Claudio Marchisio - International Career

International Career

Marchisio was initially called up in early May to the Italy U-21 squad for the 2007 European Championships but eventually withdrew due to injury. He made his U-21 debut in June 2007, the group opening game of the 2009 European Championship qualifying but his debut ended rather unfortunately as he was injured in a collision barely ten minutes into the match while attempting an effort on goal, although the shot would lead to Robert Acquafresca's opener seconds later. Eventually he became first-choice during the latter stages of the campaign. He scored a 12-yard volley at the 2008 Toulon Tournament against Turkey in a 2–1 win and was called-up to the Olympics that summer but he was forced to return home due to an injury. In May 2009, Pierluigi Casiraghi named him in the final squad for the 2009 U-21 European Championship. At the tournament, he started every game and, despite missing the semifinal loss to Germany through suspension, was one of several Azzurrini stars tipped to make the senior squad.

On 12 August 2009 Marchisio made his senior debut, starting in the friendly against Switzerland that ended goalless and was praised by Marcello Lippi during the post-match interview. Lippi later revealed that he had intended to call Marchisio up earlier but agreed to leave the youngster to Casiraghi's U-21 squad until to the end of the European Championships. Marchisio played his first competitive match for the Azzurri in the World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria in his home stadium and became a first-choice pick for Lippi's squad. However he was forced to withdraw from the remaining qualifying matches against Ireland and Cyprus after being diagnosed with a knee meniscus injury that required surgery. He was named in the 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup but had a relatively uneventful tournament due to Lippi's preference for playing him in an unfamiliar playmaker role.

Marchisio scored his first ever international goal in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Serbia on 7 October 2011 barely a minute after kick-off. It was the 250th goal scored by a Juventus player for the Italy national team.

After a good 2011-12 season, Marchisio was named in the final squad for Euro 2012 and started every match in Italy's surprise run to the tournament finals.