The scorer for Tigre and Argentine soccer, Mateo Retegui, could make his debut this Thursday for the Italian National Team when they face England for the qualifying phase for Euro 2024. At least that’s how the Azzurri coach gave it a glimpse, Roberto Manciniwho spoke before the meeting and explained the reasons for calling the 23-year-old Argentine.
“I called Retegui because we lack players who score goals. We thought he would hesitate, but he immediately answered yes,” Mancini, the driver of Italy since 2018 and who comes from being left out of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, told a press conference.
“We’ve been following him for a long time. He is a young boy, and he is a hope for us that can be important”, said the Italian coachEurocopa champion and with a mark of 37 wins, 13 draws and 7 losses in office.
“I don’t know why but there aren’t many Italian players who score goals. The problems are serious. Ciro Immobile is out (Lazio, injured), and maybe Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli, injured). There are big questions. Almost all of our center forwards have played very little in recent months. We don’t have one who is a starter, except for Wilfried Gnonto, who played a little more in Leeds and can act in that position”, Mancini analyzed the variants he handles in attack.
And he continued: “Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham) is also injured, Andrea Belotti (Roma) plays little. In defense and in midfield there are solutions. It is there in attack that we have problems, but not because there is no talent. They have to play and they don’t play”.
This being the case, Retegui has good deeds to win the position of center forward. His main competitors in this call are the aforementioned Gnonto (regular winger, 1.70m, with 4 goals in 19 games this season at Leeds) and Scamacca (giant at 1.95m, with 8 goals in 27 games at West Ham).
For his part, Retegui, 1.86 meters tall and whose pass still belongs to Boca, comes from being a scorer in the Professional League last and already commands the table of celebrations in this year. Between the two of them he scored a whopping 25 goals in 35 games. An atrocity.
The Italian National Team will play on Thursday against England in Naples and next Sunday against Maltaas a visitor, in the first qualifying matches for Euro 2024.