Germán Alejo Pezzella (Spanish pronunciation: [xeɾˈman aˈlexo peˈsela]; born 27 June 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Argentine Primera División club River Plate and the Argentina national team, with whom he won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
After impressing with the former's reserves he was called up to the pre-season in Canada, appearing in friendlies against Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Everton.[3]
Upon being an unused substitute in a goalless away draw against Club Atlético Huracán on 18 October 2009, Pezzella made his senior debut on 7 December 2011, starting in a 1–0 home victory against Defensores de Belgrano for the season's Copa Argentina.[4] 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.[5]
Pezzella scored his first professional goal on 2 September 2012, netting the last in a 1–1 draw at Club Atlético Colón.[6] He also scored the equalizer in a 1–1 Superclásico home draw against Boca Juniors, just three minutes after coming off the bench.[7]
On 10 December 2014, Pezzella scored the last in a 2014 Copa Sudamericana final 2–0 win against Atlético Nacional, as his side won its first international title after a 17-year absence.[8]
On 10 July 2015, Pezzella signed a five-year contract with Real Betis, newly promoted to La Liga.[9] He made his debut for the club on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Villarreal CF.[10]
After a loan spell with Serie A club Fiorentina 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.[11] Ahead of the 2018–19 season, he was named the club's new captain.[12] On 19 August 2021, Pezzella returned to Betis after signing a four-year deal.[13]
On 5 August 2024, Pezzella returned to River Plate after nine years abroad.[14]
On 1 September 2011, Pezzella was called up to that year's Pan American Games,[15]
In October 2017, Pezzella received his first call-up to Argentina national team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification against Peru, respectively the same year on 5 October and Ecuador 10 October.[16] On 11 November, he debuted in a 1–0 friendly draw against Russia.[17] In May 2018, Pezzella was named in the Argentina national team's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but did not make the final 23.[18]
On 27 March 2019, Pezzella served as captain of Argentina in an away 1–0 friendly win against Morocco.[19] He was included in Argentina's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, coming on as a substitute in extra-time of the final as his country won a third world title by defeating France on penalties.[20][21]
In June 2024, Pezzella was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 26-man Argentina squad for the 2024 Copa América.[22]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| River Plate | 2011–12 | Primera B | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Argentine Primera División | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 1 | |||
| 2013–14 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[b] | 0 | 1[c] | 1 | 21 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8[b] | 2 | – | 20 | 3 | |||
| 2015 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 13 | 1 | ||
| Total | 43 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 65 | 6 | ||
| Real Betis | 2015–16 | La Liga | 25 | 3 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 4 | ||
| 2016–17 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 61 | 4 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 66 | 5 | ||||
| Fiorentina (loan) | 2017–18 | Serie A | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 1 | ||
| Fiorentina | 2018–19 | Serie A | 32 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 3 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 1 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 97 | 6 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 103 | 6 | ||||
| Real Betis | 2021–22 | La Liga | 23 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7[f] | 0 | – | 34 | 1 | |
| 2022–23 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[f] | 0 | 1[g] | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7[h] | 0 | – | 40 | 1 | |||
| Total | 86 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 113 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 320 | 16 | 26 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 382 | 19 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2017 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 October 2018 | Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |  Iraq |
3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 13 October 2019 | Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, Alicante, Spain |  Ecuador |
4–1 | 6–1 | |
| 3 | 15 June 2023 | Workers' Stadium, Beijing, China |  Australia |
2–0 | 2–0 |
River Plate
Real Betis
Argentina
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
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