GABRIEL BATISTUTA

1. Gabriel Omar Batistuta (born February 1, 1969), nicknamed Batigol, is a former professional footballer. The prolificArgentine striker played most of his club football at in Fiorentina Italy, and he is the eighth top scorer of all time in the Italian Serie A league, with 184 goals in 318 matches between 1991 and 2003. On the international level, he is the all-time highest scorer for Argentina's national team, with 56 goals in 78 national team matches, and he represented his country at three FIFA World cups. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100 list of the "125 Greatest Living Footballers".

When his club Fiorentina was relegated to Serie B in 1993, Batistuta stayed with the club and helped it return to the top-flight league a year later. A popular sporting figure in Florence, the Fiorentina fans erected a life-size bronze statue of him in 1996, in recognition of his performances for Fiorentina. He never won the Italian league with Fiorentina, but when he moved toRoma in 2000, he finally won the Serie A championship to crown his career in Italy. He played his last professional season in Qatar with Al-Arabi before he retired in 2005.

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he worked as a commentator for Televisa Deportes.

Honours

• Serie A (Division 1.) Italian Championship (with Roma) 2000-2001.
• Italian Supercup (with ACF fiorentina) 1996, (with Roma) 2001
• Argentine Football Writers' Footballer of the Year 1998.
• Italian cup(with Fiorentina) 1995-1996.
• Serie A Capocannoniere (Top Scorer), 26 goals (with Fiorentina) 1994-1995
• Coppa Italia Top Scorer (8 goals) 1995-1996
• Copa América (with Argentina) 1991, 1993
• Copa América Top Scorer, 6 goals (with Argentina) 1991
• Top Scorer of The Qatari League with a record breaking 25 goals in 21 games.
• Top Scorer in all Arab leagues, awarded with a Golden Boot.
• Gabriel Batistuta set a new Serie A record by scoring in 11 consecutive Serie A games
• Top goalscorer for Argentina (56 goals)
• Top goalscorer for Fiorentina (168 goals)
• Serie A 8th Top Goalscorer of all times with 184 goals
• Confederations Cup (with Argentina) 1992
• FIFA 100
• FIFA World Player of the Year 3rd Place 1999