Not many Argentinian-Italian players have represented the Italian national team with success.
Yet, some remarkable names can be mentioned when talking about players born in Argentina who had a significant impact on the Azzurri.
These names include Mauro Germán Camoranesi (one of the 2006 World Cup winners), Gabriel Paletta (former AS Roma) and Juventus man Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, and Ezequiel Matías Schelotto.
We can also add Mateo Retegui to this list of remarkable Argentinian-Italian players who’ve represented Italy, as he promises to be an instrumental striker for Italy in the upcoming international competitions.
In fact, Retegui has already participated in the latest UEFA Euro 2024 and showed some positive signs.
Yet, the team’s overall performance in that competition did not help him contribute remarkably during his first participation in such a continental competition.
However, his abilities in that tournament further convinced Luciano Spalletti of Retegui’s potential and led to him being used more frequently.
He has been the starter for Italy in most of their latest encounters, and he is expected to continue being the starter in the rest of the UEFA Nations League games and, most probably, during the next Euros and World Cup.
This international experience has been helping Retegui in terms of confidence and maturity.
His career has already been long enough for him to gain a lot of maturity and adapt to different playing styles.
He started his career in Argentina at Boca Juniors, where he spent five years and was loaned to Estudiantes, Talleres, and Tigre.
In 2023, he got the opportunity to join Serie A’s Genoa and start his European journey with an overall convincing season with the Rossoblù, attracting the interest of Atalanta, who urgently needed to sign a reliable striker for the new season.
Atalanta spent €22M to win Retegui’s services, and he has not disappointed so far.
Although he netted seven goals and provided two assists in 29 appearances for Genoa last season, he proved his skills at Atalanta in his first season with them by scoring 11 goals and providing three assists in 12 league games.
Therefore, it is fair to say that Retegui has been crucial for Atalanta at the start of this season.
He contributed a lot to their holding the second spot in the standings, just one point behind Napoli, the leaders, before the international break.
Moreover, the fact that he was named Serie A’s Player of the Month for October means a lot, as it is not easy to be favoured over numerous talented players from many big teams.
In this tactical analysis and Mateo Retegui’s scout report, we will discuss his abilities as a striker and how he has been important in Atalanta and Italy’s tactics.
The analysis will also shed light on other aspects characterising this player besides finishing and movements inside the box, such as playmaking and passing.
But first, let’s begin by studying his mastered roles and positions on the pitch.
Mateo Retegui Position & Role
Wherever he played, Mateo Retegui has always been the team’s striker.
His traits allow him to be very reliable and dangerous in that position and to give his best to help the team.
That being said, he was often used as a second striker, too, whether in 4-4-2 formations or 5-3-2 formations, for instance.
Retegui proved that he excels when playing as a sole striker and as part of an attacking duo.
In terms of roles, Mateo Retegui’s style of play has the physical abilities needed to win duels with defenders but is not really a forward who can be used as a pure stationary striker and win all the aerial duels with Serie A defenders.
The 25-year-old wins a significant number of aerial duels, especially during crosses, as he is an excellent header scorer.
Nevertheless, it is not wise to rely on Retegui and opt for long passes to him as a build-up solution.
Instead, providing passes at the back of the defensive line and helping via off-the-ball movement suits Retegui’s abilities the most and can pose a lot of danger to opponents.
Retegui is a dynamic striker who likes to move without the ball and can be effective enough when he attacks space, knowing that these movements need midfielders with excellent vision and attentiveness to spot his movements and make well-timed passes.
Retegui possesses the necessary body coordination when receiving passes, allowing him to turn quickly and aim for a shot.
The Italian international has scored goals on numerous occasions using this skill.
At the same time, he has often been excellent with assists and key passes when he receives the ball in key areas and notices teammates who are better positioned than he is.
This sense of team play makes him an even more valuable player for Atalanta and for the Azzurri.
Moreover, Retegui is a reliable penalty taker and has proven on many occasions that he excels at headers and executes all necessary actions to receive crosses in the most effective way, making finishing easier for himself.
His ability to deal with complicated crosses and remarkably orient his headers eventually leads to more goals per season as he gains much more maturity and experience when finishing actions.
Additionally, mastering acrobatic moves and scoring goals using techniques such as volleys and half-volleys represents a plus in Retegui’s “portfolio” and helps him reach the world-class category of strikers.
