- Roberto Di Matteo
Infobox Football biography
playername = Roberto Di Matteo
fullname = Roberto Di Matteo
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1970|5|29
cityofbirth =Schaffhausen
countryofbirth =Switzerland
height =
currentclub = Milton Keynes Dons (manager)
position =Midfielder (retired)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1988–1991
1991–1992
1992–1993
1993–1996
1996–2002
clubs =FC Schaffhausen FC Zürich FC Aarau
Lazio
Chelsea
Total
caps(goals) = 050 0(2)
034 0(6)
033 0(1)
087 0(7)
119 (15)
323 (31)
nationalyears = 1994–1998
nationalteam = Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 034 0(2)
manageryears = 2008–
managerclubs = Milton Keynes DonsRoberto Di Matteo (born
May 29 ,1970 inSchaffhausen ,Canton of Schaffhausen ) is a Swiss-Italian former professional footballer and current manager of Milton Keynes Dons having been unveiled onJuly 3 ,2008 . Amidfielder , his career consisted of spells atFC Schaffhausen (1988–91),FC Zürich (1991–92),FC Aarau (1992–93), Lazio (1993–96), and Chelsea (1996–2002). He was capped 34 times, scoring two goals for the Italian national team, and played for his country in theUEFA Euro 1996 and1998 FIFA World Cup .Career
witzerland and Italy
Born in Switzerland to Italian parents, Di Matteo began his career with Swiss club Schaffhausen, before joining FC Zürich in 1991 and FC Aarau a year later. He won the Swiss Nationalliga A with Aarau in 1993 and in the same season was awarded Switzerland's Player of the Year award. He signed for Lazio in the summer of 1993 for £550,000. Di Matteo became a regular in the Lazio side and made his debut for Italy during his time with the
Rome giants for three seasons. However, a falling out with coachZdeněk Zeman over a defensive error which resulted in a loss to Internazionale, ended his career with the club. As a result he was signed byRuud Gullit for English side Chelsea for a then club record fee of £4.9m.Chelsea
Di Matteo made an impressive start to his Chelsea career, scoring the winner against Middlesbrough on his home debut. His passing ability and accurate long-distance shooting saw him become one of the driving forces of Chelsea's resurgence in the late 1990s. He contributed nine goals in his first season, including long-range efforts against both Tottenham Hotspur and Wimbledon. He helped the club finish 6th in the league, their highest placing since 1989-90, and reach the
1997 FA Cup Final at Wembley. Within 43 seconds of the kick-off, Di Matteo scored from 30 yards, the fastest ever goal in a Wembley cup final, to set Chelsea on their way to a 2–0 win.The following season he again proved his worth to the team, chipping in with ten goals and numerous assists, as Chelsea went on to claim the Football League Cup and the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , their first European honour since 1971. In the League Cup final, again against Middlesbrough, Di Matteo scored the 2nd goal in a 2-0 win. Season 1998-99 turned out to be a special season for Chelsea as they went on an unbeaten run of over 20 games to finish third in thePremier League and qualify for the Champions League. Di Matteo played a pivotal role in midfield next toGustavo Poyet ,Dennis Wise andDan Petrescu and scored some memorable goals, among them a strike against Coventry City in the dying seconds of the game.During the 1999-00 season he was hampered by injury but returned late in the season to score a handful of crucial goals, including his third Cup-winning goal at Wembley, once again in the FA Cup. In a dour match, Di Matteo capitalised on an error by Aston Villa goalkeeper David James to score the winner in the 71st minute, handing Chelsea their fourth major trophy in three years. This lead Di Matteo to comment on the old Wembley Stadium saying "It's a shame they're tearing the old place down - it has been a very lucky ground for me".
Early into the 2000-01 season, Di Matteo sustained a triple leg fracture in a
UEFA Cup tie against Swiss sideFC St. Gallen and spent the next eighteen months on the sidelines. He eventually gave up on his comeback and retired in February 2002 at the age of 31. [cite news | date=2002-02-19 | url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/archive/england/news/2002/0219/20020219cfcdimatteo.html | title=Injury forces di Matteo to retire | publisher=Soccernet | accessdate=2007-05-14 | author=] In his six years at Chelsea, he made 175 appearances and scored 26 goals. He was selected in the squad of Chelsea's greatest ever XI, and former managerClaudio Ranieri handed him the honour of leading the Chelsea team out in the 2002 FA Cup final, which Chelsea went on to lose 2-0 to rivals Arsenal. Di Matteo still occasionally returns to Chelsea for promotional purposes on match days and also to use the new gym at the Cobham training base.In an interview given to Chelsea TV on
24 January 2007 , Di Matteo gently urged the Chelsea board to resolve their differences with managerJosé Mourinho , saying that it was important to maintain continuity in order to achieve long-term success.Management
On
July 2 ,2008 , Di Matteo was appointed asMilton Keynes Dons new manager afterPaul Ince left to join Blackburn Rovers. [cite news | date=2008-06-30 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/milton_keynes_dons/7484484.stm | title=Di Matteo appointed MK Dons coach | publisher=BBC Sport
date=2008-07-02
accessdate=2008-07-02 | author=] He in turn appointed former Chelsea colleagueEddie Newton as his assistant andAde Mafe , who appeared at the1984 Los Angeles Olympics and worked at Chelsea during Di Matteo's time there, as his fitness coach. This will be Di Matteo's first experience as manager. He began qualifying for hisUEFA coaching licences while still playing - completing his "B" licence during his time with Chelsea.References
External links
* [http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3759521,00.html MK Dons linked with Di Matteo]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.