 Name:
Gabriel Omar Batistuta
Nationality: Argentinean
Date of birth: 1 February 1969
Height: 1.85m
Weight: 73kg
FIFA World Cup™ finals: 1994, 1998
Games played in FIFA World Cup™ finals: 9
Clubs: Newell's Old Boys, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Fiorentina,
AS Roma
Even far from his native Argentinean shores, Gabriel Omar Batistuta –
or "Batigol" for short – is recognised as one of the world's
greatest strikers. And yet his career began surprisingly late in life. Born
on 1 February, 1969, it wasn't until he reached the age of 17 that he switched
from basketball to football. Yet only two years later, aged 19, he won the
South American club championship – the Copa Libertadores - in his very
first season at Argentinean club Newell's Old Boys.
A year later he moved to Buenos Aires and River Plate, with whom he won
his first Argentinean championship in 1990. But his time there would prove
short, and he abandoned them for local rivals Boca Juniors after just one
season. At Boca Juniors he quickly earned himself a reputation as a goal-hungry
striker, and won his first international cap in 1991. He finished top scorer
at the 1991 Copa America, notching up no less than six goals in the competition,
which Argentina won for the first time in 32 years.
Soon after the 1991 Copa Libertadores, Batistuta moved to Italy, joining
Serie A side Fiorentina. Although he took time settling in during his
first season at his new club, he was back to his best again in 1992, scoring
27 goals in 13 games. When Fiorentina were relegated in the 1992-3 season,
Batistuta's contract tied him to the club as it languished in the Italian
second division. But in the very first year after the side was promoted
again, Batistuta became the Serie A's top scorer, with 26 goals to his
name.
Batistuta was a pivotal force in the Argentinean national squad at the
1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups™, scoring five goals at France 98™
alone. But although he was showered by offers from top clubs across Europe,
he remained in Florence for another two years.
It was only in May 2000, after nine years in Tuscany, that AS Roma were
able to prise Batistuta away for the princely sum of £22 million,
the second-largest transfer fee in football history at the time. Just
a year after the move, his new club won the Serie A for the first time
since 1983, with Batistuta notching up 20 goals.
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