Hugo Gatti

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Hugo Gatti
Personal information
Full name Hugo Orlando Gatti
Date of birth 19 August 1944
Place of birth Carlos Tejedor, Argentina
Nickname "El loco"
Position Goalkeeper
Youth clubs
1960-1961 Atlanta
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
1962-1963
1964-1968
1969-1974
1975
1976-1988		 Atlanta
River Plate
Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
Unión Santa Fe
Boca Juniors		 30 (0)
77 (0)
224 (0)
45 (0)
381 (0)
National team**
1967-1977 Argentina 18 (0)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of October 13, 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of October 13, 2006.

Hugo Orlando Gatti (born August 19, 1944) is a former Argentine professional football goalkeeper who played in the Argentine First Division for 26 seasons[1] and set a record of 765 appearances. He won three national championships, two Copa Libertadores tournaments, and one Intercontinental Cup with Boca Juniors, and played professionally until the age of 44.

Gatti, nicknamed El Loco (Spanish for "crazy") was recognized for his charisma, his innovative playing style for his position and his eccentricity. He developed himself into a goalkeeper who relied on positional play rather than on his reflexes. He would frequently leave the penalty area to function as an additional field player, and join his teammates in defense – and many times in attack. Unlike most goalkeepers of his era, he made extensive use of his feet, head, and chest to control or strike the ball. He was one of the pioneers of the achique, the goalkeeping technique of running out to challenge an oncoming opposing player.[2] He was also notable at facing penalty kicks, saving 26 of them throughout his career, tied for the most ever in Primera División with contemporary goalkeeper Ubaldo Fillol.

Gatti was voted Player of the Year of Argentina in 1982, and was ranked as the third best Argentinean goalkeeper of the 20th Century in a poll by the IFFHS.[3][4]

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

Born in Carlos Tejedor, Province of Buenos Aires, Gatti was the youngest of four brothers.[1] During his youth he was adept of playing as a forward, which according to himself was the best way of knowing how forwards tend to think and behave.[5]

In 1960, at the age of 16, he attended a C.A. River Plate match and saw Amadeo Carrizo play, who would become one of his role models as a goalkeeper.[1] He then started playing for Atlanta in the Argentine sixth division. His Primera División debut came in 1962 against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.

[edit] Professional club career

Gatti played 38 matches for Atlanta, and after that he was acquired by River Plate. He played 77 matches for River between 1964 and 1968, alternating as the first choice goalkeeper with Amadeo Carrizo, until he was transferred to Gimnasia y Esgrima, for which he appeared in 244 league matches between 1969 and 1974. In 1975, he joined Unión de Santa Fe, which put on an impressive season with coach Juan Carlos Lorenzo.

[edit] Boca Juniors

Although Gatti was already famous prior to his arrival to Boca Juniors, it was in that club where he became legendary, and it is Boca Juniors the club he is historically most associated with. Gatti played a total 381 league matches and 47 Copa Libertadores matches[6] for the Xeneizes from 1976 until his retirement in 1988. He is the goalkeeper with the most appearances in Boca Juniors history and the second overall player behind Roberto Mouzo, who played in 396 league matches.[7]

His debut with Boca occurred on February 15, 1976. In 1977 he won the double of the Torneo Metropolitano and the Copa Libertadores. In the Copa Libertadores final, he saved a crucial penalty kick by Cruzeiro player Vanderlei.[8][9] The following year, Boca won the Copa Libertadores again, and then beat Borussia Moenchengladbach in the final of the Intercontinental Cup. He won his third Metropolitano in 1981.

The 1980s were a difficult time for Boca, and Gatti had periods of inactivity during those years. His last match was on September 11, 1988, a day in which an error by him cost him Boca the result. He was made a reserve after that, and he would never play an official match again.

On January 24, 1984, a friendly match between Boca Juniors and Gimnasia y Esgrima was played as a tribute to him.[10]

[edit] National team

With the Argentine national team, Gatti won 18 caps.[1] He was part of the 1966 World Cup squad, but did not play as the first choice keeper was Antonio Roma. Argentina did not qualify for the 1970, and for the 1974 tournament, he was not selected to the squad. He was a starter during the 1978 World Cup qualification process under coach Cesar Menotti, but after unconvincing performances by the host team, Gatti was left out of the squad in favour of Ubaldo Fillol.[11]

His last international match was in June 5, 1977.[12]

[edit] Post-retirement

Gatti has continued to be involved in football since his retirement as a player, writing columns and opinions that have been controversial at times. For example, during the 2006 World Cup he was heavily criticized as a racist for expressing mock surprise at the large number of black players in the Ecuador national football team in a column for Spanish sports newspaper AS.

[edit] Honours

Team honours - All with Boca Juniors

Individual honours

[edit] Trivia

  • In 1980, Gatti said of then youth player Diego Maradona: "...es un gordito que juega muy bien al fútbol" ([Maradona] "is a fattie who plays football very well"). In a subsequent match, Maradona, at the time playing for Argentinos Juniors, scored 4 times against Boca and Gatti in a 5-2 win.[13]

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ a b c d (Spanish)Hugo Orlando Gatti bio - Redargentina.com - educar.org
  2. ^ "Revolution between the Latin American Goalposts" - fifa.com - FIFA, January 10, 2000.
  3. ^ IFFHS' Century Elections - www.rsssf.com - by Karel Stokkermans, RSSSF.
  4. ^ The World's best Goalkeeper of the Century - www.iffhs.de - IFFHS. Retrieved November 2006.
  5. ^ (Spanish) Hugo Orlando Gatti: "El achique de Dios" - mediapunta.es - Sociedad Media Punta Ediciones, S.L., Madrid
  6. ^ Statistics of players in the Copa Libertadores - RSSSF
  7. ^ "Profile of Hugo Gatti - one of the all-time greats"
  8. ^ (Portuguese) "Gatti, El loco" - papodebola.com.br
  9. ^ (Spanish) "Futbol Argentino: Los grandes del arco" - clarin.com - Grupo Clarín
  10. ^ Club Atlético Boca Juniors - All Results 1977-2001 - RSSSF
  11. ^ "Goalkeeping greats" - goalkeepersaredifferent.com
  12. ^ Notable dates in Boca Juniors history
  13. ^ Gatti's post-2006 World Cup interview with ESPN - espn.com - September 2006.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Argentina Argentina Squad - 1966 FIFA World Cup Argentina

1 Roma | 2 Irusta | 3 Gatti | 4 Perfumo | 5 Varacka | 6 Calics | 7 Marzolini | 8 Ferreiro | 9 Simeone | 10 Rattín | 11 Pastoriza | 12 Albrecht | 13 López | 14 Chaldu | 15 Solari | 16 González | 17 Sarnari | 18 Rojas | 19 Artime | 20 Onega | 21 Más | 22 Tarabini | Coach Lorenzo
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