Batigol!
Born
1st February 1969 in Avelleneda, Argentina (Santa Fe province), Gabriel
Batistuta grew up in nearby Reconquista.
It
was with Newell’s Old Boys that he began his pro career, before spells at
Buenos Aires giants River Plate and Boca Juniors.
His
year-long stint at La Bombonera yielded 13 goals in 30 appearances, bringing
him to the attention of several top European clubs. It was a year that put
Batistuta firmly on the map when helping Boca to the Argentine championship, as
well as standing atop the league goalscorer chart.
He
followed that up with some impressive performances for his country at the 1991
Copa América, so much so that Serie A side Fiorentina moved in to take the
striker to Italy. His six goals for tournament victors Argentina made him the
competition’s top scorer.
In
a notoriously tough place for strikers to get goals, Gabriel flourished in
Florence with 13 strikes in a successful debut season in Serie A. The following
season was a difficult campaign for La Viola, resulting in relegation to Serie B.
On a personal note, Batistuta kept the goals flowing with 16, but alas it wasn’t
enough to keep Fiorentina in the division.
The
setback of relegation made many fans and the club directors fear the departure
of their hero and this was heightened by his fine displays in Copa América ’93,
as his country stormed to the title once again.
Those
with purple hearts needn’t have worried, because their beloved club kept hold
of the player and they bounced back to Serie A at the first attempt under the tutelage
of coach Claudio Ranieri. Having stayed loyal to the Florence side, Batistuta
fired 16 goals to cement promotion back to the top-flight.
‘Batigol’
scored four goals in as many games at the 1994 World Cup but his team floundered
at the last-16 stage, amid the doping controversy surrounding Diego Maradona.
The
league season that followed was very special for Batisuta, hitting 26 goals.
His powerful physique and ball control were too hot to handle for most
defenders and he ripped even the best of them apart. His performances and goals
that season elevated the Argentine hit-man to legendary status in Florence; to
fans he was untouchable.
The
next campaign, 1995-96, heralded a trophy in the form of the Coppa Italia with
an Italian Super Cup triumph to boot. Still, ‘Batigol’ was desperate to win the
Scudetto and started to think over the possibility of a move elsewhere to help him
achieve that aim.
His
international career had taken a dip after several fall-outs with Argentina
national coach Daniel Passarella, whom Batistuta had history with from their
time together at River Plate. He was left out of many of the qualification
matches for the 1998 World Cup, but finally broke back through to take his
place at the tournament proper in France.
He
scored the second World Cup hat-trick of his career against Jamaica in the group
stages before the Argentines lost to Holland in a tense quarter-final, settled
by a last-gasp winner from Dutch master Dennis Bergkamp.
Fiorentina’s
club leaders were so concerned over losing their talisman in 1998 that they
brought in Giovanni Trapattoni as coach and pledged to do all they could to
snap up the coveted league title. The season started brilliantly, but Batistuta
suffered a month-long lay-off and the team lost its momentum as a result. The
big prize had eluded Fiorentina once more, but by way of consolation they
finished third and took up one of the Champions League spots.
After
a promising start to 1999-2000 on both domestic and European fronts, Fiorentina
fell away badly in the league to finish seventh and also faltered in the second
round of the Champions League. After 10 years at the Artemio Franchi stadium, it
was time to move on.
Roma
snapped up the highly-rated forward on a 3-year deal and it was there that
Batistuta finally realised his dream of winning Lo Scudetto. In his first season
in the Italian capital, ‘Batigol’ garnered a whole new set of fans with 20
goals to lead the club to their first title since 1983. The celebrations were
long and loud; the Roma support had found a new icon to worship.
Gabriel
told of his intention to quit the national side after the 2002 World Cup was
over and he hoped to sign off with victory in Japan/South Korea. Optimism surrounded
the squad, but they fell at the group stage. It was a mightily disappointing
end to Batistuta’s international career and one that was largely unexpected by
the majority of fans and commentators.
That
first championship-winning campaign in the Eternal City was undoubtedly the
high point of his time with Roma, as injuries began to play a big part in his
career and advancing years seemed to be catching up with him. He was loaned out
to Inter in 2003 before moving to Al-Arabi in Qatar on a megabucks contract. He
banged 24 goals in the heat of the Middle East before announcing his retirement
in 2005.
To a legion of Fiorentina fans he is a living legend, a God, a phenomenon. And, to Roma followers, he’ll be remembered as the man that brought Lo Scudetto back to their club after 18 years of hurt.
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