The following pizza map highlights Retegui’s remarkable goal contribution rates and, more importantly, his ability to provide accurate passes consistently.
Mateo Retegui Radar Map
Mateo Retegui Goalscoring & Finishing Techniques
In terms of finishing, Retegui is becoming one of the best in Italy.
The 25-year-old times his movement, finishes extremely well and knows how to get away from marking quickly and efficiently.
Although he scores 0.43 goals per game and shoots 2.74 times per match, Retegui can be very dangerous in front of goal and has become even more clinical at the start of this season.
The Argentinian-Italian proved he could handle complex situations inside or near the box and help his team out of difficult situations.
This goal example against Hellas Verona highlights his ability to finish with remarkable precision and power, ensuring his shot confuses the goalkeeper despite hitting it from a first touch using his left foot.
Mateo Retegui Goal Vs Hellas Verona
Moreover, he has repeatedly proven that he masters different types of shots and uses the appropriate ones according to the situation.
In the following goal action, for instance, he was intelligent enough to opt for a lob shot since he noticed the goalkeeper getting out of his goal when he was about to shoot.
It should also be noted that Retegui presses well against the opposing defence and is often attentive and ready to collect the ball as soon as defenders commit controlling or passing mistakes inside the box.
In this goal action against Venezia, he showed how crucial he can be when defenders commit mistakes in front of him.
He intercepted the ball when Venezia’s defender controlled it poorly, then ran with it, resisting the defender’s disturbance, and quickly finished the action with a lob.
Mateo Retegui Goal Vs Venezia
Also, Retegui is often present when needed.
He has consistently demonstrated that he is always there to receive second balls and turn them into goals.
This excellent sense of positioning, especially inside the box, makes Retegui more efficient for both Atalanta and Italy.
This allows him to capitalise on half-chances, especially when his teammates take a lot of shots from outside the box.
Lately, Retegui has scored two similar goals thanks to his anticipation and prediction of where the ball would bounce back following his teammates’ shots and the goalkeepers’ save attempts.
We are discussing the goals against Genoa in Serie A and Belgium in the UEFA Nations League.
In addition, with an ability to win 76.9% of aerial duels, Retegui can be pretty spectacular in the air when receiving crosses.
He jumps high and knows very well how to orient his headers to complicated angles while applying the right amount of power.
This season, the Italian international has already scored numerous goals using beautiful headers, with perhaps the most difficult and angled one being his header against Torino.
Retegui received the cross while being tightly marked between two Torino defenders in this action.
Nevertheless, as you can see in the image below, the 25-year-old was capable of gaining an advantage on the ball and of hitting it first.
The timing of Mateo Retegui’s jumping, his positioning, his anticipation of defenders’ movements, and his excellent impact on the ball are definitely the reasons that make him successful and crucial in terms of headers inside the box.
Mateo Retegui Goal Vs Torino
Mateo Retegui Playmaking Traits
In addition to Retegui’s ability to finish actions with excellent skills and consistently be in the right spot to receive goalscoring opportunities while making things easier for himself by anticipating defenders and using half-spaces, the Argentinian-Italian can also be extremely useful in playmaking.
Mateo Retegui’s ball protection and ability to deal well with situations where he has to turn his back towards the goal allow him to provide key passes to players from behind.
This assist example highlights his ability to use back-heel key passes to confuse defenders and provide a golden opportunity for his teammate to shoot from a distance.
The 25-year-old also clears the shooting trajectory for him by moving away (with the defender following Retegui).
Mateo Retegui Assist Vs Genoa
Moreover, being unselfish when he finds better-positioned teammates makes him more likely to assist, especially during counter-attacks.
In the following example against France in the UEFA Nations League, we notice Retegui leaning towards the right side, attacking the empty space before receiving a pass and opting to give an excellent assist to Davide Frattesi instead of taking the solo option.
This type of movement and pass makes Retegui very valuable in playmaking.
He contributes to varying his team’s attacking plans while guaranteeing the creation of danger as he often provides accurate passes.
Mateo Retegui Assist Vs France
Conclusion
Overall, Mateo Retegui confirmed during the start of this season that he deserves the transfer fee paid by Atalanta and has exceeded expectations in terms of performance so far.
If the 25-year-old can maintain his current performance level and, more importantly, be consistent in goal contribution, Retegui can finish the season as one of the league’s top goalscorers.
The Italian international is expected to lead Atalanta to finish among the top four.
