Bundesliga coach Matarazzo interested in USMNT job

Hoffenheim coach Pellegrino Matarazzo has expressed passive interest in the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) job.

The 45-year-old spoke to ESPN’s German analyst Archie Rhind-Tutt following his side’s 1-1 draw against Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday.

In the post-match interview, when asked about the USMNT head coach job, the Hoffenheim manager said, “We’ll see, where this (Hoffenheim) job takes me; I’m open for many paths, at the moment I’m very happy to be here, at some point, I do feel like it’s time to give back to soccer in the States but when that time will be we’ll see.”

Matarazzo career story

Born in New Jersey, Matarazzo played college soccer for the Columbia Lions before relocating to Germany.

His coaching career started in Nurnberg and then moved to Hoffenheim where he spent more than two years as a youth and assistant coach at Hoffenheim from 2017 through 2019.

He took over the reins at Stuttgart, leading the club back to the Bundesliga and kept them in the top flight for two seasons before being fired in October last year after a winless start.

Hoffenheim coach shaped by Nagelsmann

Hoffenheim hired Matarazzo in February after firing Andre Breitenreiter, who left the club after just seven months in charge.

Matarazzo has done a creditable job guiding the club to midtable, where they lie 13th, having won three of their last five league games.

Shaped by Julian Nagelsmann’s ideologies, the American is now making a name for himself with an attractive brand of free-flowing football.

He is still a young coach, and his CV may not be glittering. Thus, seeing if he is considered for the national job will be interesting.

Earlier Marcelo Bielsa was also linked to the position, but the Argentina has now taken over as the head coach of Uruguay.

Anthony Hudson has taken over in an interim role with Gregg Berhalter’s future in serious doubt after recent off-field accusations.

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