Gabriel Batistuta nickname Batigol is the Argentine national
team all time second leading scorer with 56 goals in 78 appearances. Full name
is Gabriel Omer Batistuta he was born on 1 February 1969 in Argentina. His
goals for both club and country and him fame and fortune and today he spends
most of his time back home Reconquista in the province of Santa Fe if he’d been
allowed to have his way though career in football would probably never
happened. Jorge Griffa is the man to whom batty owes his career his CV is a
talent spot include Carlos Tevez and Fernando Gago amongst others but Batistuta
is by far biggest success determination eventually convinced the teenage
Gabriel to take up the game. Batistuta went to earn nickname Batigol for his
ability to find the net regularly for both club and country and thanks to
perfecting that powerful shot that was usually from outside the box. The man
who became a legend in his country blue and white stripes scored both in a 2-1 win that day which impressed free
for spies when he also perform well in a provincial youth final for a Conquista In Rosario. Khalifa
offered him a chance to join Newell’s Old Boys. So despite reluctance on his
part Batistuta finally headed four hundred and sixty kilometers south to
Rosario Argentina third city in 1988. He wasn’t joining just any club either
Newell’s were Champion of Argentina at the time and the club renowned for its
youth system. He started in a fourth team but his education soon took a back as
he progressed through the rank he made his first team debut in September 1988
and play in the final of copa which Newell’s lost but Griffa have no sympathy
for his protégé his financial worries. It wasn’t long before he was doing that
as a professional for Newell’s Batistuta began to earn himself a reputation and
opponents regarded him as the man to mark. His form soon attracted the big boys
at the Argentine game in the capital Buenos Aires and after just one season in
first team of Newell’s Batistuta a self-confessed fan of Boca juniors joined
Boca’s arch-rivals River Plate in 1989.
But initially life in a capital wasn’t pleasant because
River coach Daniel Passarella chose to leave him out of the team. He
scored 17 goals for River Plate. In 1990
Batistuta join arch-rivals Boca Juniors. Batistuta became frustrated and and he
was on the verge of returning from news until him beloved father stepped in
with an offer the rest is history. A regular running the side saw batty start
scoring again and he become a hero to Boca fanatical support. He finished top
scorer with 11 goals in 1991
championship to help Boca finish top but they loss the title in a play often
Newell’s Old Boys. We’ve won the apertura he developed an almost telephatic
understanding with Diego Latura who usually acted as provider.
Batistuta on the move to Europe and joined Fiorentina of
Italy in mid 1991 that was thanks to finishing that year’s Copa America as a
tournament ‘s top scorer for six as Argentina regained the title. That’s a understatement Batistuta became a hero scoring more than 200
goals for club and he is still Fiorentina all time leading goal scorer today.The
city of Florence is home to Fiorentina and his 26 goals during 1994-95 campaign
finished top scorer in SERIE A. He created a record by scoring in 11
consecutive games. Previously when la viola were relegated to SERIE A in 1993
everyone expected the Argentine to leave he stayed and his 16 goals the
following campaign helped FIORENTINA return to the top flight. The fans loved
him so much for his goals and outstanding loyalty that they built a life-size
statue of him sadly it no longer exists due to decay but it’s something their
beloved batty recalls with great affection. He helped Fieorentina to win the
ITALIAN CUP and SUPERCUP in 1996.
With ARGENTINA, BATISTUTA played in three WORLD CUPS on each
occasion they started as one of the favorites but football most important
tournament was never too kind to hm. His WORLD CUP adventure couldn’t have
begun better however. He scored hat-trick with Argentina’s 4-0 win against
GREECE in opening match in the United States in 1994. Romania were Argentina’s
opponents in second round BATISTUTA and CO was soon behind although batty level
the scores with his penalty , Argentina eventually went out lose by 3-2. Four
years later with Maradona now retired Argentine had travelled to France with
high hopes of success this 5-0 demolition of world cup Jamaica underline that
Batistuta helped to another hat-trick became the only player to score a hat-trick
in two different world cups. It’s a record that still stands. Batistuta was
arguably the world most prolific striker at the time and his teammates realized
how crucial he was to their hopes of capturing the trophy. Argentina met
Holland in quarter-finals it was one or after an hour we didn’t reach the
semi-finals. Yet more worldcups heartache for Batistuta courtesy of Dennis
Bergkamp in the final minute. During that world cup Batistuta was still SERIE A player but not with Fiorentina he’d
left LA viola for Roma in 2000in search of the major silverware that it’s so
far he looted him. For once luck was on Batistuta side when Roma became the
Champions of Italy in 2001. Batistuta career in Italy ended in 2003 a brief but
unsuccessful loan spell at Inter Milan helped him decide to wind down his
career with Al Arabi in Qatar he was one of several big names at that time.
There he broke the Qatari league goal
scoring records with 25 goals in just 18 games during 2003-4 season. Batistuta
eventually became one of the most feared strikers in the world.
His goals and talents never won major prizes he truly
deserved. Without doubt Gabriel Batistuta is one of the greatest strikers the
game has ever seen.
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