Looking for a successor to match Alessandro Del Piero (27 goals with the selection) and Christian Vieri (23) in their attack line, Italy can nevertheless count on the impressive form of Mateo Retegui this Thursday against the Red Devils. Teammate of Charles De Ketelaere at Atalanta Bergamasca since this summer, the 25-year-old striker continues to confirm the promising performances he displayed during his loan to Genoa last season. Over the weekend, he even scored a hat-trick in a crushing 5-1 win over his former teammates, including Koni De Winter.
With these three goals and an assist, Retegui now has seven goals in seven Serie A matches, already equaling his tally from last season in 29 matches. Only Erling Haaland (10 goals), Robert Lewandowski (10) and Omar Marmoush (8) have been more prolific since the start of the five major European championships. Not bad for a player who only discovered football on the Old Continent last season, after starting his career in his native country, Argentina.
It was there, in San Fernando, that the native, trained at Boca Juniors, made a place for himself in the national team, piling up goals during his loan to Club Atlético Tigre and taking advantage of the lack of options at his post. When he received his first two caps in March 2023, former Azzurri manager Roberto Mancini described him as “a traditional striker, with a head on his shoulders” who would not take “long to ‘adapt’ to his teammates.
