Pellè was included in Italy manager Antonio Conte's 23-man squad for Euro 2016. In Italy's opening game, on 13 June against Europe's top-ranked team Belgium in Lyon, Pellè played the full match and volleyed a strike into the back of the net in added time for a 2–0 win. In the round of 16 at Stade de France in Paris on 27 June, he struck a volley in the 91st minute to give the Azzurri a 2–0 win over defending champions Spain. On 2 July, he missed a penalty in a 6–5 shoot-out defeat to defending World Cup champions Germany in the tournament quarter-finals. In the events after the match, Pellè issued an apology to the fans of the national team stating, "Do my Euros remain positive? I couldn't care less right now, I am just sad and want to apologise to all Italians. If I had scored that penalty, I'd have become a phenomenon, but instead... I arrived here as a nobody and I leave as a nobody." He also denied provoking Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer by making the "chip" gesture.
  Although moving his football career to China over the summer, new coach Gian Piero Ventura called Pellè back for international duty for a friendly against France and a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Israel on 1 and 5 September 2016, scoring in both matches, as Italy suffered a 3–1 home defeat to France but defeated Israel away, 3–1. He was called again for World Cup qualifying matches against Spain and Macedonia on 6 and 9 October, however he was later excluded from the Macedonia match after being substituted in the 59th minute during the Spain game and refusing to shake the hand of coach Ventura.
caption: Pellè playing for Italy against Azerbaijan in 2015.
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