Lazio Player

Although he is currently one of the most feared strikers in Italy, he is considered a late bloomer because the majority of his success came into fruition in Serie A and at the international level in his late 20's. Rocchi is an athletic striker with impeccable timing and a very accurate shot.

Career

Club

Rocchi is a Juventus youth product and he won the Primavera title in 1994 before moving up to the first team for the 1995-96 season. Yet he did not make any appearances.

From then on, Rocchi played Serie C football, playing in 121 matches and scoring 36 goals for Pro Patria, Fermana, Saronno and Como. He managed to get a chance in Serie B with both Treviso and Empoli. With Empoli, Rocchi made over 100 appearances, and scored a total of 29 goals, 16 of which came in Serie A, where Rocchi had put in some decent performances during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons..

Rocchi earned a move to Lazio for the 2004-05 season. During his debut season for the Biancocelesti he scored 13 Serie A goals and also played in the UEFA Cup scoring twice in 5 appearances.

It was during this time that Rocchi began to develop a partnership with teammate Goran Pandev. Often Pandev would play in the hole behind Rocchi, but they were also able to play up front together with a trequartista behind. Between them, they were Lazio's top goalscorers for three seasons consecutively.

While Lazio legend Paolo Di Canio was in the side, he and Rocchi were also playing well together. Often creating assists for each other, Rocchi and Di Canio had a good relationship both on and off the field. Di Canio left Lazio in 2006.

The 2007-08 season saw Rocchi make his personal debut in the UEFA Champions League, where he scored a crucial winning goal against Werder Bremen. This season he ended the campaign with 14 Serie A goals. He spent much of the year as captain of Lazio, deputizing for the injured Luciano Zauri.

On February 20, 2008, Rocchi renewed his current contract, extending the deal by five years. This contract extension would run until 2013, and effectively ensure Rocchi would remain at the club for the remainder of his career.

International career

Rocchi has represented Italy at youth level several times.

In August 2006, following Italy's fourth FIFA World Cup title, new Azzurri boss Roberto Donadoni called Rocchi up to the squad as a reward for his exceptional scoring record in Serie A.

He made his debut against Croatia in the 2-0 loss at 29 years of age. Rocchi played two more matches for the national team on the road to Euro 2008 but did not make the squad for the final tournament.

He has been selected as the only overage player in Pierluigi Casiraghi's Olympic team to play at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He scored against South Korea on August 10.

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