Football Icons: Part 7 - Gabriel Batistuta

By David Lee Wheatley

Batigol!

Born 1^st 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.

Follow me on Twitter: @davewh1980

Move over Vilanova

By David Lee Wheatley

Is it ta-ta to Tito?

Not since the days of the early 2000s has a Barcelona side looked so inept in a high-profile fixture, with German opponents Bayern sweeping them aside emphatically in Munich last night.

A defeat of this magnitude has been coming, considering the poor first-leg performance in Milan at the last-16 stage of the Champions League, closely followed by two largely uninspiring performances against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals (not to mention the group stage loss away to Celtic). A 30-minute cameo from half-fit superstar Lionel Messi in the second-leg of the tie with PSG was all that separated the sides, as Barcelona narrowly squeezed through to the last four.

Without doubt, the disruption caused by Tito Vilanova’s illness and absence during the season will have been a distraction to the players and perhaps a lack of direction has set in within the camp. Jordi Roura kept things ticking over in La Liga and they stand on the verge of sealing the league title after surrendering it to great rivals Real Madrid last campaign. However, it’s at the top table of European football where they’ve failed to reach the heights of old and it brings about the suggestion that the golden era for this crop of Barca stars is over.

In previous seasons, the likes of Xavi and Iniesta were as influential as the diminutive Messi, but it seems they’ve become over-reliant on the Argentine genius, the team looking a pale shadow of Guardiola’s Barcelona when Messi’s either unavailable for selection or not fully fit like yesterday evening. The question surrounding former assistant coach Vilanova has to be asked, is he the right man to take Barcelona forward?

Since 2003, with the arrival of Ronaldinho and the start of young president Joan Laporta’s plan to put Barcelona at the top of the tree once again, the Camp Nou club have been dominant at home and in Europe. First Frank Rijkaard, then former captain Pep Guardiola led a Barca revival that culminated in becoming the world’s greatest and most-admired team. There is no doubting they’ve taken backward steps since last summer and last night the powerhouse that is Bayern were far too strong, agile, powerful and brutally effective against their illustrious foes.

Perhaps Tito Vilanova is best suited to his former role of assistant coach, as the head coach at such a big club has to be able to cajole and cuddle his players when needed, but must also possess a ruthless streak ready to be broken out of his locker when the situation requires it. I don’t know Vilanova personally, but I get the feeling from his demeanour that he is far too mild-mannered to bring about a change in the direction the team is headed; I simply can’t see him being able to motivate and inspire his players when the going gets tough.

The achievement of winning back the La Liga crown will give Vilanova a satisfied feeling, especially as Barcelona have run away with the title in all honesty. However, maybe it’s time for a head coach with significant experience of European football to come in and take the reins in time for next season.

Twitter: @davewh1980

Bayern just Götze have Mario

By David Lee Wheatley

Dortmund star on route to Munich

It was announced today that Bayern Munich have clinched the surprise signing of Borussia Dortmund starlet Mario Götze for £32m (37m euros), a record fee for a German player, eclipsing the amount paid by Bayern for striker Mario Gomez.

There’s been much speculation surrounding the future of the attacking midfielder/winger for quite some time, but it was widely expected that he’d see out at least another season in Dortmund colours after this current campaign.

All that changed immediately after his club’s advancement over Malaga in the last round of the Champions League, according to Borussia head coach Jürgen Klopp, who says he knew of the intention to make the move to Munich happen only the day after the victory over the Andalucians.

The Bavarian giants put forward an offer that triggered the minimum release clause in Götze’s contract and, despite strong reservations from Dortmund about letting him go to a major rival, the player and his advisors were well within their rights to agree to a move to any club that met the required amount of money that the clause stipulated.

The young midfield player made his full debut at Borussia as a 17-year-old and has twice lifted the Bundesliga title with the club he joined aged eight. Now, this season’s runaway German league champions from Munich have pounced for a player regarded as one of the most special talents in Europe.

With Bayern preparing the nest for their new coach Pep Guardiola’s arrival in the summer, the club’s hierarchy envisaged Götze as an ideal addition to an already impressive squad. It’s a tactic regularly used in the past by Bayern to improve their own squad while weakening those of their closest rivals and creating a super-team of sorts by cherry-picking top German talent; they’ve certainly captured one of the very best in the form of Götze.

Guardiola will no doubt be very pleased with Bayern’s acquisition of the German international, but Borussia probably less so (!), especially considering the Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid is on the horizon.

It remains to be seen whether the sensational move has any impact on Dortmund’s preparations or the player himself when Ronaldo and company roll into town.

 

Twitter: @davewh1980

Manchester United set for title

By David Lee Wheatley

Standing in the Hall of Fame?

Through the various eras of Alex Ferguson's reign as Manchester United manager there's been many great players under his leadership, leading to many questioning just how good the current crop really are.

To say that the players aren't good enough to be classed as worthy champions would be a grossly unfair assessment of a team comfortably in control of the Premier League ahead of illustrious rivals such as Manchester City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea.

Despite the odd setback, including a home loss in the recent derby with Manchester City, we've seen a largely consistent and efficient side sweeping most opponents aside in their quest for the league title.

There's no doubt that United are missing an icon a la Cantona, Keane or Beckham, but they still possess an array of talent within their ranks and to simply dismiss this season's league leaders as ordinary would be well wide of the mark.

A side boasting superbly talented individuals such as Robin van Persie, Michael Carrick, Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Nani and even the ageing Giggs, Scholes and Ferdinand, cannot be simply discounted from the list of great sides Ferguson has put together over the years.

It's a team that were unfortunate not to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League and having been better than all those around them up to this late stage of the league campaign, they must be classed as a top side.

I can understand the need for another leader in the engine room, or an iconic forward with magic in his feet up front, but there's no doubting the quality within the United ranks in my opinion.

If the Red Devils triumph over Aston Villa this evening, it will deliver the Premier League crown to Old Trafford once again and there'll be very few United fans even remotely concerned at the perceived lack of superstar names on their team-sheet, as they celebrate regaining the league title from arch-rivals Manchester City.

It's been a tough time for those connected with United since losing their grip on the league crown to their nearest and dearest; it'd be a hugely significant response to the doubters should they complete their pursuit of the championship tonight.

Follow me on Twitter for more sport, travel & music: @davewh1980