{"id":592801,"date":"2026-04-19T01:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T01:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/592801\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T01:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T01:42:07","slug":"real-sociedads-copa-win-gives-matarazzo-u-s-coaching-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/592801\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Sociedad’s Copa win gives Matarazzo U.S. coaching history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pellegrino Matarazzo hailed Real Sociedad<\/a>‘s “unbelievable journey” since taking charge earlier this season after his team beat Atl\u00e9tico Madrid<\/a> on penalties to lift Spain<\/a>‘s Copa del Rey<\/a>, making Matarazzo the first U.S.-born coach to win a trophy in Europe’s “big five” leagues.<\/p>\n

La Real went ahead inside 14 seconds in Seville on Saturday through Ander Barrenetxea<\/a>‘s header — the fastest-ever goal in a Cope del Rey final — before Ademola Lookman<\/a> levelled for Atl\u00e9tico.<\/p>\n

– Sociedad upset Atleti on pens to win Copa del Rey<\/a><\/p>\n

Matarazzo’s team went back in front with Mikel Oyarzabal<\/a>‘s penalty before Juli\u00e1n \u00c1lvarez<\/a> made it 2-2 in the 83rd minute, forcing extra time and then a penalty shootout.<\/p>\n

New Jersey-born Matarazzo — who previously coached Stuttgart and Hoffenheim in Germany — took charge of Real Sociedad as they struggled last December and has lifted them to seventh in LaLiga, and now a major trophy.<\/p>\n

“It’s just the daily work, and the commitment that we all have for this team, and that’s everyone involved,” Matarazzo said in his news conference. “It’s been an unbelievable journey, but my feeling is it’s just the beginning.<\/p>\n

Pellegrino Matarazzo celebrates with defender Duje Caleta-Car after Real Sociedad’s victory in the Copa del Rey final.\u00a0Jose Breton\/Pics Action\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

“You visualize success, and you trust your players, but until you cross the line you don’t feel it. With that penalty I took a few moments to realize it, and it was pure joy for our players and staff.”<\/p>\n

Ten of the players who featured for La Real in the cup final were homegrown academy products, including two of the heroes in the shootout, goalkeeper Unai Marrero<\/a> — who saved from Alexander S\u00f8rloth<\/a> and \u00c1lvarez — and the scorer of the decisive kick, Pablo Mar\u00edn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The identity of this club is developing young talents into the first team,” Matarazzo said. “We have a lot of talents, leaders, experienced players and talents that are growing every week, like Jon [Mart\u00edn], Pablo [Mar\u00edn], a lot of young players. That’s a part of this club and its history.”<\/p>\n

“I still can’t believe it,” Marrero — La Real’s reserve keeper, selected by Matarazzo for the Copa del Rey run — told Movistar. “This is a dream for me … The boss [Matarazzo] chooses who plays. I’m just happy to play for this badge.”<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico now turn their attention to the Champions League, where they will face Arsenal<\/a> in their semifinal first leg later this month.<\/p>\n

“The team did everything to win the game,” captain Koke<\/a> said. “It hurts, but we have to keep going.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if it’s fair or not, it is what it is. Being clinical, penalties … We tried, it wasn’t to be. We have a beautiful challenge to come. We want the Champions League, and we’ll do everything possible to win it. But this is a sad night.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pellegrino Matarazzo hailed Real Sociedad‘s “unbelievable journey” since taking charge earlier this season after his team beat Atl\u00e9tico…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-592801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}