Gabriel Batistuta
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gabriel Omar Batistuta | ||
Date of birth | 1 February 1969 | ||
Place of birth | Avellaneda, Santa Fe, Argentina | ||
Height | Script error: No such module "person height". | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
1987–1988 | Newell's Old Boys | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1988–1989 | Newell's Old Boys | 16 | (4) |
1989–1990 | River Plate | 19 | (3) |
1990–1991 | Boca Juniors | 30 | (13) |
1991–2000 | Fiorentina | 269 | (168) |
2000–2003 | Roma | 63 | (30) |
2003 | → Internazionale (loan) | 12 | (2) |
2003–2005 | Al Arabi | 21 | (25) |
Total | 430 | (245) | |
International career | |||
1991–2002 | Argentina | 78 | (56) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Gabriel Omar Batistuta (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡaˈβɾjel ˈomaɾ βatisˈtuta]; born 1 February 1969), nicknamed Batigol [batiˈɣol] as well as El Ángel Gabriel [el ˌaŋxel ɣaˈβɾjel] (Spanish for Angel Gabriel), is a retired professional footballer. The prolific Argentine striker played most of his club football at Fiorentina in Italy,[1] and is the eleventh top scorer of all-time in the Italian Serie A league, with 184 goals in 318 matches.
At international level, he is Argentina's all-time leading goalscorer, with 56 goals in 78 matches, and he played at three World Cups. In 1999, Batistuta was third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards.[2] In 2004 he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[3] A quick, powerful player with an all-round game, good technique, clinical finishing, as well as accurate heading and free-kick taking abilities, he is known as one of the most complete and prolific strikers of his generation.[4][5] Diego Maradona stated that Batistuta is the best striker he has ever seen play the game.[6][7]
When his club Fiorentina was relegated to Serie B in 1993, Batistuta stayed with the club and helped it return to the top-flight league a year later. A popular sporting figure in Florence, the Fiorentina fans erected a life-size bronze statue of him in 1996, in recognition of his performances for Fiorentina.[8] He never won the Italian league with Fiorentina, but when he moved to Roma in 2000, he finally won the Serie A title to crown his career in Italy.[9] He played his last season in Qatar with Al-Arabi before he retired in 2005.[10]
Contents
Biography
Batistuta is of Italian ancestry.[11] Gabriel Batistuta was born on 1 February 1969, to slaughterhouse worker Omar Batistuta and school secretary Gloria Zilli, in the town of Avellaneda, province of Santa Fe, Argentina, but grew up in the near city of Reconquista. He has three younger sisters, named Elisa, Alejandra, and Gabriela.
At the age of 16, he met Irina Fernández, his future wife, at her quinceañera, a rite of passage on her 15th birthday. On 28 December 1990, they were married at Saint Roque Church. The couple moved to Florence, Italy, in 1991, and a year later their first son, Thiago, was born. Thanks to good performances in the Italian championship and with the Argentine national team, Batistuta gained fame and respect. He filmed several commercials and was invited onto numerous TV shows, but in spite of this, Batistuta always remained a low-profile family man.
In 1997, Batistuta's second son, Lucas, was born, and a third son, Joaquín, followed in 1999. He now has a fourth son Shamel. In 2000, Batistuta and his family moved to Rome, where he played for Roma. Two years after Shamel was born, Batistuta was loaned to Inter. In 2003, after 12 years in Italy, the family moved to Qatar where Batistuta had accepted a lucrative celebrity playing contract with a local team, Al-Arabi.
Batistuta ended his career at Al-Arabi, retiring in March 2005, after a series of injuries that prevented him from playing. Soon afterwards he moved to Perth, Australia. In April 2006, the city's established A-league franchise, Perth Glory was put up for sale however Batistuta was not interested in the purchase seeing no real potential in the club.[12]
After retiring he moved to Perth, Australia, but moved back to Argentina in 2007. Despite having completed his coaching badges in Argentina, he currently has no involvement with football, instead he prefers to play polo and golf, he was quoted saying 'I don't like football, it's only my job'.[13][14] Speaking in a television interview in Argentina, Batistuta said the pain suffered in his ankles after retiring in 2005 became so intense that he "urinated in bed with the toilet only a few steps away. I couldn't move." He visited a doctor he knew asking his legs be amputated, but the doctor turned down his request.[15] He expressed an interest in coaching Australia's national team and Argentina's team.[16] During the 2006 FIFA World Cup he worked as a commentator for Televisa Deportes. Batistuta currently runs his own construction company in Argentina. He also worked as technical secretary in the professional football club Colón, joining the club's staff in January 2012, and leaving at the end of the 2012–13 season.[17] Batistuta is a Roman Catholic.
