Gabriel BATISTUTA
Many years have elapsed, with two Cups and 150 goals. Batigol now has shorter hair and two sons to gladden his free time but jersey and will are still the same. After a summer that risked to make him change both, the cyclone Batistuta returned to blow on the italian championship.
"I don't want to make any prevision because nothing causes more bad luck than predicting how many goals one is going to score. I certainly have a crazy desire to keep on having fun doing my best on the field. In a few weeks I freed myself from the bitternesses and the doubts of this summer.This group, the enthusiasm that developed around the team, the extraordinary commitment of coach Malesani, gave me back confidence in Fiorentina. I can't say how far we can get but I'm sure we are going to have fun together."
— Batistuta has already scored 150 goals with Fiorentina:
"It's difficult to pick the best one, but the one I scored versus Juventus, during my first italian season, was a very sweet one, because I immediately realized how important it was for the fans and because that goal came after a few weeks of abstinence which pushed many people to doubt about my qualities."
— There have been many bright periods but also a few moments to forget during his italian experience, like the relegation of Fiorentina in Serie B.
"It was an unbelieveable end after a wonderful first half of the season. However also that experience helped us and the fans to mature. Personally the biggest disappointment was not being able to play the second semifinal game of the Cup of the Cups versus Barcelona. If I think that I was disqualified for a foul I didn't even commit..... . That was the same yellow card which was given West, a few weeks ago, after that bad foul on Kanchelskis; a foul that could cost his career. Things like these are very difficult to understand and my experience doesn't help me to make them clearer."
— Did you think you would win more when you just arrived at Firenze?
"Honestly if you arrive from Boca Juniors or River Plate you always expect to win something, but since I'm here just Juventus and Milan won at least one championship. For this reason I think the italian Cup and the Supercup we won have a great value. We won the first one overcoming Inter in the semifinal and the second one, on the road, over Milan that wasn't in crisis yet....because with my friend Tabarez they were better than with Sacchi and Capello. However last season was a very disappointing one."
— What after-effects you have to deal with after the disappointments of last spring?
"Someone tried to encourage me saying I whatever scored about 20 goals between Championship and Cup, which is true but, in short, I didn't win anything, and I still have to digest "that" yellow card."
— In a few months there will be the World Championship and Passarella, after letting you rest for many months, claimed that you are the only argentine player sure to go in France!
"There is still time to make this kind of talk. This season is important for me because I want to prove that Batistuta can still make big things on the italian football fields. Obviously the World Championship is the best for a football player. I played one in U.S. but in spite of an hat-trick in the first game, versus Greece, it didn't go the way I wanted to. If Passarella really will count on me in France, I will try to do my best to help Argentina, but I repeat, the World Championship is still far, and before it, there are many important games to play with Fiorentina."
— This is your 7th year in Firenze, what have the people and the teammates given you over these seven seasons?
"These fans are special, they have a very delicate palate and are very demanding. They have always been affectionate and have never contested me, even during the difficult moments. Instead I had some problems inside the locker-room when I was just arrived. I must say that I wasn't helped by all my new teammates (Branca and Borgonovo, for exemple). I also remember that answering an interview I claimed that Latorre, a teammate of mine in Boca and just signed by Fiorentina, was ready to play in Italy with me. Someone misunderstood my words and got angry with me. For exemple Massimo Orlando who then became one of my best friends. Another friend of mine is Beppe Iachini, who's got a huge heart, on and off the field. Everytime is possible I still go about with him, our wives are very tied.....instead of retiring he still plays......I'm just joking . If Venezia started so well this season he's got a big part of merit. He never quits, even when he has to face serious injuries. He really has a lot to teach to young players."
— Talking about youngsters, what can you say about Thiago and Lucas (your sons)?
