Gabriel Omar Batistuta or better known as Gabriel Batistuta is one of the best attackers Argentina has ever had.
He was called the greatest goal machine ever played for the Tango team. If you look among the Argentine football legends, Batistuta has the most superior figure.
In 78 appearances with Team Tango, Batistuta managed to score 56 goals. While Hernan Crespo was only able to score 35 goals from 64 appearances. Even the football goddess, Diego Maradona, only managed to score 34 goals in 91 matches.
Batistuta was born on February 1, 1969, in Avellaneda, Argentina. Since he was a child, Batistuta has become a kid who likes to do unusual hobbies. He likes riding and doing various acrobatic movements.
Little Batistuta did not show too much interest in sports. He put more interests in his academics such as science. He was inspired to become a doctor, not a sportsman, even a footballer.
Once upon a time, Batistuta began to show interest in sports. Instead of football, he preferred to play basketball. He often spent time on it.
Until finally, the 1978 World Cup gave a desire to Batistuta to play football. He said that he wanted to defend Argentina to win the World Cup trophy.
He started practicing and joined the local team.
Showing a nice performance, Batistuta joined several well-known Argentine teams, such as River Plate and Boca Juniors.
Continuing his adventure to Europe, Batistuta joined the Italian Serie-A club, Fiorentina. Along with La Viola, Batistuta managed to become a popular idol of Florence.
He really became a legend of the club with his various brilliant achievements. At that time, this 185 cm man had scored 207 goals in 333 appearances with Fiorentina.
This attacker who got nicknamed as the Batigol, always showed a savage appearance, making all opponents flinch every time they compete against the team he was defending.
After failing to achieve his dream of winning the Scudetto with Fiorentina, Batistuta decided to leave and join AS Roma in 2000. The transfer fee of this striker reached 36.2 million euros.
In his first season with Roma, Batistuta succeeded in realizing his dream by bringing the Giallorossi to win the Serie-A for the first time since 1983. But in his final year in Rome which was in 2003, Batistuta was moved to Inter Milan before finally joining Al-Arabi.
At Al Arabi, Batistuta broke the record for creating the most goals in which he managed to score 25 goals in a season. The previous record was held by Qatar legend, Mansour Muftah.
After retiring and leaving from the football world, Batistuta showed up again along with his sad story. He revealed that he had wanted to amputate his leg after retiring in 2005.
The ankle problems that he experienced had made him unable to walk and had to use painkillers. This pain had ever made him asked the doctor to amputate his leg.
“I left football and couldn’t walk. I once told the doctor to cut my leg. I really could not stand the pain,”
“I have a serious problem with my ankle. An artificial joint was installed to help me. My mobility is getting worse, but fortunately, I no longer feel much pain,”
Fortunately, the doctor did not grant Batigol’s wishes and asked him not to give up on his treatment.
Batigol also admitted that what he felt then was because he used to force himself to play.
After leaving the football world for good, Batistuta had moved to Australia and eventually returned to Argentina in 2007. He was busy with several horses he cared for.
Besides that, Batistuta also often spends time playing golf. When he was asked why he did not want to be a football coach, Batistuta answered,
“I don’t like soccer, it’s just my job.”
