Germán Alejo Pezzella (; born 27 June 1991) is an Argentine 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 ...

who plays as a centre-back for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

and the Argentina national team, with whom he won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Pezzella joined

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city's estuary, Río de la ...

's youth setup in 2005, aged 14, after representing

Club Olimpo Club Olimpo, usually referred to as Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club was founded October 15th, 1910. Its primary activity is soccer. The club is recognized i ...

. After impressing with the former's reserves he was called up to the pre-season in Canada, appearing in friendlies against

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 BM ...

, Montreal Impact and Everton.

River Plate

After being an unused substitute in a 0–0 away draw against

Club Atlético Huracán Club Atlético Huracán () is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is notable for its football team, that currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football ...

on 18 October 2009, Pezzella made his senior debut on 7 December 2011, starting in a 1–0 home win against

Defensores de Belgrano Club Atlético Defensores de Belgrano (usually known as Defensores de Belgrano) is an Argentine sports club from Nuñez, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in Primera Nacional, the regionalised sec ...

for the season's

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

. His league debut came on 2 March of the following year, where he played the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against

Quilmes Atlético Club Quilmes Atlético Club () is an Argentine sports club based in the Quilmes district of Greater Buenos Aires. Established in 1887 (although the date of foundation is still under dispute), Quilmes is the oldest club of Argentina still competing ...

. Pezzella scored his first professional goal on 2 September 2012, netting the last in a 1–1 draw at

Club Atlético Colón Club Atlético Colón de Santa Fe (), commonly referred to as Colón de Santa Fe , is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina. The football team plays in the First Division of the Argentine football league system, the Argentine Primera Divisió ...

. He also scored the equalizer in a 1–1 Superclásico home draw against Boca Juniors, just three minutes after coming off the bench. On 10 December 2014, Pezzella scored the last in a 2014 Copa Sudamericana

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

2–0 win against

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the oth ...

, as his side won its first international title after a 17-year absence.

Betis

On 10 July 2015, Pezzella signed a five-year contract with

, newly promoted to

. He made his debut for the club on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

Fiorentina

After a loan spell with

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

during the 2017–18 season, Pezzella signed a five-year contract with the club that runs through the end of the 2021–22 season for an €11m transfer fee. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, he was named the club's new captain.

Betis return

On 19 August 2021, Pezzella returned to Betis after signing a four-year deal.

International career

Pezzella played represented

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in 2009 Toulon Tournament. He also appeared with the side in

2011 South American U-20 Championship The 2011 South American Youth Championship ( es, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 “Juventud de America” Perú 2011, pt, Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-20 “Juventude da America” Peru 2011) was a football competition for U-20 national teams in ...

and 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, always as a starter. On 1 September 2011, Pezzella was called up to the year's Pan American Games, appearing in five matches and scoring two goals during the competition. In October 2017, he was called up to Argentina national team's squad for the first time for the

2018 World Cup qualifiers Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

on 5 October and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

on 10 October 2017. In May 2018 he was named in the Argentina national team's preliminary 35-man for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia but did not make the final 23. On 27 March 2019, he captained Argentina in a 1–0 friendly away win against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. He was included in Argentina's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and came on as a substitute in extra-time of the

as his nation won a third world title by defeating

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on penalties.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pezzella goal.''

Honours

River Plate *

Argentina Primera Division Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

: 2013–14 *

Copa Campeonato The Copa Campeonato Primera División (familiarly known as Superfinal) was an official Argentine football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association. It was played in a single match format between the Torneo Inicial and Torn ...

: 2013–14 *

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 team ...

: 2011–12 * Copa Libertadores: 2015 * Copa Sudamericana:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Recopa Sudamericana: 2015 Real Betis *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2021–22 Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

* Copa América:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions:

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Betis website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pezzella, German 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Bahía Blanca Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Association football central defenders Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Club Atlético River Plate footballers La Liga players Real Betis players Serie A players ACF Fiorentina players Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games medalists in football 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Argentina international footballers Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Copa América-winning players Copa Libertadores-winning players FIFA World Cup-winning players