Germán Pezzella

Germán Alejo Pezzella (Spanish pronunciation: [xeɾˈman aˈlexo peˈsela]; born 27 June 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Betis and the Argentina national team, with whom he won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Germán Pezzella
Pezzella with Argentina in 2017
Personal information
Full name Germán Alejo Pezzella[1]
Date of birth (1991-06-27) 27 June 1991[2]
Place of birth Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Betis
Number 6
Youth career
Kilómetro Cinco
Juventud Unida
2000–2005 Olimpo
2005–2011 River Plate
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2015 River Plate 43 (2)
2015–2018 Betis 61 (4)
2017–2018 → Fiorentina (loan) 34 (1)
2018–2021 Fiorentina 97 (6)
2021– Betis 56 (1)
International career‡
2009–2011 Argentina U20 15 (0)
2011 Argentina U23 5 (2)
2017– Argentina 38 (3)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Argentina
FIFA World Cup
Winner2022 Qatar
Copa América
Winner2021 Brazil
Third place2019 Brazil
CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions
Winner2022 England
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place2011 GuadalajaraUnder-23 team
South American U-20 Championship
Bronze medal – third place2011 Peru
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 August 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 June 2023

Club career

Early career

Pezzella joined Club Atlético River Plate's youth setup in 2005, aged 14, after representing Club Olimpo.

After impressing with the former's reserves he was called up to the pre-season in Canada, appearing in friendlies against Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Everton.[3]

River Plate

After being an unused substitute in a 0–0 away draw against Club Atlético Huracán on 18 October 2009, Pezzella made his senior debut on 7 December 2011, starting in a 1–0 home win against Defensores de Belgrano for the season's Copa Argentina.[4] His league debut came on 2 March of the following year, where he played the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against Quilmes Atlético Club.[5]

Pezzella scored his first professional goal on 2 September 2012, netting the last in a 1–1 draw at Club Atlético Colón.[6] He also scored the equalizer in a 1–1 Superclásico home draw against Boca Juniors, just three minutes after coming off the bench.[7]

On 10 December 2014, Pezzella scored the last in a 2014 Copa Sudamericana final 2–0 win against Atlético Nacional, as his side won its first international title after a 17-year absence.[8]

Betis

On 10 July 2015, Pezzella signed a five-year contract with Real Betis, newly promoted to La Liga.[9] He made his debut for the club on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Villarreal CF.[10]

Fiorentina

After a loan spell with Serie A club Fiorentina during the 2017–18 season, Pezzella signed a five-year contract with the club that runs through the end of the 2021–22 season for an €11m transfer fee.[11] Ahead of the 2018–19 season, he was named the club's new captain.[12]

Betis return

On 19 August 2021, Pezzella returned to Betis after signing a four-year deal.[13]

International career

Pezzella played represented Argentina in 2009 Toulon Tournament. He also appeared with the side in 2011 South American U-20 Championship and 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, always as a starter.

On 1 September 2011, Pezzella was called up to the year's Pan American Games,[14] appearing in five matches and scoring two goals during the competition.

In October 2017, he was called up to Argentina national team's squad for the first time for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Peru on 5 October and Ecuador on 10 October 2017.[15] In May 2018 he was named in the Argentina national team's preliminary 35-man for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but did not make the final 23.[16] On 27 March 2019, he captained Argentina in a 1–0 friendly away win against Morocco.[17] He was included in Argentina's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and came on as a substitute in extra-time of the final as his nation won a third world title by defeating France on penalties. [18][19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 13 August 2023[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
River Plate 2011–12 Primera B 1050––10
2012–13 Argentine Primera División 10100––101
2013–14 150005[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]1211
2014 101208[lower-alpha 2]2–203
2015 71104[lower-alpha 4]01[lower-alpha 5]0131
Total 4338017221656
Real Betis 2015–16 La Liga 25340––294
2016–17 36110––371
Total 61450––665
Fiorentina (loan) 2017–18 Serie A 34110––351
Fiorentina 2018–19 Serie A 32230––352
2019–20 33310––343
2020–21 32110––331
2021–22 0010––10
Total 97660––1036
Real Betis 2021–22 La Liga 231407[lower-alpha 6]0–341
2022–23 310106[lower-alpha 6]01[lower-alpha 7]0390
2023–24 100000–10
Total 5515013010741
Career total 289152503023134318
  1. Includes Copa Argentina, Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia
  2. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
  3. Appearance in Copa Campeonato
  4. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
  5. Appearances in Recopa Sudamericana
  6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. Appearance in Supercopa de España