Club career
Early career
As a child, Batistuta preferred other sports to football. Because of his height he played basketball, but after Argentina's victory in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, in which he was particularly impressed by the skills of Mario Kempes, he devoted himself to football. After playing with friends on the streets and in the small Grupo Alegria club, he joined the local Platense junior team. While with Platense he was selected for the Reconquista team that won the provincial championship by beating Newell's Old Boys from Rosario. His 2 goals drew the attention of the opposition team, and he signed for them in 1988.
Newell's Old Boys
Batistuta signed professional forms with Newell's Old Boys, whose coach was Marcelo Bielsa, who would later become Batistuta's coach with the Argentine national team. Things did not come easily for Batistuta during his first year with the club. He was away from home, his family, and his girlfriend Irina, sleeping in a room at the stadium, and had a weight problem that slowed him down. At the end of that year he was loaned to a smaller team, Deportivo Italiano, of Buenos Aires, with whom he participated in the Carnevale Cup in Italy, ending as top scorer with 3 goals.
River Plate
In mid-1989, Batistuta made the leap to one of Argentina's biggest clubs, River Plate, where he scored 17 goals. He was drawn out of the team by the new coach Daniel Passarella in the mid season, apparently with no specific reason, according to Gabriel they never had a dispute.[18] Passarella declared at that time "when Batistuta finds a team that be able to play to him he will be lethal" and highlighted his professionalism.[19]
Boca Juniors
In 1990, Batistuta signed for River's arch-rivals, Boca Juniors. He initially found it hard to find his best form, in part not playing in his position. However, at the beginning of 1991 Oscar Tabárez became Boca's coach, and he gave Batistuta the support and put him into his best place in the field, the centre of attack. Then Gabriel became the league's top scorer that season as Boca won the championship.[18]
Fiorentina
While playing for Argentina in the 1991 Copa América, the vice-president of Fiorentina was impressed by Batistuta's skills and signed him for the Italian club. He had a fine start in Serie A, scoring 13 goals in his debut season. However, the following season (1992–93) Fiorentina lost in the relegation battle and were demoted to Serie B, despite Batistuta's 16 league goals. The club returned to Serie A after one season in Serie B, with the contribution of 16 goals from Batistuta and the management of Claudio Ranieri.
At Fiorentina, Batistuta found his best form. He was the top scorer of the 1994–95 season with 26 goals, and he broke Ezio Pascutti's 30-year-old record by scoring in all of the first 11 matches of the season. In the 1995–96 season Fiorentina won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa. In the two-legged cup final against Atalanta, Batistuta scored a goal in each fixture as Fiorentina won 3-0 on aggregate.[20]
After his failure to win the Italian championship with Fiorentina, Batistuta started considering a transfer to a bigger team. In an effort to keep Batistuta, Fiorentina hired Giovanni Trapattoni as coach and promised to do everything to win the Scudetto. After an excellent start to the season, Batistuta suffered an injury that kept him out of action for more than a month. Losing momentum, Fiorentina lost the lead and finished the season in third place, which gave them the chance to participate in the Champions League in the following season.
Scudetto with Roma
Batistuta stayed at Fiorentina for the 1999–2000 season, tempted by the chance of winning both the Scudetto and the Champions League. After a promising start in both competitions, the team only reached seventh in the league and were eliminated in the second round group phase of the European tournament. The following season, he was transferred to Roma in a deal worth 70 billion lire[21] and signed a 3-year contract, which earned 14.8 billion Italian lire per year before tax.[22] The fee paid for Batistuta remains the highest fee ever paid for a player over the age of 30.[23]
He finally garnered a Serie A winners' medal as Roma clinched the Scudetto[24] for the first time since 1983. The following season with Roma, he changed his shirt number from 18 to 20 in reference to the number of goals he had scored during the Scudetto winning campaign. He also wore his age on the back of his Roma jersey in 2002, number 33.
