Ferdinando De Matthaeis (born May 29, 1961) is a retired professional

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who played for the

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. He currently serves as head coach of

Miami United FC Miami United Football Club is an association football team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Founded in late 2012, the team made its debut in the Sunshine Conference of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in 2013. The team plays its ...

in the

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Playing career

De Matthaeis spent the majority of his fifteen-year professional career in New York, with short stints in Italy. He was called in to one

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training camp towards the end of his career. While he played with the

he enjoyed minutes playing alongside some of the greats like Carlos Alberto,

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, and

Giorgio Chinaglia Giorgio Chinaglia (; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964. He later returned to Italy to ...

. He appeared 38 times over 4 years for the

from 1981 to 1984. During his career with the

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he scored 17 times and assisted on 12 goals in both indoor and outdoor competitions.

Coaching career

De Matthaeis coached at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a boar ...

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for a number of years, where he developed young athletes in preparation for the next level. In 2014 De Matthaeis moved to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

where he became head coach of

(NPSL). During his only year in charge he posted a record of 7–3–0 and won the NPSL Sunshine Conference. He became the only

head coach to go undefeated during the regular season. In 2015 with the help of another ownership group he founded the Miami Fusion FC of the NPSL. He would coach them in their first season of play to a NPSL Sunshine Conference championship over his former team

. With this win he would secure a place for the Miami Fusion FC in the 2016

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in their first season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Matthaeis, Ferdinando 1961 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Foggia North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New York Cosmos (1970–1985) players Men's association football midfielders Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Italian emigrants to the United States Brooklyn Italians players New Jersey Eagles players Boston Bolts (1988–1990) players New Jersey Stallions players American Soccer League (1988–89) players American Professional Soccer League players