Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo (born 29 May 1970), is a Swiss-born Italian former professional footballer and the current Assistant First Team Coach of Chelsea. As a midfielder, he enjoyed spells at Schaffhausen, Zürich Aarau, Lazio, and Chelsea. He was capped by Italy 34 times, scoring two goals for the Italian national team, and played for them in the Euro 1996 and 1998 World Cup. He retired as a player in February 2002 at the age of 31 through injury problems.

Club career

Switzerland and Italy

Born in Switzerland to Italian parents, Di Matteo began his career with Swiss club Schaffhausen, before joining Zürich in 1991 and 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 on a free transfer. 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 coach Zdeněk Zeman over a defensive error which resulted in a loss to Internazionale, ended his career with the club. As a result he was signed by Ruud Gullit for English side Chelsea for a then club record fee of £4.9 million.

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...
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