El Pocho introduces himself to Serie A
Summer 2007 was one of expectation and curiosity for Napoli. Aurelio De Laurentiis's club was set for its first season in Serie A, having been reborn from the ashes of Serie C. A team capable of competing in the top flight was needed and the reinforcements included Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi, to form a South American strike pairing with Marcelo Zalayeta.
Napoli travelled to Udinese in Week 2, on 2 September 2007, a tough ground for any team and even more so for a newly promoted side. And yet the unthinkable happened: Edy Reja's Azzurri put the hosts to the sword, scoring no fewer than five unanswered goals, with Lavezzi the star of the show.
The Argentine got the ball running in the 16th minute when a burst of pace took him past his opponent on the left wing and he crossed for Zalayeta to break the deadlock.
Maurizio Domizzi added a second, then Lavezzi did it all himself for the third in the second half, twisting past a defender with a dummy and lashing home to cap off that would become an iconic goal. Lavezzi's first for the club would be watched and rewatched many times by Napoli fans over the years and that was the moment many of them fell in love with him.
He wasn't done yet. He completed his man-of-the-match performance in the 82nd minute, sliding a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Roberto Sosa for Napoli's fifth.
El Pocho thus became the first Napoli player to achieve three goal involvements in a single match since assists started being recorded in 2004/05.
The Lavezzi years at Napoli
By the end of his first season, Lavezzi had amassed eight goals and eight assists in 35 Serie A appearances. He recorded similar stats in the following years and ended up with 38 goals and 39 assists in 156 Serie A games across five years, averaging 15 goal involvements per season.
But regardless of the numbers, it was El Pocho's playing style that had the Napoli faithful in raptures – his mazy runs, tricks and flicks and unique style. It was no surprise to see him likened to another Argentine who previously graced the stadium that now bears his name.
During his five-year spell in Serie A, he completed more dribbles than any other player (372, ahead of Mauro Zarate's 366 and Javier Zanetti's 270). Between 2007/08 and 2011/12 he was also the most-fouled player in the Italian top flight: 531 times, with 90 of those in the final third.
El Pocho was a player who loved to run with the ball but was always at the service of the team. In those five years, he created 45 chances for team-mates after a run with the ball (of at least five metres), fewer than only Andrea Cossu (49) and Sebastian Giovinco (48) in the same period.
Lavezzi was an agile, creative, crafty player - an Argentine with the Neapolitan spirit. Indeed, he also earned 12 penalties during his time in Serie A – more than any other player.
Article and stats by Opta
