Mateo Pablo Musacchio (, ; born 26 August 1990) is an Argentine former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a central defender. He spent most of his professional career with Villarreal after signing as a 19-year-old, going on to appear in 249 competitive matches and score seven goals over seven

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

seasons. In 2017 he joined

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

and, four years later, signed with

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

also of the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

. Musacchio made his full debut for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

in 2011.

Club career

River Plate

A product of

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city's estuary, Río de l ...

's youth system, Musacchio was born in

Rosario, Santa Fe Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

, and he made his first-team debut as a 16-year-old during the 2006–07 season, making four appearances. He was part of the squad that won the

Clausura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...

the following year, but did not feature in any games.

Villarreal

In August 2009, Musacchio moved to

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

in Spain, initially being assigned to the

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It re ...

in the second division. He made his official debut on 5 September in a 3–1 loss at

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

as the reserves overachieved in their first season ever in that tier, eventually finishing seventh. On 13 February 2010, shortly after ceasing to be a non-EU player, Musacchio made his

debut by playing the last 15 minutes in a 2–1 home win against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Le ...

. From that moment onwards he was permanently promoted to Villarreal's first team, successively surpassing more experienced Iván Marcano and Gonzalo Rodríguez – the latter his compatriot – in the defensive pecking order. Musacchio dealt with several injury problems during his spell at the Estadio El Madrigal.

Milan

On 30 May 2017, eight days after passing his medical, Musacchio moved to Italian club A.C. Milan after signing a four-year contract. He contributed 15

appearances in his first season, with the subsequent

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

to the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

after a sixth-place finish. Following

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the ...

's departure to Juventus F.C. and Mattia Caldara's two long-term injuries, Musacchio became a starter, oftentimes partnering up with the team's newly-appointed captain Alessio Romagnoli. In June 2020, just before the post-pandemic restart of the league competition in Italy, he underwent surgery on his left ankle and missed the remainder of games. Musacchio played his first match in ten months on 12 January 2021, featuring 62 minutes in a 0–0

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory over Torino F.C. in the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...

Lazio

On 27 January 2021,

S.S. Lazio Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...

announced the signing of Musacchio on a permanent deal.

International career

Musacchio was first called by the Argentina national team in May 2011, as manager Sergio Batista only selected players under 25 for

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

with

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

. He made his debut against the former on 2 June, in a 4–1 defeat. In 2017, Gianni De Biasi asked Musacchio if he would be interested in playing for

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

of which he was the manager, but the player declined as he wished to represent his country of birth.

Style of play

A press release of A.C. Milan described Musacchio as a "very physical centre back" with character and agility. Additionally, the article highlighted his marking and blocking abilities, and that he liked to start moves and play short passes."

Personal life

Musacchio's paternal grandparents were of Albanian origin, being Arbëreshë from Portocannone in lower

Molise it, Molisano (man) it, Molisana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 ...

region, Italy. The surname Musacchio originated from the Muzaka region in south-central

, and was widely used in the Albanian community in Italy.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

River Plate *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). T ...

: Clausura 2008

References

External links

Argentine League statistics
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Musacchio, Mateo 1990 births Living people Argentine people of Arbëreshë descent People of Molisan descent Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe Argentine footballers Association football defenders Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético River Plate footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players Serie A players A.C. Milan players S.S. Lazio players Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy