Alessandro Matri was born in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano (Lodi-Lombardy) on August 19, 1984. He was brought up in the village of Graffignana near Lodi.
As a boy his favourite sport was not football but cycling and he won several races. A serious fall however then led him to opt for football.
His first clubs in his youth were local Virtus Don Bosco, Fanfulla both in Lodi and then, from 1986, A.C Milan.
He joined the Milan first team squad in 2002-03. The manager was Carlo Ancelotti and Matri played one league game, against Piacenza on May 24. The Rossoneri finished 3rd but won both the Champions League and the Coppa Italia.
The following season Matri made no appearances for Milan. The Rossoneri won the Scudetto and the UEFA Super Cup under Ancelotti.
In 2004-05 Matri was loaned to Prato in C1 for a season. He played regularly making 32 league appearances with 14 goals plus 4 games in the C Coppa Italia with 2 goals. The "Fiordalisi" (Bluebottles) however were relegated.
In 2005-06 he played for Lumezzane on loan. The Rossoblu were in C1 but were relegated. Matri played 34 league games with 18 goals plus a game in the C Cup with 1 goal. One of his teammates was a young Mario Balotelli.
In the 2006-07 he was again loaned out, this time to Rimini in Serie B. The Biancorossi did well under Leonardo Arcori finishing 5th and so did Matri playing 34 league games with 16 goals plus 4 games in Coppa Italia with 2 goals.
In 2007 he was sold to Cagliari in Serie A. He stayed three and a half seasons. In the first the Rossoblu got through three managers (Marco Giampaolo, Nedo Sonetti and Davide Ballardini) and finished 14th. The following season Max Allegri arrived and Cagliari finished 9th. In the third season Allegri started but from the 34th fixture Giorgio Mellis came in and "Casteddu" finished 16th. In his fourth season, first under Pierpaolo Bisoli and then Roberto Donadoni, Matri only stayed until January. In his time on the island Matri played 131 games and scored 40 goals (36 in A). His performances earned him a call from Juventus.
At Juve the manager was Luigi Delneri. It was not a great year for the Bianconeri who finished 7th. Matri played 16 league games with 9 goals.
The following season, 2011-12, Antonio Conte arrived as manager and the Zebras won the Scudetto. Matri had a good season, playing 31 league games with 10 goals plus a game in Coppa Italia.
In 2012-13 the Bianconeri won the Scudetto again and the Italian Supercoppa. Matri played 22 league games with 8 goals, 3 games in Coppa Italia and 9 games in the Champions League with 2 goals.
In the summer of 2013, he returned to Milan but only stayed until January. The manager was Allegri from his Cagliari days and Matri played 15 league games with 1 goal and 3 games in the Champions League. Matri left after Christmas and Allegri was sacked soon after and Milan finished 8th under Clarence Seedorf.
Matri went to Fiorentina on loan. The manager was Vincenzo Montella and the Viola had a good season finishing 4th and beaten finalists in the Coppa Italia (Napoli 1-3). Matri played 15 league games with 4 goals, 3 games in Coppa Italia and 3 in the Europa League with 1 goal.
In 2014-15 he joined Genoa on loan. The Rossoblu had Gian Piero Gasperini as manager. Matri stayed until February, playing 16 league games with 7 goals and 1 game in Coppa Italia. He then returned to Juventus on loan while the Rossoblu finished 6th.
Back at Juventus he again found Allegri. The Bianconeri won the Scudetto and Coppa Italia but lost the final of Champions League 1-3 to Barcelona. Matri only played 5 league games, 2 games in Coppa Italia with 2 goals and 2 games in Champions League. Matri's highlight was scoring the winning goal in extra-time in the Coppa Italia final against Lazio.
In the summer he then joined Lazio on loan. The manager was first Stefano Pioli (1-31) and then Simone Inzaghi. The season started with the disappointment of losing the Champions League preliminary round to Bayer Leverkusen. Lazio then finished 8th in Serie A and also lost the Supercoppa final to Juventus. Matri played 19 league games with 4 goals (Udinese x2, Sampdoria, Verona) and 2 games in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Udinese).
Matri did not stay in the capital but instead was sold by Milan to Sassuolo in Serie A. He stayed three seasons, playing 73 league games with13 goals, 3 games in Coppa Italia with 1 goal and 6 games in the Europa League. The "Sasôl" finished 12th (under Eusebio Di Francesco), 11th (under Cristian Bucchi and then Giuseppe Iachini) and 11th (under Roberto De Zerbi).
Matri then played one last season with Brescia in Serie A. It was a chaotic year with three different managers (Salvatore Lanna for two stints, Stefano Morrone and Michele Fini) and the Biancazzurri were relegated. Matri played 8 league games.
At almost 36 he then retired.
Matri won 7 caps for Italy (all in friendlies) and scored 1 goal (Ukraine).
He won 3 league titles, 2 Italian Supercoppe and 1 Coppa Italia, all with Juventus.
Matri was a centre-forward. He was a classic old-style striker. At 1.83 and 80 kilos he was strong physically. He was a hard battling player who always put in a good shift, helping out with high pressing but also defensively when needed. He scored goals too, 158 in his career (141 in A). He was not an outstanding player but was a good, solid, reliable club player who had a positive Serie A career.
At Lazio he only stayed one year on loan. It was not a great year for the club as they did not repeat the excellent previous one. Matri did his bit however, playing 31 games with 7 goals.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
2015-16 | 31 (7) | 19 (4) | 2 (1) | 10 (2) |
Sources
Comments