International
As of match played 19 June 2023[21]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina 201720
201841
2019101
2021100
202290
202331
Total383
Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pezzella goal.[21]
List of international goals scored by Germán Pezzella
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
111 October 2018Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Iraq3–04–0Friendly
213 October 2019Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, Alicante, Spain Ecuador4–16–1
315 June 2023Workers' Stadium, Beijing, China Australia2–02–0

Honours

River Plate

Real Betis

Argentina

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Argentina (ARG)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 1. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. "Germán Pezzella". Real Betis. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  3. "En minutos, River ante Toronto FC" [In minutes, River against Toronto FC] (in Spanish). Taringa!. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  4. "River venció al Defensores de Ortega y avanzó en la Copa Argentina" [River defeated Defensores de Ortega and went through in Copa Argentina] (in Spanish). La Voz del Interior. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  5. "River quiso más, pero no pudo con el bloqueo de Quilmes" [River wanted more, but could not pass Quilmes' wall] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  6. "River le empató sobre la hora a Colón y lo bajó" [River drew just in time against Colón and relegated them] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  7. "River y Boca empataron 1–1 en un Superclásico bajo la lluvia" [River and Boca drew 1–1 in a Superclásico under the rain] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  8. "River venció 2–0 a Atlético Nacional y se llevó la Copa Sudamericana" [River defeated Atlético Nacional by 2–0 and won Copa Sudamericana] (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  9. "El Betis hace oficial el fichaje del central argentino Pezzella" [Betis turns official the signing of Argentine stopper Pezzella] (in Spanish). Marca. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  10. "Rubén Castro llega justo a tiempo" [Rubén Castro arrives just in time] (in Spanish). Marca. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  11. "Fiorentina sign €11m Pezzella". 30 May 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  12. "Serie A allows Astori tribute". Football Italia. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  13. "Germán Pezzella regresa al Real Betis" [Germán Pezzella returns to Real Betis] (in Spanish). Real Betis. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  14. "Germán Pezzella aparece en la lista de la preselección para los Panamericanos" [Germán Pezzella appears in the pre-list for the Pan American Games] (in Spanish). Página 95. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  15. "Lista de convocados de Jorge Sampaoli – SITIO OFICIAL DE LA ASOCIACIÓN DEL FÚTBOL ARGENTINO". Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
  16. "Icardi cut from Argentina's 23-man World Cup squad". Goal.com. Perform Group. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  17. "Correa's late goal gives Argentina morale-boosting win in Morocco". ESPN FC. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  18. "Argentina World Cup 2022 squad: Lionel Scaloni's full team". 18 December 2022.
  19. "Argentina and Messi spot on for World Cup glory".
  20. "G. Pezzella". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  21. "Pezzella, Germán". National Football Teams. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  22. "Real Betis 1–1 Valencia (5–4 on pens): Real Betis win Copa del Rey final on penalties". BBC Sport. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  23. Murray, Scott (18 December 2022). "Argentina beat France on penalties after thrilling World Cup final – live reaction". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  24. Graham, Bryan Armen (11 July 2021). "Argentina 1-0 Brazil: Copa América final – live!". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  25. "Italy 0–3 Argentina: Messi and Di Maria shine in impressive Finalissima win". BBC Sport. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
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