Follow usMateo Retegui has become a hot topic in the Italian press after manager Roberto Mancini picked up the Argentinian-born player in his national squad for the Euro qualifiers. Some of the Italian crowd feel highly sceptical about allowing foreign-born players to the national team.
Retegui was born in Italy and has spent all his youth career in the South American country, representing it both for the U-19 and U-20. However, he has never been a part of the senior Argentinian squad and that has allowed him legally to play for different country.
He had an option to choose between Argentina and Italy, since he has an Italian citizenship through his maternal grandmother, and surprisingly the youngster chose the latter, despite Albiceleste lifting both the World Cup and Copa America in the last two years and the Azzuri team failing to even qualify for the most prestigious football event.
“We had been following him for some time, he has quality and is a young, bright boy,” Mancini said.
“We didn’t think he would say yes, we hope that he can be important.”
Retegui plays for Argentinian club Tigre and is currently the top scorer with six goals out of eight games.
He would be looking to help the Italian team beat England in a repeat of the Euro 2020 final, which saw the Azzuris emerge triumphant on penalties.
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