Italy use ‘Irish granny’ rule to land new striker Retegui

As Gareth Southgate complained about England’s limited number of players in the Premier League, Italy boss Roberto Mancini was calling out Mateo Retegui for the first time.

Retegui is 23 years old, was born in Argentina and scores goals for Club Atlético Tigre on loan from Boca Juniors, but he doesn’t come close to the thoughts of World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni, who called up 33 players for friendlies against the Central American powerhouse. from Panama. and Curacao.

He qualifies to represent the Azzurri through an Italian grandmother and Mancini, always blessed with supreme vision and the ability to find the center forward when he played, is now taking a stance similar to Jack Charlton’s campaign to recruit new Irish talent. .

It is not a completely new problem for Italy. Gone are the days when they produced a stream of quality forwards like Gianluca Vialli, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Christian Vieri and Roberto Baggio.

Or, for those with a longer memory, players like Paulo Rossi, Roberto Bettega and Alessandro Altobelli. Or going back another generation to Gigi Riva, one of the greats.

The 23-year-old has scored 37 goals in 46 games for Tigre since joining on loan in February

Azzurri boss Roberto Mancini has used the ‘Irish grandmother’ rule to bring Retegui to his team

Mancini has relied on Ciro Immobile, but the Lazio striker is injured when the European champions begin their title defense against England in Naples on Thursday.

Giacomo Raspadori is also absent and Gianluca Scamacca in the squad, but he doesn’t play regularly for West Ham.

In Serie A, as in the Premier League, where Southgate says only 28 per cent are eligible for England, those who spend money on foreign talent are targeting key positions through the backbone of the team, and particularly in the front center.

Scan the richest Italian teams and you will see strikers from Nigeria, Argentina, Bosnia, Serbia, France, Belgium, etc. Harry Kane and Southgate face similar problems, picking options at Brentford, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Rome. None of them in the Champions League.

It’s perhaps no coincidence that England is crammed with full-backs and wide-open attackers because that’s where the opportunities arise, on the edges of teams as full-backs and full-backs or 20 minutes on the wing in the fast-paced era of five substitutions.

It is much more difficult to displace the expensive center forward or midfielder or central midfielder.

Let’s go back to Retegui, who represented Argentina in the Under-19 and Under-20 categories, but has not been able to consolidate in Boca. Most of his career has been spent on loan, first at Estudiantes where Juan Sebastián Verón was then president of the club and is now vice president, and then at Talleres Córdoba.

Last year he arrived at Tigre, a club in the north of Buenos Aires and the goals flowed. “He has goals in his blood,” said Veron, who played with Mancini at Lazio and advised him to take a closer look at a player he thought would fit the way he likes to play.

Talented attacking star Mancini was always adept at finding center forwards on his playing days.

The rule was started by England icon Jack Charlton while he was in charge of the Irish team.

Retegui is over six feet tall, with a physical presence and committed style. His data is solid in all areas of attack, including aerial duels.

Above all, he scored 19 goals in 27 league appearances, as Tigre finished seventh last season, and six in his first eight games this season, which began in January, and although his goals and Italian heritage languish in the bottom half of the table are drawing European explorers to an Argentine backwater.

His father, Carlos, who coached Argentina’s men’s hockey team to a gold medal win at the 2016 Olympics, became his agent, revealing that Udinese tried to sign Mateo in January.

AC Milan is tracking him in the search for a successor for Olivier Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and there have been contacts from various other clubs in Serie A, the Bundesliga, La Liga and the Premier League.

If Mancini throws him into the fray at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples, where the passions of Italian and Argentine soccer collide like nowhere else, everyone will have a better idea of ​​how Retegui will fare in European football.

There is no interest in Retegui, but the 27-year-old Napoli forward Giovanni Simeone, the eldest of the three footballer sons (all forwards) of the Atlético de Madrid coach, Diego Simeone, has been called up by Argentina.

The younger brother Giuliano is freely scoring goals for Real Zaragoza, on loan from Atlético, in the second division of Spanish football. The middle brother, Gianluca, plays for Xerez in the Spanish fourth division.

Diego Simeone’s son Giovanni has been recalled by Argentina, which has no interest in Retegui

Nest wheels ready after a flurry of long-range goals. Sporting’s Pedro Goncalves conjured up memories of Nayim from midfield, beating Aaron Ramsdale from 46 yards out in the Europa League at Arsenal.

Jonny Otto’s against Leeds measured 41 yards, the longest in the Premier League in more than five years.

Still nothing to outshine Alfie May, however, and the incredible volley from midfield for Cheltenham at Peterborough on Saturday before last.

There has been an explosion of long-range goals, including Sporting’s Pedro Goncalves’ strike here.

Goalkeepers, now stuck in their lines on VAR penalties, are fuming about stuttering previous runs. As it is, players can fake all they want during setup, but not in the final step before the kick.

Kai Havertz maximized it with a sharp pause in the penultimate stride against Everton on Saturday, and he’s not the only one. It might be time for the IFAB legislators to review the rules.

Theo Walcott celebrated his 34th birthday by reminding the nation that he still has pace to burn, too much for Clement Lenglet, Ben Davies or Ivan Perisic.

After years of tortuous debate over his best position, he might have found it, playing up front in a two for Southampton with Ruben Selles and scoring his first goal in nearly two years.

Theo Walcott celebrated his 34th birthday by reminding the nation that he still has pace to burn

Much was made of Tony Bloom’s perfect day last week when the Brighton owner doubled his team’s derby win against Crystal Palace with his horse Energumene winning the Champion Chase at Cheltenham.

The following day, his ‘other’ club Union Saint-Gilloise continued their impressive season by reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

They are second in the Belgian league and discover eye-catching talent alongside Brighton, including centre-back Siebe van der Heyden and striker Victor Boniface, who are among the best players in the Europa League this season.

Chris Hughton is preparing for his first games as Ghana’s manager, a doubleheader against Angola in Afcon qualifying, which begins on Thursday. One of the good guys is back on the touchline after a year as Ghana’s technical adviser.

While one of football’s good guys, Chris Hughton (right), is on the bench in charge of Ghana