Gabriel Heinze

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Gabriel Heinze
Personal information
Full name Gabriel Iván Heinze
Date of birth April 19, 1978 (age 28)
Place of birth    Crespo, Argentina Flag of Argentina
Height 1.78 m (5' 10")
Nickname Gabi, Gringo
Playing position Left Back, Centre Back
Club information
Current club Manchester United
Number 4
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1996-97
1997-2001
1998-99
2001-04
2004-		 Newell's Old Boys
Real Valladolid
→ Sporting CP (loan)
Paris Saint-Germain
Manchester United		 8 (0)
54 (1)
5 (1)
99 (4)
45 (1)   
National team2
2003- Argentina 39 (2)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of December 2006.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 20 March 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Gabriel Iván Heinze (born April 19, 1978 in Crespo, Entre Ríos Province) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for the English Premier League team Manchester United as a left-back, having transferred from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2004. Heinze is a descendant of Volga German immigrants that settled in Argentina. His ever solid displays for Manchester United in his first season saw him win fans' Player of the Year award. He has now established his place in the national side and is regarded as one of the best left-backs in the world.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Earlier clubs

Heinze began his career in his country with Newell's Old Boys.

Following attention from various European clubs, he then signed for Real Valladolid. Following only one year of play for his side, he was loaned to Sporting, though he returned after one year out. Upon his return, he stayed for a further two years, totalling 72 appearances for the Spanish club.

At the close of the 2001 season, he moved to Paris Saint Germain in 2001. Here he enjoyed over 119 appearances and 19 goals in the three years he stayed, and winning several honours. He won the French Cup in 2004.

[edit] Manchester United

He marked his debut for United in September 2004 with a goal in the 2-2 draw against Bolton Wanderers and immediately established himself as United's first choice left-back with a number of highly impressive performances. The Manchester United fans have taken to the Argentine for his exemplary attitude, showing fierce determination on the pitch. Heinze's impressive play is regularly lauded by United fans with the familiar chant of "Ar-gen-tina!" Heinze was voted Manchester United fans' player of the year for the 2004-05 season, beating top-scorer Wayne Rooney, and is the first South American to do so. In August 2005 he was voted by the fans as Best defence player in the history of Paris Saint-Germain. When he played in Spain, he had a Spanish passport, therefore, he is considered a Spanish-Argentine.

Heinze was injured in a UEFA Champions League match with Villarreal on 13 September and was out of first-team action for the rest of the 2005-06 season. United suffered a dip in form in Heinze's absence, further highlighting the Argentine's importance to the Manchester club. Kieran Richardson, John O'Shea and new arrival Patrice Evra all tried and ultimately failed to impose themsevles in Heinze's left-back position, and while Mikaël Silvestre brought some stability to the position towards the end of the season, Ferguson has said that his team have missed Heinze's experience and leadership. Gabriel made a comeback of sorts for the reserve team in April, but a minor niggling injury picked up in his third game back prevented him making a first-team appearance before the end of the campaign, and this appeared to have ended his chances of representing Argentina in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. However, national coach José Pekerman showed great faith in Heinze and called him up into his 13-man squad for the finals.

Heinze returned to action for United the 2006-07 season. He scored his first goal of the season in the FA Cup 5th round tie against Reading F.C., in a 3-2 win to United on 27 Feburary 2007.

[edit] International career

In total, Heinze has won 39 caps for his country, first representing them in 2003. His late arrival can be somewhat attributed to his leaving Argentina before establishing himself as a player.

He appeared somewhat notably in the 2006 World Cup, following an injury earlier that year. This ended in penalty heartache against Germany, however. Argentina made it through to the Quarter Finals, but were unable to capitalise on their 1-0 lead, and Germany equalised with just minutes to go to take it to Extra-time and penalties. Heinze did not take a penalty, but could only sit in tears as Jens Lehmann saved his teammates Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso's penalties.

[edit] Playing career (all competitions)

Season Club Games Goals
1997-98 Newell's Old Boys 8 0
1997-98 Real Valladolid 0 0
1998-99 Sporting Clube de Portugal 5 7
1999-00 Real Valladolid 18 4
2000-01 Real Valladolid 36 1
2001-02 Paris Saint-Germain 37 0
2002-03 Paris Saint-Germain 39 2
2003-04 Paris Saint-Germain 33 2
2004-05 Manchester United F.C. 33 3
2005-06 Manchester United F.C. 4 2
2006-07 Manchester United F.C. 21 1
Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Gold 2004 Athens Team

[edit] References

    [edit] External links


    Flag of Argentina Argentina squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists Flag of Argentina

    1 Abbondanzieri | 2 Ayala | 3 Sorín | 4 Coloccini | 5 Cambiasso | 6 Heinze | 7 Saviola | 8 Mascherano | 9 Crespo | 10 Riquelme | 11 Tévez | 12 Franco | 13 Scaloni | 14 Palacio | 15 Milito | 16 Aimar | 17 Cufré | 18 Rodríguez | 19 Messi | 20 Cruz | 21 Burdisso | 22 González | 23 Ustari | Coach: Pekerman
    Manchester United F.C. - Current Squad

    1 van der Sar | 2 Neville | 3 Evra | 4 Heinze | 5 Ferdinand | 6 Brown | 7 Ronaldo | 8 Rooney | 9 Saha | 11 Giggs | 13 Park | 14 Smith | 15 Vidić | 16 Carrick | 18 Scholes | 20 Solskjær | 21 Dong | 22 O'Shea | 23 Richardson | 24 Fletcher | 27 Silvestre | 29 Kuszczak | 32 Cathcart | 33 Eagles | 38 Heaton | Manager: Ferguson
    Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/a/b/Gabriel_Heinze_bc4e.html"