Christian Bassedas

Christian Bassedas
Personal information
Full nameChristian Gustavo Bassedas
Date of birth16 February 1973
Place of birthBuenos Aires, Argentina
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionMidfielder / Sweeper (retired)
Youth career
Vélez Sársfield
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1990–2000Vélez Sársfield267(21)
2000–2003Newcastle United24(1)
2002→ Tenerife (loan)14(0)
Total305(22)
National team
1996Argentina Olympic
1994–1999Argentina22(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Christian Gustavo Bassedas (born 16 February 1973 in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine football defensive midfielder who works as general manager (not to confuse with coach) for Vélez Sársfield of the Argentine Primera División.

Bassedas is most notable for his spell at Vélez Sársfield, where he made 267 appearances for the club, giving him the eleventh most appearances in their history.

Career

Club

Bassedas is a product of Vélez Sársfield youth divisions, club where he debuted professionally on 3 March 1991. He played as an sweeper (libero), and was an important part of Vélez most successful years during the 1990s. He won four national championships with the club, and five international (including the 1994 Intercontinental Cup, where he was a starter in the 2-0 victory over A.C. Milan).

In 2000 he joined English FA Premier League club Newcastle United for £3,500,000. He played for them in the period 2000–2003, though on loan to Tenerife briefly during the 2001–02 season. He scored once in the league for Newcastle in a 3-1 defeat at Chelsea in January 2001.[1]

In 2003 he joined Argentine Newell's Old Boys, but after two months of pre-season training he decided to retire from football at the age of 30.[2]

He later worked for Fox Sports en Latinoamérica as a commentator on FA Premier League matches.[3]

For the end of 2008, Bassedas was appointed as general manager of Vélez Sársfield. His first order of business was to recommend Ricardo Gareca to fill the coaching spot.[4] He was also essential in the negotiations to bring Maximiliano Moralez, Sebastián Domínguez and Joaquín Larrivey to the club. On his first season as manager, Vélez won the Clausura 09.

National team

Bassedas played for the Argentine national team during the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification matches, but was not part of the squad for the World Cup. He also won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics and a gold medal at the 1995 Pan Americans, where he captained the team.

Honours

Player

Vélez Sársfield

Argentina national team

General manager

Vélez Sársfield

References

  1. ↑ "No capital return for Newcastle". BBC. 31 January 2001. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "'Perdí el amor por el fútbol'" (in Spanish). Página/12. 30 August 2003. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
  3. ↑ Daily Hairdryer
  4. ↑ "Bassedas: "Gareca siempre fue mi candidato"" (in Spanish). TyC Sports. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-05.

External links