Roberto Mancini promoted him, now Italy’s current national team coach Luciano Spalletti is positioning the current goalscorer Mateo Retegui for the upcoming European Championship. Meanwhile, the player himself is not yet sure whether he will actually be nominated for Germany
Mateo Retegui is attracting more and more attention with his frightening goal tally in Italy’s national team. Following his latest brace in the friendly against Venezuela (2:1), the 24-year-old striker now has four goals in just five international matches.
The remarkable thing is that the Argentine-born Retegui, who opted for the Squadra Azzurra under Italy coach Roberto Mancini in February 2023 due to his Italian origins and moved from his home country to Serie A in the summer of 2023 to the solidly promoted CFC Genoa (22 league games, six goals), is extremely modest.
Yet the hopeful has long been celebrated – by the Gazzetta dello Sport, for example: “The center forward of two worlds strikes again – with impressive regularity.” After Retegui’s two beautiful goals – both scored on the turn – the sports newspaper praised the most obvious: “Two balls, two goals against Venezuela, one in each half – the essence of soccer. “
And indeed: on both occasions, the target man positioned himself correctly in the opposition penalty area, got himself into a lurking position and ultimately fired a textbook shot into the corner with precision from a turn.
The overall manageable performance of the Italians, who will go into this summer’s European Championship in Germany (15 June to 15 July) as reigning champions and will face Spain, Croatia and underdog Albania in the difficult Group B, was thus given the rating: victorious
“Football is my life “
After times of “stormy uncertainty” with ultimately inconsistent players such as Mario Balotelli (14 goals in 36 internationals), Ciro Immobile (17 in 57) or other attackers deployed, Retegui could satisfy Italy’s longing for a permanent goalscorer.
However, the professional from CFC Genoa, where he is still under contract until 2028 and is currently learning from 2006 world champion and former striker Alberto Gilardino, is clearly not letting any pressure get to him. Retegui, who has been compared to Serie A legend Gabriel Batistuta by former coach Mancini, prefers to wrap himself in pure modesty, willingness to work and hope – after all, the goalscorer does not even see himself as a permanent member of this summer’s European Championship squad.
“Football is my life,” said Retegui in a recent interview with the Gazzetta: “But there’s still a long way to go until Germany – and I don’t know if I’ll be at the European Championships. I have to earn the job. The coach has said that nobody is sure yet.” And if, despite the unlikely eventuality, Oriundo is not nominated in the end, “then I’ll be cheering Italy on from home.”
Where does Retegui get this healthy attitude from? “My family is always with me – and they have helped me to become the person I am today. They were all happy with my performance, including my godfather. We all hugged each other and drank coffee – a wonderful moment. Now I’m resting up for Ecuador, in case Spalletti needs me again. And then it’s back to Genoa, where I’ll try to score more goals for the Rossoblu.”
In any case, he believes that playing for Italy at the start of 2023 was “the right decision”. However, the right to continue playing for the Squadra Azzurra “has to be earned. I can’t let up on that. I have decided to do that. “
