Berlin – It wasn’t that long ago that Jesse Marsch almost didn’t recognize his compatriot Pellegrino Matarazzo. At that time they were still in the second row, Matarazzo worked as an assistant coach at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Marsch was assistant to head coach Ralf Rangnick at RB Leipzig. When the two clubs met in the Bundesliga, a 1.98-meter giant suddenly stood next to Marsch shortly before the game. “A few years ago in Hoffenheim, a tall man came to me and said with a perfect American accent: ‘Jesse, how are you?’”, Marsch says. “At first I thought: Who is that?” Only shortly afterwards did it click.
On Friday (8.30 p.m., DAZN), Matarazzo and Marsch will meet again, and this encounter will take place again under new auspices. In the 1990s they met as students in the USA, the defensive specialist Matarazzo met with his university team on the somewhat more offensive march. The curious encounter between the assistant coaches in Hoffenheim followed many years later, but the culmination of the joint meeting is only now: In the duel between Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart, Marsch and Matarazzo face each other for the first time as head coach. There had never been a duel between two US trainers in the Bundesliga before.
“I can understand that it is a special moment for US citizens,” said Matarazzo on Thursday. RB coach Marsch raved about the historic game, so to speak: “A few years ago it was unimaginable that two US coaches would have a team in a big league.” Soccer is as unpopular in the USA as it was in the 90s not for a long time. But when compared to sports like basketball, ice hockey, baseball or football, football in the United States is still far behind at the bottom of the table. Nevertheless – or because of it – Matarazzo and Marsch made it to the top as coaches.
Her footballing talent was the ticket to two of the most renowned universities in the country. In addition to studying applied mathematics, the now 43-year-old Matarazzo played football for the team at the highly regarded Columbia University in New York. Map. “I owe everything to this ball that you chase after on the lawn,” Marsch said recently in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Rangnick brought the ex-MLS professional to Leipzig in 2018, where his ascent towards the Bundesliga began via RB Salzburg.
It is thanks to VfB that Matarazzo gave him the confidence of a professional team for the first time in 2019. And those in charge at VfB trust the father of a family even more. “Pellegrino Matarazzo is the best we can have. Rino becomes one hundred percent a Champions League coach. He has everything for it, ”said sports director Sven Mislintat shortly before the start of the season. But first Matarazzo wants to annoy his colleague Marsch in the US duel. After the 0: 1 on the first match day in Mainz, title contender RB is already under pressure against league leaders VfB. That is why Jesse Marsch demands a significant increase in performance from his team. “There is no excuse on Friday evening. We have to be ready, ”said the 47-year-old before the game against VfB Stuttgart. His team not only lost on the first match day at 1. FSV Mainz 05, which was weakened by corona quarantines, but also showed a poor performance.
That should and must be different on Friday when, for the first time since March 2020, there will be a larger number of spectators in the Leipzig stadium. “It will be an amazing evening to play in front of our fans again,” said Marsch. On Wednesday noon, 20,500 of the 23,500 available tickets had been sold. So it could be a full home premiere for Jesse Marsch. Matarazzo, of all people, could really spoil his compatriot at this start.