The Italy coach, Roberto Mancini, has a problem due to the lack of troops in attack and has surprised by announcing the call-up of an Argentine striker to face the imminent qualifying matches for Euro 2024.
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The player in question is Mateo Retegui, a 23-year-old striker who plays for Club Atlético Tigre, on loan from Boca Juniors. After the first seven days, he leads the scoring table of the Argentine championship with six goals.
a sicilian grandfather
Born in San Fernando (Argentina), Retegui has an Italian passport due to his grandfather’s Sicilian origins, which is why he has the option of playing at an absolute level with the teams of both countries despite having played with the Albiceleste in the Sub-categories. 19 and Sub-20.
Although his name has been circulating in the press for a few weeks, Mancini has confirmed that he has included him in the squad for the upcoming matches against England (March 23) and Malta (March 26) at the start of the qualifying phase for Euro 2024.
Mancini, surprised by his response
“We have been following him for a long time, he has been a starter for two years in the Argentine championship and he has qualities that unfortunately we lack at this time,” he revealed on Monday night during a program on DAZN.
“We thought he wouldn’t want to come, on the contrary he said yes right away and we called him,” ‘Mancio’ advanced before announcing the list on Friday.
Italy, absent in the last two World Cups although it won Euro 2020, has suffered for several years from a shortage of center forwards, depending almost exclusively on Ciro Immobile, Lazio’s goalscorer and already 33 years old.
Substitutes without minutes
The other possible ‘9’ are injured or in poor shape due to a lack of minutes in their clubs, such as Giacomo Raspadori (Victor Osimhen’s substitute in the intractable Naples), Andrea Belotti (in the shadow of Tammy Abraham in Roma), Gianluca Scamacca (second choice at West Ham) or Moise Kean (irregular at Juventus).
