UEFA honours
UEFA European Championship: runner-up 2012

• First made a name for himself in Serie B with Empoli FC before winning promotion and helping keep the Tuscan club in the top flight by scoring 13 goals in his debut Serie A campaign of 2002/03.

• Received his first cap for Italy – a 1-1 draw with Turkey – three months into his Serie A career but was not taken by coach Giovanni Trapattoni to UEFA EURO 2004 despite a goal in a pre-tournament friendly against the Czech Republic.

• Left Empoli for Udinese in 2004 but despite good form, including three goals in his debut UEFA Champions League campaign, he received no caps during Marcello Lippi's first tenure as Azzurri coach.

• Recalled by Roberto Donadoni for UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying and cemented his place with a two-goal, match-winning display against Ukraine in Kiev but was dropped after an opening defeat by the Netherlands at the finals and missed a penalty in the quarter-final shoot-out against Spain.

• Scored 17 Serie A goals in 2007/08 and 12 in 2008/09 before cutting loose with respective totals of 29, 28 and 23 in the next three campaigns, topping the Capocannoniere charts in the first two.

• Featured in all three of Italy's matches during their ill-fated 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign in South Africa, scoring in the 3-2 defeat by Slovakia which sealed the Azzurri's group stage elimination; made five appearances in Poland and Ukraine two years later as Italy reached the final of UEFA EURO 2012.