Mateo_Retegui

Mateo Retegui

Mateo Retegui

Italian footballer (born 1999)


Mateo Retegui (born 29 April 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Genoa. Born in Argentina, he plays for the Italy national team.[3] He is nicknamed "il Re tigre" ("the tiger king").[4]

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Early life

Retegui was born and raised in Argentina. His maternal grandfather Angelo Dimarco emigrated to Argentina from Canicattì, Sicily. His father's grandparents on one side of the family were also Italian, specifically from Genoa, while the others were Basque.

He is the son of former field hockey player Carlos Retegui, who represented Argentina as a player and coach at various Pan American Games and Olympic Games.[5] His sister Micaela is also an Olympian in the sport.

Club career

Retegui began his senior career with Boca Juniors, who signed him years prior from River Plate.[6][5] He was first promoted into the club's first-team by manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto during the 2017–18 Argentine Primera División season, appearing as an unused substitute on occasions against Arsenal de Sarandí and Estudiantes in December 2017.[3][7] His professional debut arrived on 17 November 2018, with the forward being substituted on for the final moments of a 1–0 home win over Patronato.[3]

January 2019 saw Retegui loaned to Estudiantes for eighteen months.[2][3] He appeared eight times in 2018–19, before scoring five goals in twenty-one appearances in 2019–20.[3]

In February 2022, Retegui joined Tigre on a loan deal until the end of 2023.[8]

On 26 July 2023, Retegui joined Serie A club Genoa on a five-year deal,[9] for a reported fee of €15 million.[10] On 11 August 2023, he scored his first two goals for the club in a Coppa Italia match against Serie B side Modena.

International career

Retegui represented Argentina at U19 and U20 level, including for the latter at the 2018 South American Games.[11][12]

Being eligible to play for Italy through descent, in February 2023 it was reported Retegui was pre-selected by Roberto Mancini to join the Azzurri team for the first UEFA Euro 2024 qualification games.[13] Retegui received his first official call up to the Italy national team on 17 March 2023,[14] and proceeded to score in his international debut on 23 March against England in a Euro 2024 qualifying match lost 2–1 in Naples.[15] He would tally again in his subsequent appearance on 26 March, netting the winner in a 2–0 win over Malta in a Euro 2024 qualifier in Ta' Qali,[16] to become the first player to score in his first two competitive matches for the national side since Pierino Prati accomplished the feat in 1968.[17]

On 21 March 2024, in a 2-1 victory over Venezuela, Retegui became the first active Genoa player in 96 years, since Virgilio Levratto in a 7-1 defeat of Spain on 4 June 1928 at the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, to score a brace for Italy.[18][19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 March 2024[3]
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International

As of match played 24 March 2024[20]
More information National team, Year ...
Italy score listed first, score column indicates score after each Retegui goal.[20]
More information No., Date ...

Honours

Individual


References

  1. "Mateo Retegui - Italy - European Qualifiers". UEFA.com. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  2. "Italy - M. Retegui". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  3. "Genoa, il Re tigre e il Folletto: la coppia Retegui-Gudmunsson che fa sognare i tifosi rossoblù". ilsecoloxix.it. ilsecoloxix.it. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  4. "Estoy cumpliendo el sueño de mi papá". Olé. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  5. "Conocé a Mateo Retegui, el juvenil que se perfila como titular en Boca". TyC Sports. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. TIGRE HIZO OFICIAL LA LLEGADA DE MATEO RETEGUI, elgrafico.com.ar, 8 February 2022
  7. "Mateo Retegui è un giocatore del Genoa" [Mateo Retegui is a Genoa player] (in Italian). Genoa CFC. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  8. "CALCIOMERCATO - UFFICIALE: MATEO RETEGUI È UN NUOVO GIOCATORE DEL GENOA. OPERAZIONE DA OLTRE 15 MILIONI. SORRIDE MANCINI" [TRANSFER MARKET - OFFICIAL: MATEO RETEGUI IS A NEW GENOA PLAYER. OPERATION WORTH OVER 15 MILLION. MANCINI SMILES]. Eurosport. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  9. "Argentina superó 3-0 al Shandong Luneng". AFA. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  10. "La Selección se entrenó por la tarde". AFA. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. "Bomber Retegui dice sì all'Italia grazie al nonno di Canicattì: "È un onore e un orgoglio"" (in Italian). Fanpage.it. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  12. "Nazionale, Mancini chiama l'argentino Retegui. Prima anche Falcone e Buongiorno" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  13. Campanale, Susy (26 March 2023). "Video: Retegui first to score in both first competitive games since 1968". Football Italia. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  14. Young, Peter (22 March 2024). "Retegui breaks 96-year Genoa record with brace in Italy-Venezuela". Football Italia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  15. "Mateo Retegui". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  16. "Italy vs. England 1–2: Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  17. "Malta vs. Italy 0–2: Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  18. "Italy vs. Venezuela 2–1: Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

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