"Giuseppe Rossi will be out for six months; the Italian striker has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee." As words go, none were more prophetic that those uttered by the disheartened Villarreal press officer in 2011. As if cursed, Rossi’s numerous debilitating injuries stuck like daggers into the hearts of Azzurri fans and football fans worldwide, each blow failing to numb the next.

As Rossi now turns 31, he carries the burden of being one of football’s most famous lost causes, but is there time for him to enjoy the career he deserves? At the USA’s World Cup camp in 2006, then coach Bruce Arena famously proclaimed “We’re not chasing around 18-year-old players that can’t get games for their club team and tell me they want to play for Italy.” Rossi at the time was playing for Manchester United under Alex Ferguson, and Arena’s swipe at Rossi’s choice to represent the Azzurri was not one which rested well with the USMNT.