Eugenio Pizzuto officially announced as Lille OSC player

2019 U17 World Cup Mexican National Team Captain and Pachuca player Eugenio Pizzuto got officially announced as a new player for Lille OSC. The young star leaves on a free transfer and after only playing one Liga MX game with Pachuca. In that game, he broke his fibula and dislocated an ankle and was out for six months, but should be ready for play in the summer. Although there were rumors that he would be loaned out to a club in Belgium or Portugal, he will apparently be with the first team. Pizzuto has an European passport and will be not take a foreign spot with the French team.

Eugenio Pizzuto’s career has been very different from most Mexicans. Pizzuto’s fooball career started in New Zealand as he started playing with Wellington Phoenix’s football academy after getting a try out, but he couldn’t join the first team because of the FIFA rules against transfers of minors. Pizzuto returned to Mexico and joined Pachuca’s youth team, where he shined enough to become a mainstay with Mexico’s youth teams. Under Coach Marco Antonio “Chima” Ruiz, Pizzuto became the captain of Mexico’s U17 team and lead the team to winning the U17 Concacaf Tournament. The team went to the 2019 U17 World Cup in a tough group with Pizzuto as the captain. In their opening game, Pizzuto got a red card as Mexico tied 0-0 with Paraguay. He would miss their next game in which Mexico lost to Italy and Mexico’s tournament was in jeopardy. Luckily for them, they had the Solomon Islands and with Pizzuto back, they crushed them 8-0. After that game, Mexico shocked favorite Japan in the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win in a game where Pizzuto scored. They then defeated South Korea 1-0 in the Quarterfinals and faced a tough Netherlands team in the Semifinals. Mexico and Pizzuto came through again by winning the game in the PK shootout, with Pizzuto converting one of them. Unfortunately Mexico lost the final but still finished in second place of the World Cup. Pizzuto ended up winning the Bronze Ball and being the better player on a team that surprised everybody with their historic run. Pizzuto came back and made his first team debut in the Copa MX. Then in his Liga MX debut against Leon, he got his injury and didn’t play again with the team after the season was cancelled because of COVID-19.

Pizzuto’s move to Europe is key as he becomes another player to move to Europe from Pachuca’s youth system, although he was as much a product of Wellington Phoenix. As a Pachuca player he joins Hector Herrera, Hirving Lozano, and Erick Gutierrez in Europe and cements his position as the brightest prospect from the 2019 U17 World Cup team. Pizzuto’s success in the tournament as well as having a European passport opened the door sooner than the rest, as well as the fact he goes on a free transfer. While there were strong rumors that he would be loaned out to Boavista, the club inferred that he would stay with the first team for the 2020-2021 season. If his career is a fraction of the success of the last young Mexican to go to Ligue 1, Rafael Marquez, it would be one of the best Euro careers for a Mexican player.