Old Italian footballer recalled first couple of internationals — it's a long time since he scored (7)
I believe the answer is:
rossini
'it's a long time since he scored' is the definition.
(19th-century Italian composer Gioachino Rossini)
'old italian footballer recalled first couple of internationals' is the wordplay.
'old italian footballer' becomes 'Rossi' (Italian footballer Paolo Rossi).
'recalled' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'first' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral for one or first).
'couple of internationals' becomes 'n' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'i'+'n'='in'
'in' reversed gives 'ni'.
'rossi'+'ni'='ROSSINI'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rossini that I've seen before include "Composer of the opera William Tell, d. 1868" , "he scored regularly" , "whose barber was in Seville" , "Largo al factotum composer" , "Great musician" .)