Roberto Abbondanzieri
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Carlos Abbondanzieri
Date of birth	August 19, 1972 (1972-08-19) (age 37)
Place of birth	Bouquet, Argentina
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Boca Juniors
Number	1
Youth career
	Rosario Central
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994–1996 1997–2006 2006–2009 2009–	Rosario Central Boca Juniors Getafe CF Boca Juniors	057 (0) 204 (0) 083 (0) 025 (0)
National team2
2004–	Argentina	049 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:52, 4 October 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 07:35, (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Roberto Carlos "Pato" Abbondanzieri (born Abbondancieri on August 19 1972 in Bouquet, Santa Fe) is an Argentine football goalkeeper who plays for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national football team.

[edit] Club career

Abbondanzieri's professional debut took place on 6 December 1994 at Santa Fe's Rosario Central, with whom he would soon after win the 1995 CONMEBOL Cup. He played with the club until 1997, when he moved to Boca Juniors to be the reserve goalkeeper.

Abbondanzieri trained in the shadow of Óscar Córdoba until the Colombian goalie suffered an injury during the Clausura tournament of 1999. However, Abbondanzieri himself then suffered a shoulder injury during a match against River Plate, and the club's third-choice goalkeeper, Cristian Muñoz, took his place. When he recovered from his injury Abbondanzieri was once again Córdoba's understudy until February 2002, when Córdoba moved to Italian club Perugia.

Abbondanzieri changed his name in July 2002 from Abbondancieri, a misspelling that arose at Argentinian customs when his grandfather immigrated there, to the original spelling that he uses today. The name change was prompted by Italian citizenship concerns in the case of his transfer to the European football leagues.^[1] He was named South American Goalkeeper of the Year in 2003.^[2]

Until September 2006, when Boca achieved their third Recopa Sudamericana, he held the Boca Juniors record of 14 titles, surpassed later by Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

In July 2006, after weeks of speculation, Abbondanzieri signed a three-year contract with Spanish first division Getafe CF, claiming that "it's the right time for me to go to Europe".^[3]

On April 10, 2008 in a UEFA Cup quarterfinal second-leg match against Bayern Munich, Abbondanzieri made a vital error in extra time, as the goalkeeper failed to hold a routine ball from a distant free-kick. The ball slipped under his legs while in the six yard box, allowing Bayern striker Luca Toni to tap the ball into the back of the net. Bayern was still in deficit of goals on aggregate , as the score was 2-3 after the goal (3-4 on aggregate), but only five minutes later Bayern would level the score at 3-3 (4-4 on aggregate) and allow themselves passage to the UEFA Cup semifinals via the away goals rule.

Abbondanzieri continued with Getafe for the first half of the 2008-2009 season, but at his request was transfered back to Boca Juniors for the 2009 Clausua tournament. "El Pato" was again Boca's number one and competed in the Clausura, although Boca only finished in 14th. He also participated in the Copa Libertadores, where Boca fell to Defensor Sporting of Uruguay in the round of 16.

[edit] International career

As a youth, Abbondanzieri represented Argentina in the 1989 FIFA U-17 World Championship.

Since then, he became a continuous presence in Boca's goal and, in June 2004, he became the goalkeeper for the Argentine national team and has since played in the Copa América 2004, Confederations Cup 2005 and the South American Qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

On May 6 2006, he was named as a definite squad member for the 2006 World Cup by coach José Pekerman.

On 30 June 2006, he was injured in the World Cup quarter-finals against hosts Germany, after Argentina had taken a 1-0 lead. German striker Miroslav Klose jumped up high for a header while running and collided with Abbondanzieri, with Klose's right leg hitting the Argentinian keeper in the chest. Klose, who had looked sideways to watch for the ball in the moments leading up to the collision and thus may not have seen Abbondanzieri, received no penalty. Abbondanzieri continued at first but had to be carried off on a stretcher some minutes later, to be replaced by Leonardo Franco, who later failed to save Klose's equalizing strike in the 80th minute, and the four penalty kicks in the ensuing penalty shootout, which Argentina lost 2:4.

He continued to be Argentina's first choice goalkeeper under Alfio Basile following the 2006 World Cup. He played all six games in the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela as Argentina reached the final, only to lose to Brazil, 3-0. He remained Basile's goalkeeper through the early stages of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but was forced out injured during a 1-1 draw at home to Paraguay. By the time Abbondanzieri had recovered from his injury, Basile had been replaced by Diego Maradona as Argentina's coach, and Maradona has yet to select him to the Argentina squad.

[edit] Honors

• Apertura 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2005
• Clausura 1999, 2006
• Copa Libertadores 2000, 2001 and 2003
• Intercontinental Cup 2000 and 2003
• Copa Sudamericana 2004 and 2005
• Recopa Sudamericana 2005
• Ricardo Zamora Trophy, best goalkeeper of La Liga 2006/2007

[edit] References

1. ^ footballdatabase.com profile
2. ^ Sporting Life
3. ^ 'Duck' signs for Getafe

[edit] External links

• Roberto Abbondanzieri at National-Football-Teams.com
• (Spanish) fifaworldcup profile
• (Spanish) Argentina Primera Statistics
• Guardian statistics

Argentina squads v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2004 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Quiroga • 5 Mascherano • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Zanetti • 9 Figueroa • 10 D'Alessandro • 11 Tévez • 12 Cavallero • 13 Placente • 14 Rodriguez • 15 Fernández • 16 L.González • 17 M.González • 18 K.González • 19 Delgado • 20 Medina • 21 Rosales • 22 Coloccini • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 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 v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2007 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Díaz • 4 Ibarra • 5 Gago • 6 Heinze • 7 Palacio • 8 Zanetti • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Carrizo • 13 González • 14 Mascherano • 15 G. Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Burdisso • 18 Messi • 19 Cambiasso • 20 Verón • 21 D. Milito • 22 Orión • Coach: Basile