"Thiago is a very quiet and sensitive child. He is very reflecting but when he sees a ball he gets loose. Lucas is still too young. He is just one and half years old. He is a dreadful plump child who only thinks to eat and to make a hubbub. There will be time for football but I won't push them to become professional players. When my career will be over I would like to retire with my family in our fazenda of Reconquista, spending time eating many "asados" (the argentine grilled meat), hunting and fishing along the Parana' river with our friends and drinking much "mate" (an hot infusion of herbs to drink inside a little depleted pumpkin, by a metallic straw to share among the drinkers in conformity with the indian tradition.); with just one warning for his wife Irina and for Tany, the housemaid: don't put any sugar in Gabriel's "mate", if you don't want to see him to get more angry than when he misses a goal".
JUST GOALS AND FAMILY
7 years of Italy pushed argentine journalists to say that he seems more and more a "tano" (the way Italians are called in his country). If you listen to him you realize he even lost the "che"(the typical accent which gave Guevara his famous nickname).
Gabriel and Italy, Gabriel and Firenze, a nice story rich in goals, Cups, smiles, and also a few misunderstandings :
"All the mess which happened this summer convinced someone I wasn't the same anymore, but I just took a few games to make theme swallow their own words. However I realize they are always in ambush, ready to criticize me as soon as possible; I know italian football, it takes just a few games without goals to start a contestation. Last year they even began to say terrible things about my family, which to me is not fair. I understand if they criticize me as a player when I don't play well, but I don't agree if they attack me as a man. I just can't allow it, because it risks to ruin my family's happiness which is the most important thing of my life."
As a matter of fact Gabriel summoned a press conference in Firenze to hiss all that chattering going on around him. Since then everything has been settled and people understood what kind of stuff Batistuta is made of: an Archangel on the field who is not afraid of raising his voice if touched to the quick.
From chattering to market rumours: "Summer destinations were many and charming: Barcelona, Real and Atletico Madrid, Manchester and Inter. However I'm still here with Fiorentina and at most I'll change my house.Irina found another one in the hills which is bigger, more quiet and with a swimming pool. The one where we have been living so far is close to the stadium and we are very affectionate to it because Lucas was born and Thiago has grown up here. On the other hand, now, too many people know that we live here and since we don't like to be always in the spotlight I decided to move and focus on something else." Something else like scoring goals, something he has always been succesful in:"those who keep statistics say I scored more than 200 hundred goals, but I think I scored at least one thousand, because I like each goal, even those I score while training."
At home, among his children's many videotapes of Walt Disney, Gabriel keeps two valuable pieces: "Boca 91", a video made by the argentine magazine "El Grafico", that features the achievements of the great team in which Bati played with Latorre. The other one is "The charge of 101", a videotape made by the italian tv show "italia1 sport" after his 100th goal with Fiorentina. Paradoxally football is a taboo subject for his wife Irina who just sometimes goes to the stadium to see her husband. Batistuta himself claims :" I don't like to watch football on tv either, especially when I happen to see the european Cups, and I feel I should be there running and fighting to win. So I get angry and turn the tv off."
Off the field Batistuta is a loving father who spends much time playing with Thiago, who is almost 6, and who's got a smart look and an unusual intelligence for a child of his age. "We use to play epic games on our balcony. He closes his eyes and shoots, like I used to do at the beginning af my career."Those people who use to drive along Via Volta often happened to see, in the middle of the street, a guy, who looks exactly like Batistuta, following a ball, fallen down from a balcony. Weird but true, that guy is really Batistuta in person." Also Lucas gives me much satisfaction. He eats very much and then needs to expend all his energy. He is an earthquake. Irina and Tany have their hands full to keep him under control."
To be completely happy, now, Batistuta just needs Selene. " I'm winning 2-0 so far ", Irina says with a sweet smile, " I prefer baby-boys, but Gabriel wants also a little girl. We'll see in the future."
The professional future has a fixed deadline: the10th of june the World Cup will start and Batistuta doesn't want to miss it. Lately Passarella has often left him at home but also said that Gabriel is the only one sure to play in France. Gabriel listened to these words but doesn't trust them completely. "Passarella knows me and Balbo very well. I appreciated his words but there are still a few months to go and football must be lived day after day."
