The last twenty years has seen Italy produce a string of world class strikers. From Paolo Rossi, to Roberto Baggio, to Alessandro del Piero, the Azzurri have rarely been found wanting in the forward department.

Luca Toni may be the country's man of the moment, but at the age of 30, he is now entering the autumn of his career. For a while Alberto Gilardino seemed to be destined for great things, though since joining Milan from Parma in 2005, his career has failed to take off.

Pazzini is now regarded as a future first-choice striker for the national team, and certainly showed himself a real handful against England on Thursday.

The 22-year-old was a familiar figure to the England back four after carving the Three Lions to shreds and bagging a hat-trick in the first-ever match at the new Wembley in March. Though Thursday's game didn't produce any goals for Pazzini, he once again proved difficult to handle for the England back for.

At 180cm, "Pazzo" is not a tall forward by today's standards, though he showed on a number of occasions the significant aerial and physical threat he poses - one of the reasons he is considered the natural successor to Toni at Fiorentina.

Twice in the first half he rose comfortably above the England central defensive pair of Nedum Onuoha and Stephen Taylor to force fine saves from Scott Carson, on both occasions driving his header downwards, much as the coaching manuals advise.

Though he showed flashes of skill and obvious technical ability to win fouls in the England half, his side's failure to control the midfield in the opening period meant he was largely deprived of good service into feet, and his only effort of note was blocked by Onuoha.

During the second-half Italy improved as they set about searching for an equaliser, and Pazzini was joined by Manchester United's Giuseppe Rossi in the front line. He picked out the run of his strike partner perfectly with a flick-on ten minutes into the second half, though Rossi's volleyed effort was off-target.

Just before the hour mark, it seemed as if Pazzini would give Italy the lead as he once again put in a towering leap to meet Giorgio Chiellini's cross ahead of Onuoha, and it was a genuine surprise that he directed his header over the bar.

Italy finally equalised soon after, though continued to pour forward with increasing frequency. England, desperate to hang onto a point, brought their central midfielders back to defend, and rather stifled Pazzini in and around the area as Italy fired in a succession of long-range efforts.

Indeed Pazzini played a slightly peripheral role as the clock ticked down, but the threat he posed from rebounds and set pieces meant he was never a candidate to be brought off and replaced.

Italy's defeat to Serbia in their opener made qualification from the group stages an uphill struggle, and if England beat the Serbs on Sunday, then Italy's match with Czech Republic will be the last we see of Pazzini at this tournament.

Next season is Serie A, though, will be a different story. With Toni gone, Pazzini is likely to carry much of the goalscoring burden for the Tuscan outfit. If filling to boots of Toni is an ominous task, then Pazzini can be relieved at playing alongside one of the finest forwards in Serie A, Adrian Mutu.

The partnership those two form is likely to decide how Fiorentina fare next season, though so far Pazzini has suggested that given a good run in the team, he has the natural ability to succeed.