Raoul Petretta (born 24 March 1997) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender for

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Born in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, he has represented

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at youth level.

Early life

Petretta began playing football with SC Rheinfelden 03. After three years, he joined Swiss club

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

at age six. He spent the remainder of his youth career with Basel, progressing from the U7 level to the U21 level, before joining the first team.

Club career

He began his senior career with

Basel II Basel II is the second of the Basel Accords, which are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. It is now extended and partially superseded by Basel III. The Basel II Accord was publis ...

in the third tier

Swiss Promotion League The Promotion League, named the YAPEAL Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over the course of the season. The champions are ...

. He scored his first goal on 29 October 2016 against FC United Zürich. In February 2017, he signed a professional contract with

. He made his professional debut for

on February 4, 2017 against FC Lugano in a

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

match. He made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

debut on September 27, 2017 against Portuguese club Benfica. On 14 October 2017, he scored his first goal against FC Lugano. In December 2020, he suffered a spinal cord injury during a match, but was able to avoid serioud injury. On 15 May 2021 he scored a brace against

FC Zurich FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

. During his time with Basel, Petretta played in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and UEFA Conference League and won the

in 2016-17 and the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

twice in 2016-17 and 2018-19. In May 2022, it was announced that he would depart Basel upon the expiry of his contract, after rejecting a contract extension. In July 2022, Petretta signed with Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club Kasımpaşa. He made his debut on 8 August 2022 against

İstanbul Başakşehir ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

. He departed the club in January 2023. In January 2023, Petretta joined

side

on a contract through 2025, with an option for 2026.

International career

Born in Germany to Italian parents, Petretta does not hold German citizenship. On 25 May 2018, he made his debut with the Italy U21 team in a friendly against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Basel *

: 2016–17 *

winner: 2016–17 2018–19

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petretta, Raoul 1997 births People from Rheinfelden (Baden) Sportspeople from Freiburg (region) Footballers from Baden-Württemberg German people of Italian descent Living people German footballers Italian footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Association football defenders FC Basel players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Toronto FC players Swiss Promotion League players Swiss Super League players Süper Lig players Major League Soccer players Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Turkey Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey