Pablo Daniel Osvaldo

Personal information
Date of birth	January 12, 1986 (1986-01-12) (age 23)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Bologna
Number	22
Youth career
1995–1999	Lanús
1999–2000	Banfield
2000–2005	Huracán
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005	Huracán	33	(11)
2006	Atalanta	3	(1)
2006–2007	Lecce	31	(18)
2007–2009	Fiorentina	21	(5)
2009–	Bologna	7	(1)
National team‡
2007–2008	Italy U-21	12	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 18, 2008. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of October 15, 2008

Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (born January 12, 1986 in Capital Federal, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-born Italian footballer, currently playing for Bologna.

[edit] Club career

Osvaldo made his competitive football debut in the Argentine 2nd Division for Club Atlético Huracán in 2005. After less than a year he was signed by Italian side Atalanta, where he played only three matches with a single goal in the Serie B 2005–06. In 2006 Atalanta agreed to a co-ownership deal which sent the player to Lecce, another Serie B team, where Osvaldo had the opportunity to play regularly, scoring eight goals in 31 appearances with the giallorossi. Following such a fairly impressive season, Atalanta regained the full player's property and sold him to Fiorentina for €4.5 million. He played his first Serie A match on September 29, 2007, scoring two goals in a 3–0 away win to Livorno.

On March 2, 2008 he headed in a cross from team mate Papa Waigo N'Diaye to give Fiorentina a 3–2 win in stoppage time over their fiercest rivals, Juventus. He was then sent off for his goal celebration, after having been booked earlier in the match, when he removed his team jersey and pretended to machine gun his own fans in a similar fashion to Fiorentina legend Gabriel Batistuta's goal celebration. His most important goal was a spectacular overhead kick against Torino on May 18, 2008.^[1] The victory of that match allowed Fiorentina to finish two points ahead of Milan and qualify for UEFA Champions League.

He left ACF Fiorentina on 20 January 2009 and joined Bologna F.C. 1909 for a fee of €7,000,000 euros where he signed a five year contract for a salary of €800,000 in the first season and up to €1,200,000 in the last one. On August 23 2009 Osvaldo scored the season opening goal for Bologna against his former club Fiorentina and gave his team a tie.

[edit] International career

On November 9, 2007 Osvaldo, a dual Italian and Argentine citizen, accepted to be called-up by Pierluigi Casiraghi to become part of the Italian Under-21 national team.

On May 29, 2008 Osvaldo scored the game winning and only goal against Chile in the final of the 2008 Toulon Tournament. It was his only goal during this event.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Guardian statistics