Mateo Retegui, from field hockey to the 'Azzurra'

National team football is becoming more and more similar to club football. The teams, in the process of creating a fearsome squad that fights for titles, try to nationalize footballers with some connection to the country, no matter how minimal it may be. Spain, widowed by guarantee centers in recent years, incorporated the French Laporte and Le Normand, because they have developed part of their career in Spanish territory. Even so, the ‘Red’ has not been the only team that has searched the market to strengthen the shortcomings of its team. Italy has been lacking differential quality in attack for several decades, beyond some individual spark, like Chiesa’s in the 2021 Euro Cup. To try to solve the scoring problems, the Italian Football Federation mediated for a team to be nationalized in 2023. Argentine with transalpine roots and who is currently at the top of the scoring table of the Series A: Mateo Retegui.

The player, born in San Fernando, a city in the province of Buenos Airesrepresents the ‘Azure’ because his maternal grandfather, Angelo Dimarco, was Sicilian, from Canicattì, and emigrated to Argentina when the Second World War began. Furthermore, the Italian federation discovered that, at the age of twelve, Retegui had been registered in the Registry of Italians Living Abroad. However, there are two key figures to understand the landing of the Italian-Argentine in the Italian team: Francesco Totti and Juan Sebastián Verón. “I am working with incredible talent from Argentina. He is very strong, center forward. Devastating”declared the former Romanista in 2020, in reference to the footballer of the ‘DEA’. On the other hand, ‘La Brujita’, current president of Estudiantes La Plata, the team the 25-year-old player played for, recommended his ‘signing’ to Mancini, who used to disown the nationalized team before his journey on the Italian bench. “Goals are in his blood. He goes better with his right foot, but I also saw him score with his left. He is also good in the aerial game. In the centers he has the intuition and speed necessary to anticipate the intervention of the defenders. And he also shows courage, he never sticks his leg out.”Verón detailed to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Retegui, born in San Fernando, in the province of Buenos Aires, scored his first goal for Italy on his debut, in Naples, a favorite territory for Argentines

Retegui is the twenty-fourth Argentine to represent Italy, and debuted with the ‘Azure’ in an emblematic place for the ‘albicelestes’, in Naples, the home of Diego Armando Maradona. Although they lost 1-2 to England, the debut of the Atalanta forward was encouraging, as he scored his first goal with the national team, becoming the first player to score for the transalpines while playing for a non-European club, since he was still part of the Tigre squad, an Argentine team. “We had been following him for a while. He has qualities that we lack at the moment. We thought he didn’t want to come, but he quickly said yes.”revealed to DAZN Roberto Mancini, who gave him his debut and compared him to Batistuta. Former members of the Italian team also surrendered before him, such as former defender Daniele ‘Lele’ Adani. “He will never be Van Basten, but he is a hungry animal. He is one of those forwards who, if you throw the ball at him, will throw himself at the goalkeeper if necessary.”mentioned.

The San Fernand native, although he disappointed in the Euro Cup in Germany, where he did not score a goal in the four games he played, is already fully adapted to the team’s style of play. ‘sky blue’with which he has six goals in 18 games. “I feel Italian. Even though I have lived all my life in Argentina, when I come here I feel at home”the forward explained to The Gazzetta dello Sport. Despite his connection with Italy, Retegui’s first intention was to represent Argentina, but he was never on Scaloni’s pre-list, who was not convinced to call him up. He only wore the colors of his native country once, in 2018, in a South American tournament with the U-19.

Despite his rapid growth in the elite, he was very close to leaving football for another sport. His father and sister are Olympic field hockey medalists with Argentina, and his mother was a junior world champion.

At club level, Retegui has established himself in the Soccer, despite the fact that he was close to signing for Atlético in 2023. “We had everything closed with Atlético de Madrid, Mateo was going to play there. The transfer fell through fair play financial”pointed out the striker’s father in Radio La Red. After his frustrated signing by the Madrid team, he ended up at Genoa, with whom he scored seven goals in his debut in the Series A last season. In the summer, Atalanta’s intention was not to sign a nine, although they were forced to go to the market due to Scamacca’s serious injury, and opted for Retegui, who has adapted perfectly to what Gasperini asks of him. The goals of the Italian-Argentine, who is the current top scorer in the Italian league with twelve goals, have placed the Bergamasco team at the top of the standings with the best league start in their history.

Before landing in Italy, the current ‘Top scorer’ He began his career in his native country. After a brief stint in River’s youth academy, where he played as a midfielder, he arrived at Boca at the age of 17, where he became a center forward. with the set ‘xeneize’ He only played eight minutes in professional football, and from then on he began a chain of assignments. First in Estudiantes La Plata and, later, in Talleres Córdoba. His explosion, however, was in the 2021-22 season, in Tigre, where he was also on loan. Retegui scored 19 goals in 27 games, being the top scorer in the Argentine Professional League. In his second year, just before embarking on the European adventure, he scored eleven goals in 21 games.

At the age of 14, when he was in the River Plate youth academy, Retegui left soccer to dedicate himself to field hockey. “He left by his own decision. One day he said ‘I’m not playing anymore’ and went back to hockey. “I was having a difficult time.”

Despite his rapid growth in the elite, he was very close to leaving football for field hockey, a sport that his parents and sister practice professionally. The father of the Atalanta player, Carlos ‘Chapa’ Retegui, visited the Atalanta shirt ‘Albiceleste’ in three Olympic Games (1996, 2000 and 2004). Likewise, as a coach he also represented his country in three Olympics, one as coach of the men’s team, in which he won gold in Rio 2016, and two as coach of the women’s team, with which he won two silver medals, in 2012 and in 2020. Micaela, Mateo’s sister, was part of the team that won the medal in Tokyo. ‘Chapa’ also became champion of Europe and Spain directing Club Deportiu Terrassa. For her part, the mother of the player of the ‘DEA’María de la Paz Grandoli, was junior world champion with Argentina in 1993.

The family passion and Mateo’s skill with the stick They led him to leave football momentarily. “He left River by his own decision. One day he said ‘I’m not playing anymore’ and went back to playing hockey. “I was 14 years old and I was going through a difficult time.”explained Carlos Retegui in an interview with All News. He was also close to leaving him in the Boca quarry, but Diego Mazzilli, the team’s former talent scout ‘xeneize’He convinced him to stay with a lapidary phrase. “Thank you for your words, but to me you are a coward. You didn’t wear the Boca shirt, your father left the preseason with the ‘Lions’, your uncle always accompanied you and, are you going to leave without making your debut?he snapped at him, as the scout recognized ESPN. Although he did not succeed in the Buenos Aires team, those words convinced Retegui, who chose to be a soccer player rather than continue with the family tradition. Eight years later, the Italian-Argentine is called to be the reference of the ‘Azure’ and it is the ‘Top scorer’ of an Atalanta that, with its goals, flies towards the first Series A of its history.