Mateo Retegui

Mateo Retegui

Personal information
Date of birth	(1999-04-29) 29 April 1999 (age 25) [1]
Place of birth	San Fernando, Argentina
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) [2]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Atalanta
Number	32
Youth career
2014–2016	River Plate
2016–2018	Boca Juniors
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2023	Boca Juniors	1	(0)
2019–2020	→ Estudiantes (loan)	21	(4)
2020–2021	→ Talleres (loan)	24	(4)
2022–2023	→ Tigre (loan)	48	(30)
2023–2024	Genoa	29	(7)
2024–	Atalanta	4	(4)
International career‡
2018	Argentina U20	5	(0)
2023–	Italy	14	(4)
Medal record Men's Football Representing   Italy UEFA Nations League 2023 Netherlands
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 september 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 September 2024

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

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. ^[11]

Retegui moved to fellow Serie A club Atalanta in a deal worth a reported €28 million on 8 August 2024, following an anterior cruciate ligament injury to Atalanta forward and Italy teammate Gianluca Scamacca. ^{[12] [13]}

International career

Retegui represented Argentina at U19 and U20 level, including for the latter at the 2018 South American Games. ^{[14] [15]}

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. ^[16] Retegui received his first official call up to the Italy national team on 17 March 2023, ^[17] and proceeded to score in his international debut on 23 March against England in a Euro 2024 qualifying match lost 2–1 in Naples. ^[18] 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, ^[19] 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. ^[20]

On 21 March 2024, Retegui scored twice in a 2–1 victory over Venezuela. He was the first Genoa player to score a brace for Italy since Virgilio Levratto at the 1928 Summer Olympics. ^{[21] [22]} In June 2024, Retegui was included by manager Luciano Spalletti in Italy's squad for UEFA Euro 2024. ^[23] Later that year, on 6 September, he was named player of the match, in which he also provided an assist, in a 3–1 away win over France during the UEFA Nations League, helping his country to secure their first win against their opponent in Paris since April 1954. ^{[24] [25]}

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 August 2024 ^[3]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Boca Juniors	2017–18	Argentine Primera División	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0	0	0
	2018–19		1	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		1	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0	1	0
Estudiantes (loan)	2018–19	Argentine Primera División	3	0	1	0	—		—		4 [lower-alpha 3]	0	8	0
	2019–20		18	4	3	1	—		—		—		21	5
	Total		21	4	4	1	—		—			0	29	5
Talleres (loan)	2020	—			2	0	11	1	—		—		13	1
	2021	Argentine Primera División	24	4	4	0	14	2	6 [lower-alpha 4]	0	—		48	6
	Total		24	4	6	0	25	3	6	0	—		61	7
Tigre (loan)	2022	Argentine Primera División	27	19	1	0	13	3	—		1 [lower-alpha 5]	1	42	23
	2023		21	11	1	0	—		6 [lower-alpha 4]	1	—		28	12
	Total		48	30	2	0	13	3	6	1	1	1	70	35
Genoa	2023–24	Serie A	29	7	2	2	—		—		—		31	9
Atalanta	2024–25	Serie A	3	3	0	0	—		0	0	1 [lower-alpha 6]	0	4	3
Career total			126	48	14	3	38	6	12	1	6	1	196	59

1. Includes Copa Argentina and Coppa Italia
2. Includes Copa de la Liga Profesional
3. Appearances in Copa de la Superliga
4. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
5. Appearance in Trofeo de Campeones
6. Appearance in UEFA Super Cup

International

As of match played 9 September 2024 ^[26]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Italy	2023	4	2
	2024	10	2
Total		14	4

Italy score listed first, score column indicates score after each Retegui goal. ^[26]

List of international goals scored by Mateo Retegui

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	23 March 2023	Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Naples, Italy	1	England	1–2	1–2	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	[27]
2	26 March 2023	National Stadium, Attard, Malta	2	Malta	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	[28]
3	21 March 2024	Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, United States	5	Venezuela	1–0	2–1	Friendly	[29]
4					2–1

Honours

Individual

• Top scorer: 2022 Argentine Primera División (19 goals)

References

1. "Mateo Retegui - Italy - European Qualifiers". UEFA.com. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
2. "Mateo Retegui, de jugar en la Selección argentina de hockey a ser refuerzo de Estudiantes". 0221. 3 February 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
3. "Italy - M. Retegui". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
4. "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.
5. "Hockey? No, fútbol! Quién es Mateo Retegui, el hijo del ex-DT de Los Leones?". Goal. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
6. "Estoy cumpliendo el sueño de mi papá". Olé. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
7. "Conocé a Mateo Retegui, el juvenil que se perfila como titular en Boca". TyC Sports. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
8. TIGRE HIZO OFICIAL LA LLEGADA DE MATEO RETEGUI, elgrafico.com.ar, 8 February 2022
9. "Mateo Retegui è un giocatore del Genoa" [Mateo Retegui is a Genoa player] (in Italian). Genoa CFC. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
10. "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.
11. "Genoa, è già Retegui mania: esordio, doppietta e Modena al tappeto". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 12 August 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
12. "Mateo Retegui: another (ner)Azzurro in Bergamo!". Atalanta BC. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
13. Campanale, Susy (8 August 2024). "Official: Retegui joins Atalanta from Genoa in 28m deal". Football Italia. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
14. "Argentina superó 3-0 al Shandong Luneng". AFA. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
15. "La Selección se entrenó por la tarde". AFA. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
16. "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.
17. "Nazionale, Mancini chiama l'argentino Retegui. Prima anche Falcone e Buongiorno" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
18. "ENGLAND AND PORTUGAL WIN ON RECORD NIGHT FOR KANE AND RONALDO".
19. "🔥 Retegui has had zero issues settling into life with the Azzurri". OneFootball. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
20. Campanale, Susy (26 March 2023). "Video: Retegui first to score in both first competitive games since 1968". Football Italia. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
21. Young, Peter (22 March 2024). "Retegui breaks 96-year Genoa record with brace in Italy-Venezuela". Football Italia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
22. Redazione Pianetagenoa (22 March 2024). "Levratto ultimo genoano a realizzare una doppietta in Nazionale nel 1928: Il famoso centravanti segnò due reti alle Olimpiadi di Amsterdam". pianetagenoa1893.net. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
23. "Ufficializzati i convocati per EURO 2024, esclusi dalla lista Provedel, Ricci e Orsolini". Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio. 6 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
24. "France 1-3 Italy: Kylian Mbappe fails to fire as Didier Deschamps' side make losing start to Nations League campaign". Eurosport. 6 September 2024.
25. "Italy shatter series of football records with first Paris win for 70 years". Football Italia. 6 September 2024.
26. "Mateo Retegui". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
27. "Italy vs. England 1–2: Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
28. "Malta vs. Italy 0–2: Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
29. "Italy vs. Venezuela 2–1: Summary". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

External links

• Mateo Retegui at Soccerway