DOB – 29 May 1970
Age – 41
Place of birth – Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Nationality – Italian
Position/Squad Number – Assistant First Team Coach
Family
Di Matteo currently lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He is married to a South-West London lady who he married two years ago.
Early Days
As a midfielder, Roberto 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 due to injury problems.
Di Matteo is best remembered at Stamford Bridge for his FA Cup final goals of 1997 and 2000, the first of which set a Wembley record for the earliest in a final after just 43 seconds.
His passing ability and accurate long-distance shooting saw him become one of the driving forces of Chelsea’s resurgence in the late 1990s. He contributed nine goals in his first season. In his six years at Chelsea, he made 175 appearances and scored 26 goals.
Awards/Key Moments
- Premier League Manager of the Month: September 2010
- Selected in the squad of Chelsea’s greatest ever XI
- Former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri handed Roberto the honour of leading the Chelsea team out in the 2002 FA Cup Final.
- Football League Championship Promotion: 2009-10 (Runners-up)
Managed Clubs
2008-2009 – Milton Keynes Dons
2009-2011 – West Bromwich Albion
2011 – Chelsea (Assistant)
Quotes from Roberto
“It happened so suddenly … I went into depression”
“André is a clever boy.”
“Every day I become a bit more of a support mechanism to the manager. But ours has been a very natural relationship. We understood each other straight away, and our football ideologies are the same. It feels like we have known each other for 30 years.”
What the fans say…
@fucte82 – “Calm, Cool, Collective Player/Manager”
@PAllen9291 – “Why describe in five words when one will do – LEGEND“
By Clare Smith
Twitter @chelsea4girls