Running to one hundred goals with Fiorentina and 50 with Argentine, Batistuta runs toward a story which allowed him to step up from the streets of Reconquista, where he used to play when he was just 16, and to lick the numbers of Maradona. "It's unbelieveable to think I scored more goals than Diego, both in Italy and with Argentine. However between me and Diego there's a big difference: I'm paid just to score many goals, whereas Diego was requested to make a pure, true show, scoring, heeling, assisting and more. He was requested to add salt to football." Meanwhile Batistuta makes football "spicier".
I GOL DI BATISTUTA NEL CAMPIONATO ITALIANO
(STAGIONE, AVVERSARIO)
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I gol di Batistuta in Nazionale
(DATA, COMPETIZIONE, SQUADRA, PARTITA, RISULTATO, RETI)
| 8-7-1991 | Coppa America Santiago del Cile | Argentina-Venezuela | 3-0 | 2 | (1 r.) |
| 10-7-1991 | Coppa America Santiago del Cile | Cile-Argentina | 0-1 | 1 | |
| 12-7-1911 | Coppa America Concepcion (Cile) | Argentina-Paraguay | 4-1 | 1 | |
| 17-7-1991 | Coppa America Santiago del Cile | Argentina-Brasile | 3-2 | 1 | |
| 21-7-1991 | Coppa America Santiago del Cile | Argentina-Colombia | 2-1 | 1 | |
| 31-5-1992 | Amichevole Tokyo (Giappone) | Giappone-Argentina | 0-1 | 1 | |
| 3-6-1992 | Amichevole Gifu (Giappone) | Argentina-Galles | 1-0 | 1 | |
| 18-6-1992 | Amichevole Buenos Aires (Arg) | Argentina-Australia | 2-0 | 2 | |
| 16-10-1993 | Amichevole Riahd (Arabia S.) | Argentina-Costa d’Avorio | 4-0 | 2 | |
| 17-6-1993 | Coppa America Guayaquil (Ecuador) | Argentina-Bolivia | 1-0 | 1 | |
| 4-7-1993 | CCoppa America Guayaquil (Ecuador) | Argentina-Messico | 2-1 | 2 | |
| 1-8-1993 | Qual. Mondiali Lima (Perù) | Perù-Argentina | 0-1 | 1 | |
| 22-8-1993 | Qual. Mondiali Buenos Aires (Arg.) | Argentina-Perù | 2-1 | 1 | |
| 17-11-1993 | Spareggio Buenos Aires (Arg.) | Argentina-Australia | 1-0 | 1 | |
| 31-5-1994 | Amichevole Tel Aviv (Israele) | Israele-Argentina | 0-3 | 2 | |
| 21-6-1994 | Mondiale Boston (USA) | Argentina-Grecia | 4-0 | 3 | (1 r.) |
| 3-7-1994 | Mondiale Pasadena (USA) | Argentina-Romania | 2-3 | 1 | (r.) |
| 8-1-1995 | Amichevole Riahd (Arabia S.) | Argentina-Giappone | 5-1 | 2 | (1 r.) |
| 22-6-1995 | Amichevole Mendoza (Arg) | Argentina-Slovacchia | 6-0 | 2 | |
| 30-6-1995 | Amichevole Buenos Aires (Arg) | Argentina-Australia | 2-0 | 1 | |
| 8-7-1995 | Coppa America Paysandù (Uruguay) | Argentina-Bolivia | 2-1 | 1 | |
| 11-7-1995 | Coppa America Paysandù (Uruguay) | Argentina-Cile | 4-0 | 2 | |
| 17-7-1995 | Coppa America Rivera (Uruguay) | Argentina-Brasile | 2-2 | 1 | |
| 24-4-1996 | Qual. Mondiali Buenos Aires (Arg) | Argentina-Bolivia | 3-1 | 1 | |
| 1-9-1996 | Qual. Mondiali Buenos Aires (Arg) | Argentina-Paraguay | 1-1 | 1 | |
| 15-12-1996 | Qual. Mondiali Buenos Aires (Arg) | Argentina-Cile | 1-1 | 1 | (r.) |
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