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Pellegrino Matarazzo

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Pellegrino Matarazzo
Matarazzo with VfB Stuttgart in 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-11-28) November 28, 1977 (age 46)
Place of birth Wayne, New Jersey, United States
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Defender
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1999 Columbia Lions
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Eintracht Bad Kreuznach 39 (6)
2001–2003 SV Wehen 58 (0)
2003–2004 Preußen Münster 23 (0)
2004–2005 SV Wehen 18 (1)
2005–2006 SG Wattenscheid 09 31 (1)
2006–2010 1. FC Nürnberg II 62 (1)
Total 231 (9)
Managerial career
2011 1. FC Nürnberg II (caretaker)
2019–2022 VfB Stuttgart
2023–2024 TSG Hoffenheim
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Pellegrino Matarazzo (born November 28, 1977) is an American professional soccer coach and retired player.

He was previously a youth coach of 1. FC Nürnberg and 1899 Hoffenheim.[1] In December 2019, Matarazzo was appointed head coach of VfB Stuttgart.[2] He has lived in Germany since 2000.

Early life

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Matarazzo was raised in Fair Lawn, New Jersey to Italian immigrants. He has three younger brothers: Leo, Frank, and Antonio, all of them were in a Napoli fanclub at the time Diego Maradona played there. Leo and Antonio also played at Columbia. He played several sports growing up, including basketball and volleyball due to his height, but saw the most success in soccer, being a four-year varsity starter for Fair Lawn High School, leading them to the state tournament as a senior for the first time in nearly twenty years. He went on to play at Columbia University, where he earned a degree in applied mathematics in 1999.[3]

Playing career

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After his graduation from Columbia, Matarazzo decided to go for a career as a professional soccer player. After failed trials at Serie B club Salernitana based in his mother's hometown, Salerno, and Serie C club Juve Stabia in Italy, he signed in Germany's fourth division with Eintracht Bad Kreuznach. Between 2001 and 2005, Matarazzo played for Wehen with a year at Preußen Münster for the 2003–2004 season, as well as Wattenscheid and Nürnberg's reserve team. Later, Matarazzo served as assistant coach while playing for Nürnberg II at the same time.

Coaching career

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Matarazzo worked many years at Nürnberg's academy, coaching the B and A juniors. In 2015, Matarazzo started the German coaching training at the Hennes-Weisweiler-Akademie, where he shared a room with Julian Nagelsmann. Later, Matarazzo joined Nagelsmann's coaching staff at Hoffenheim in 2017, becoming youth coach there. In 2018, Matarazzo became Nagelsmann's assistant and interfaced between the first team and academy, and stayed there with Alfred Schreuder as head coach. In December 2019, Sven Mislintat signed Matarazzo as first team coach of VfB Stuttgart.[4][5][6] He was sacked in October 2022.[7]

On February 8, 2023, Matarazzo returned to TSG Hoffenheim, this time as manager of the first team. He signed a contract until June 2025, replacing André Breitenreiter.[8] In November 2024, he was sacked.[9]

Managerial statistics

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As of matches played 10 November 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
1. FC Nürnberg II (caretaker) April 12, 2011 June 30, 2011 7 2 3 2 17 14 +3 028.57 [10]
VfB Stuttgart December 30, 2019 October 10, 2022 100 31 29 40 149 151 −2 031.00 [11]
TSG Hoffenheim February 8, 2023 November 11, 2024 68 24 15 29 113 116 −3 035.29 [12]
Total 175 57 47 71 279 281 −2 032.57

References

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  1. ^ "American Exports: Nurnberg U-19s boss Pellegrino Matarazzo working his way up coaching ladder". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. February 11, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  2. ^ "Pellegrino Matarazzo appointed VfB head coach". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  3. ^ Rae, Derek (December 11, 2020). "In Stuttgart's Matarazzo, U.S. soccer already has a coach in charge of one of Europe's great clubs". Columbia Athletics. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  4. ^ Zwischen Italien und USA: Die bewegte Vita des Pellegrino Matarazzo swr.de, December 30, 2019.
  5. ^ Farrell, Sean. "A Bergen County native will make soccer history in the German Bundesliga this weekend". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  6. ^ "Matarazzo schwärmt von Nagelsmann: "Ich habe von Julian viel gelernt"". One Football DE (in German). Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "Der VfB Stuttgart stellt Pellegrino Matarazzo frei". vfb.de. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  8. ^ "Pellegrino Matarazzo to coach TSG Hoffenheim". tsg-hoffenheim.de. February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "TSG Hoffenheim part ways with Pellegrino Matarazzo". tsg-hoffenheim.de. November 11, 2024. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  10. ^ "1. FC Nürnberg II: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  11. ^ "VfB Stuttgart: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "TSG 1899 Hoffenheim: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
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