Inter and Qatar
Batistuta failed to find form with Roma and was loaned out to Internazionale, scoring 2 goals in 12 matches, although he did form a considerable amount of assists within a formidable strike-partnership alongside then-rampant Christian Vieri. He sought a move to England, to play with Fulham but the deal never transpired.[25][26] Instead he departed Italy for Qatari team Al-Arabi on a free transfer, in a deal worth $8 million. In Qatar, he broke the record for most goals scored that was held by Qatari legend Mansour Muftah by scoring 25 goals.
International career
In 1991, Batistuta was selected to play for Argentina in the Copa América held in Chile, where he finished the tournament as top scorer with six goals as Argentina romped to victory.[27] In 1993, Batistuta played in his second Copa América, this time held in Ecuador, which Argentina won with Batistuta scoring both goals in a 2–1 win over Mexico in the final.
The 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, was a disappointment. After a promising start Argentina were beaten by Romania in the last 16. The morale of the team was seriously affected by Diego Maradona's doping suspension. Despite the disappointing Argentine exit, Batistuta scored four goals in as many games, including a hat-trick in their opening game against Greece.[28]
During the qualification matches for the 1998 World Cup (with former River Plate manager Daniel Passarella) Batistuta was left out of the majority of the games after falling out with the coach over team rules. The two eventually put the dispute aside and Batistuta was recalled for the tournament. In the game against Jamaica, he recorded the second hat-trick of his World Cup career, becoming the fourth player to achieve this (the others were Sándor Kocsis, Just Fontaine, and Gerd Müller) and the first to score a hat-trick in two World Cups. Argentina were knocked out of the World Cup by the Netherlands courtesy of a last minute Dennis Bergkamp winner after the two sides had held out for a 1–1 draw for almost the entire match.
After a good series of performances by Argentina in the qualification matches for the 2002 World Cup, hopes were high that the South Americans – now managed by Marcelo Bielsa – could win the trophy, and Batistuta announced that he planned to quit the national team at the end of the tournament, which Argentina aimed to win. But Argentina's "group of death" saw the team fall at the first hurdle, only managing a victory against Nigeria (Batistuta scored the match's only goal). They later fell to England 1–0 and managed a mere 1–1 tie against Sweden. This meant that the team was knocked out in the opening round for the first time since 1962.
International goals
Note: The list does not include friendly matches.
# | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 8 July 1991 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago | Venezuela | 3–0 | 1991 Copa América |
2. | |||||
3. | 10 July 1991 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago | Chile | 1–0 | |
4. | 12 July 1991 | Estadio Municipal, Concepción | Paraguay | 4–1 | |
5. | 17 July 1991 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago | Brazil | 3–2 | |
6. | 21 July 1991 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago | Colombia | 2–1 | |
7. | 16 October 1992 | King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh | Ivory Coast | 4–0 | 1992 King Fahd Cup |
8. | |||||
9. | 17 June 1993 | Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil | Bolivia | 1–0 | 1993 Copa América |
10. | 4 July 1993 | Estadio Monumental, Guayaquil | Mexico | 2–1 | |
11. | 4 July 1993 | Estadio Monumental, Guayaquil | Mexico | 2–1 | |
12. | 1 August 1993 | Estadio Nacional, Lima | Peru | 1–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
13. | 22 August 1993 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires | Peru | 2–1 | |
14. | 21 June 1994 | Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough | Greece | 4–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup |
15. | |||||
16. | |||||
17. | 3 July 1994 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena | Romania | 2–3 | |
18. | 8 January 1995 | King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh | Japan | 5–1 | 1995 King Fahd Cup |
19. | |||||
20. | 8 July 1995 | Estadio Parque Artigas, Paysandú | Bolivia | 2–1 | 1995 Copa América |
21. | 11 July 1995 | Estadio Parque Artigas, Paysandú | Chile | 4–0 | |
22. | |||||
23. | 17 July 1995 | Estadio Atilio Paiva Olivera, Rivera | Brazil | 2–2 | |
24. | 24 April 1996 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires | Bolivia | 3–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
25. | 1 September 1996 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires | Paraguay | 1–1 | |
26. | 15 December 1996 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires | Chile | 1–1 | |
27. | 14 June 1998 | Stadium Municipal, Toulouse | Japan | 1–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup |
28. | 21 June 1998 | Parc de Princes, Paris | Jamaica | 5–0 | |
