His first call-up was met with incredulity: a complete unknown playing in Argentina at the time, Mateo Retegui has since made a name for himself in Serie A and with the Italian team, who face France in the Nations League in Milan on Sunday. Have the Nazionale finally found “THE” striker they’ve been sorely lacking for several years? The successor to Gigi Riva, the all-time top scorer (35), Alessandro Del Piero or Christian Vieri?

Calcio Italy is beginning to believe it: since the start of the season, Retegui, 25, has scored eleven goals in twelve league games and two more for the Azzurri. The Atalanta Bergamo striker has hit the target on 14 occasions and scored eleven times!

“He has this enormous quality: he’s always in the right place at the right time.“, admires Christian Vieri in a recent issue of Sportweek, the weekly magazine of La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Mateo is already strong, he’s going to be a top player“said Luciano Spalletti. The Italian coach, whose top scorer is Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella with ten goals, is not getting carried away. His team is unbeaten in the Nations League, including a stunning 3-1 win at the Stade de France, and leads Group A2 by three points from Les Bleus.

22 million euros

But it is still marked by its resounding failure at Euro-2024, which ended in the Round of 8 with a calamitous record of one win, one draw, two defeats, three goals scored and five conceded. And during this Euro, Retegui, who alternated with Gianluca Scamacca, who has since suffered a serious knee injury, remained mute.

But that was before he joined Atalanta this summer from Genoa for €22 million, and flourished in Gian Piero Gasperini’s attacking system. “What strikes me is his evolution: you’d like to see all the new recruits progress like he has in every aspect.“said the demanding “Gasp”. The rise of Retegui (17 caps, 6 goals) has indeed been meteoric.

Just eighteen months ago, the current top scorer in Serie A was wearing the shirt of Argentinian club Tigre, where he had arrived on yet another loan from Boca Juniors, where he never established himself. His career changed dimension thanks to a phone call from former Argentina international Juan Sebastian Veron to Italy coach Roberto Mancini. Aware of the Nazionale’s attacking difficulties, Veron pointed out Retegui’s profile to his former coach at Inter, as well as his Italian ancestry, with a paternal grandfather born in Sestri Levante in Liguria, before emigrating to Argentina.

Field field hockey

With just a few days to go before a vital Euro-2024 qualifier against England in March 2023, Mancini and his staff review videos of Retegui’s last four league games and, to everyone’s surprise, decide to call him up.

The striker, unknown just a few days before to his team-mates and the general public, is even given a start. Italy eventually lost 2-1, but Retegui did not disappoint, scoring his first goal. He puts the “oriundiThese are the players who were born outside Italy, mostly in South America, and who have worn the “oriundi” jersey for many years. azzurro thanks to their Italian origins. Italy’s first world title, in 1934, owes much to four “oriundi“whoseArgentinian“Raimundo Orsi. More recent “oriundi” include Mauro Camoranesi, 2006 world champion, Thiago Motta and Jorginho.

“My story is a series of coincidences, as if it had been written for me by someone else.“Retegui philosophized recently. The child of San Fernando, who grew up playing field field hockey, could soon open a new chapter in his incredible career: he is already whetting the appetites of some of the biggest names in English soccer.