| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leandro Desábato | ||
| Date of birth | January 24, 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Cafferata, Santa Fe, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Estudiantes LP | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1997– | Estudiantes LP | 129 | (7) |
| 2001–2002 | → Olimpo (loan) | 32 | (1) |
| 2002–2006 | → Quilmes (loan) | 101 | (5) |
| 2006–2007 | → Argentinos Juniors (loan) | 34 | (4) |
| National team | |||
| 2011– | Argentina | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Leandro Desábato (born 24 January 1979), nicknamed Chavo, is an Argentine football defender who plays for Estudiantes de La Plata of the Argentine Primera División.
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Desábato began his professional career in 1997 playing for Estudiantes de La Plata. In 2001 he joined Olimpo and after one season with the club he moved on to play for Quilmes. With both teams he won promotion from the Primera B Nacional (Argentine second division) to the Primera División (first).
In a 2005 Copa Libertadores match, Desábato allegedly racially insulted São Paulo's player Grafite. Desábato was arrested after the match.[1] Following his night in jail, Desábato was defended by columnist and former Brazilian international footballer Tostão who stated that the insults were not racist, simply the kind of provocation that has always existed in football.[2]
Desábato left Quilmes in 2006 to join Argentinos Juniors and after a successful season with the club he returned to Estudiantes de La Plata. During the second half of 2008, he was a regular first team player for Estudiantes in their Copa Sudamericana campaign, where they reached the final.
Desábato was a key figure in Estudiantes' 2009 Copa Libertadores championship. He was the only outfield player on the team to play in every minute of every game during the team's run through the tournament, even as his center-back partners changed around him (from Agustín Alayes to Cristian Cellay to Rolando Schiavi).
In 2009 Desábato was chosen in a traditional journalist poll conducted by El País in the South American Team of the Year.
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