Former manager Matarazzo gushes about Dortmund striker Guirassy after brace against Monterrey

Former Stuttgart manager Pellegrino Matarazzo has described Guinea international Serhou Guirassy as a humble player who is extremely ambitious after his brace enabled Borussia Dortmund to advance to a massive FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal showdown with Real Madrid.

In the Round of 16 fixture at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, two clinical first half strikes from Guirassy were enough to hand the Bundesliga giants a 2-1 victory against Monterrey. Dortmund took the lead in the 14th minute when Karim Adeyemi set up Guirassy, who easily slotted his strike inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.

Ten minutes later, Adeyemi set up Guirassy again on a quick counter-attack sparked by Julian Ryerson. Adeyemi broke free and ended his run by sliding a square ball to Guirassy, whose first-time finish made it 2-0 Dortmund.

Speaking after the game, Matarazzo, who handled Guirassy at Stuttgart said: “I love this kid, he is a complete forward, he can do everything, and on top of that he is a great kid, a very humble background, very quiet, keeps to himself, and on the pitch, he is extremely ambitious, one of those guys, who just wants to win, I am pleased to have worked with him.”

Meanwhile, former Colombia international Juan Pablo Angel labelled Guirassy as an extraordinary player, who apart from being a forward and loves to score, offers different things to the Dortmund team.

“He is an extraordinary player, he is much more about the goals, his movement, his movement of the ball, his finishing is special, he is intelligent to see the play, sometimes he makes up the space to link up with the ball, and sometimes he drops to the middle,” said the 49-year-old, who also played for Aston Villa in the Premier League.

“You see at times when Borussia wasn’t having a good time, how upset he was, because he could tell the play needed to be different, or faster, or move the ball to the other side of play, but he is a very intelligent player, he is not only a forward, who can score goals, but he is a forward, who offers different things.

“He is good in the air, very good technique, very good vision, he has the ability to exchange passes.”

Guirassy will hope to keep his scoring boots on when the German giants face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals on July 5 at MetLife Stadium in New York City.