29. | |||||
30. | |||||
31. | 30 June 1998 | Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne | England | 2–2 | |
32. | 29 March 2000 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires | Chile | 4–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
33. | 29 June 2000 | Estadio El Campín, Bogotá | Colombia | 3–1 | |
34. | |||||
35. | 8 October 2000 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires | Uruguay | 2–1 | |
36. | 7 October 2001 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción | Paraguay | 2–2 | |
37. | 2 June 2002 | Kashima Soccer Stadium, Ibaraki | Nigeria | 1–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | Muñeca brava | Himself | Episode 99; features a scene in which Batistuta is interviewed by Natalia Oreiro |
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | Cup[29] | Continental[30] | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Newell's | 1988–89 | 16 | 4 | — | 5 | 3 | 21 | 7 | |
River Plate | 1989–90 | 19 | 3 | — | — | 19 | 3 | ||
Boca Juniors | 1990–91 | 30 | 13 | — | 10 | 6 | 39 | 19 | |
Fiorentina | 1991–92 | 27 | 13 | 3 | 1 | — | 30 | 14 | |
1992–93 | 32 | 16 | 3 | 3 | — | 35 | 19 | ||
1993–94 | 26 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 21 | |
1994–95 | 32 | 26 | 5 | 2 | — | 37 | 28 | ||
1995–96 | 31 | 19 | 8 | 8 | — | 39 | 27 | ||
1996–97 | 32 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 42 | 19 | |
1997–98 | 31 | 21 | 5 | 3 | — | 37 | 24 | ||
1998–99 | 28 | 21 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 37 | 26 | |
1999–00 | 30 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 44 | 29 | |
Roma | 2000–01 | 28 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 21 |
2001–02 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 32 | 6 | |
2002–03 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 6 | |
Internazionale | 2002–03 | 12 | 2 | — | — | 12 | 2 | ||
Al-Arabi | 2003–04 | 18 | 25 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 25 | |
2004–05 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
Career Total | 430 | 245 | 43 | 27 | 55 | 24 | 528 | 296 |
Honours
Club
National team
Individual
- Copa América Top Scorer: 1991, 1995
- FIFA Confederations Cup Top Scorer: 1992
- Serie A Top Scorer: 1994–95
- Coppa Italia Top Scorer: 1995–96[31]
- FIFA XI: 1997, 1998[32]
- FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe: 1998[33]
- Argentine Player of the Year: 1998
- European Sports Media Team of the Year: 1998-1999
- Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 1999
- FIFA World Player of the Year: Bronze Award 1999[34]
- Qatari League Topscorer: 2004
- FIFA 100
- Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2013[35]
- Fiorentina all-time Top Scorer
- Argentina all-time Top Scorer
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Rivaldo on top of the world" FIFA.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013
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- ↑ Gabriel Batistuta History – His Fans
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Gabriel Batistuta, Bocci; Polverosi; Rialti, Io Batigol racconto Batistuta, Roma, San Marco Sport Events, 1997, p. 80.
- ↑ Batistuta linked with Perth Glory bid, TribalFootball, 22 April 2006[dead link]
- ↑ http://viejasglorias.esfutbol.es/docs/El-futbol-no-me-gusta-solo-es-mi-trabajo-400.html
- ↑ https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/early-doors/footballers-don-t-football-193946.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Argentine great keen to coach Socceroos
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Hablemos de Futbol", ESPN +, 2005-06-25 Hosters Victor Hugo Morales and Roberto Perfumo, guests Gabriel Batistuta and Diego Maradona, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PerOS8-0e-4
- ↑ "El Gráfico" Special Edition n. 61, 1990, May, page 52.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/04/most-clubs-paid-player-in-30s
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- ↑ Includes Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana, and Emir of Qatar Cup.
- ↑ Includes Copa Libertadores, Anglo-Italian Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info
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External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Gabriel Batistuta |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Gabriel Batistuta – official website
- International statistics at rsssf
- Gabriel Batistuta at National-Football-Teams.comLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Midfield Dynamo's 10 Heroes of the Copa América Batistuta listed in the top 10
- Gabriel Batistuta – Photo profile
- Futbol Factory profile at the Wayback Machine (archived October 20, 2007) (Spanish)
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Awards and achievements | ||
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Preceded by | Qatar League Top Scorer 2004 |
Succeeded by Sonny Anderson |
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