Pellegrino Matarazzo

Pellegrino Matarazzo (born November 28, 1977) is an Italian-American professional football coach who is currently the head coach of Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.

Pellegrino Matarazzo
Matarazzo with VfB Stuttgart in January 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-11-28) November 28, 1977
Place of birth Wayne, New Jersey, United States
Height 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 VfB Stuttgart (head coach)
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)
Teams managed
2010–2012 1. FC Nürnberg II (assistant)
2011 1. FC Nürnberg II (caretaker)
2012–2013 1. FC Nürnberg U17
2013–2017 1. FC Nürnberg U19
2017 1899 Hoffenheim U17
2018–2019 1899 Hoffenheim (assistant)
2019– VfB Stuttgart
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He was previously a youth coach of 1. FC Nürnberg and 1899 Hoffenheim.[1] On December 30, 2019, Matarazzo was appointed head coach of VfB Stuttgart.[2] Since 2000, he has lived in Germany.

Youth

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]

Player career

The mathematician Matarazzo decided to go for football instead of working for an investment bank. After failed tries at Serie B club Salernitana based in his mothers hometown Salerno and Serie C club Juve Stabia in Italy, he instead signed in Germany's fourth division with Eintracht Bad Kreuznach. 2001–2003 and 2004/2005 he played for Wehen, where he met his wife, Daniela. He played as well for Münster and Wattenscheid. Later, in the Nürnberg farm team in the German regional league Matarazzo was playing and assistant coach at the same time.

Coaching career

His son Leopoldo was born in Nürnberg, and Matarazzo worked many years at the Clubs academy, coaching the B and A juniors. 2015 Matarazzo started the German coaching training at the Hennes Weisweiler Akademie, where he shared a room with Julian Nagelsmann. Matarazzo joined Nagelsmann 2017 in Hoffenheim, becoming youth coach there. 2018 Matarazzo became Nagelsmanns assistant and interfaced between 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][7]

Managerial statistics
As of matches played February 3, 2021
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat 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 [8]
VfB Stuttgart December 30, 2019 Present 39 16 10 13 71 50 +21 041.03 [9]
Total 46 18 13 15 88 64 +24 039.13 —

References
  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, 2019-12-30.
  5. []
  6. Farrell, Sean. "A Bergen County native will make soccer history in the German Bundesliga this weekend". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  7. Matarazzo schwärmt von Nagelsmann: "Ich habe von Julian viel gelernt", 2020-11-19.
  8. "1. FC Nürnberg II: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  9. "VfB Stuttgart: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved February 1, 2020.


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