Graziano Pelle dances his way to Italy call-up to fill void left by Mario Balottelli

The journey continues for striker Graziano Pelle, who finds his scoring touch at Southampton as the Italian coach takes notice before the Euro 2016 qualifiers, writes Ian Hawkey.

Graziano Pelle’s call-up for Italy could pay dividends for the Azzurri during their Euro 2016 qualifier at Malta on Monday night. Claudio Villa / Getty Images

Having waited more than seven years for his first senior international call-up, Graziano Pelle was prepared to be patient about getting on the pitch.

On Friday, he sat for an anxious 90 minutes on the bench in Sicily, watching Italy labour to a 2-1 win over Azerbaijan and would later have read a good deal of media wailing about how the Azzurri had spurned their chances.

Pelle, a goalscorer in form, can be optimistic that he will be asked to refresh the Italy attack in Malta at some stage on Monday night.

If and when he does so, his fairy tale autumn will have hit a new high.

Footballers of a certain age across the sport will take encouragement from a parable of ­perseverance.

Pelle is 29 and made his most recent appearances in the Italian domestic game in Serie B, the second division.

It would be fair to describe most of his career as that of a “journeyman”. Under the radar he may have been in a club career that has taken him through a variety of lower-profile Italian clubs, to the Netherlands and, since July, to the English Premier League with Southampton, but to watch Pelle among his teammates is not to see a man who easily passes unnoticed.

At 1.93 metres, he draws attention. With his command of several languages and his unpretentious manner he is at ease in the spotlight. When he addressed Italian journalists last week, he knew he had a story to tell.

“I have been down quite a long, roundabout route to get to where I am now,” said Pelle, “but I’ve always been positive, and I don’t get negative when I come up against a setback.”

Nor does he mind being presented as a symbol of what yeoman determination can achieve.

“I want to show that the Italy squad is above all a meritocracy,” said Antonio Conte, Italy’s coach, when he named Pelle in the party for this round of Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Mario Balotelli, Italy’s principal striker at the summer’s World Cup, was one of those who made way.

If Balotelli represents glamour and stardom, Pelle stands for stoicism. His irregular CV shows he has only scored one goal in the Italian top-flight, while representing Parma in 2011/12.

He played a dozen Serie A matches for them and another 12 in the upper tier for Lecce, in his native south. After debuting as a teenager with Lecce, he seemed rather quickly to become defined as a Serie B type, a useful target man, but not so essential to the likes of Cesena, Crotone, Catania or Sampdoria that they would break their banks to retain him.

He scored goals but seldom a flood of them: 19 in his 82 Serie B appearances.

In the Dutch Eredivisie, which has a reputation for flattering strikers, Pelle initially struggled.

He had joined AZ Alkmaar, then coached by Louis van Gaal, in an effort to kick start his career, but his role there was often as an impact striker, a big man to preoccupy tired defenders later in matches.

He won a Dutch title with AZ, some compensation for his vanished international ambitions.

Pelle played for the Italy under-21s and helped qualify the Azzurri youngsters for the Beijing Olympics. But he was not picked for that event, nor for any senior Italian squad until Conte contacted him this month.

The basis of that was his roaring start at Southampton and the sudden momentum given his career by two fruitful seasons at ­Feyenoord.

The Eredivisie may be deemed an easier league in which to score than some others, but 55 goals in 66 matches is still some tally for a journeyman.

His coach at Feyenoord, Ronald Koeman, had a strong inkling Pelle had still higher peaks he could aspire to, even approaching 30. When Koeman joined Southampton, he asked that the Italian come to.

Cue the five goals in nine Southampton outings and Conte's call-up. Beyond the handsome statistics, the Premier League had seen some touches of true class.

Witness the balletic, brilliant turn and volley manoeuvre with which Pelle scored against Queens Park Rangers.

The Italian is a target man with unusual dexterity. The secret? Well, his mobility and balance may owe something to his other athletic passion, Latin-American dance.

“Maybe they should invite me on Dancing with the Stars,” Pelle said last week, referring to a popular Italian TV show, which teams up well-known celebrities – Diego Maradona once took part – and professional dancers.

Maybe they should. But his diary is quite full these days, something he will hope continues right into Euro 2016, in France, and perhaps even to a last tango in Paris, in the tournament’s final.

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