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Gabriel Batistuta, Argentina, 1994
Batistuta was well-known for his club football career in Italy. During the 1991 Copa América, when Batistuta was playing for his national team Argentina, it was rumoured that the Vice-president of Italian football club Fiorentina was impressed by Batistuta’s immense footballing talent and goal-scoring capabilities and thus signed him for the Italian football club in Florence , which embarked the beginning of a glorious club footballing career.
Batistuta had a fine start in the Serie A with his new club Fiorentina, scoring 13 goals in his debut season. Things became a little tough when the following season Fiorentina lost the relegation battle and were demoted to Serie B, despite Batistuta’s 16 league goals.
Gabriel Batistuta stayed with the club and contributed heavily to its return to the top-flight league a year later. Fiorentina returned to Serie A after one season in Serie B, with the critical contribution of 16 goals from Gabriel Batistuta.
It was with the Italian football club Fiorentina that Batistuta found the best form of his glorious footballing career. He was the top scorer of the 1994–95 seasons with 26 magnificent goals, even breaking Ezio Pascutti’s 30-year-old record by scoring in each of the first 11 matches of the season.
In the 1995–96 season, Fiorentina won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa. Although Batistuta never won the Italian league with Fiorentina, he was a very popular and loved sporting figure in Florence. The devout Fiorentina fans erected a life-size bronze statue of him in 1996, in recognition of his performances for Fiorentina.
Batistuta, with his grit and unparalleled courage, became the symbol of a hero, a true champion, and became the only living player to whom fans have dedicated a statue. The statue with its triumphant image, leaning against the corner flag in his now legendary gesture of exultation, stands under the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence since 1995.
The day Batistuta crossed the 100-goal barrier in Serie A, it was said that 100 footballs rained from the stands and exhilarated fans in Fiesole Curve exhibited a banner that summed up the thoughts of all those who love football: “Cien veles gracias, Bati” (Thanks a hundred times, Bati).
Gabriel Batistuta later moved to Italian football club Roma in the year 2000, where he finally won the Serie A championship to crown his glorious club footballing career in Italy. He played his last professional season in Qatar with Al-Arabi before he retired in 2005.
With his unmatched striking capabilities and warrior-like attitude, Batistuta will always be remembered as one of the finest, strongest, grittiest and most talented strikers in the world of football. He holds the record of being the 10th top scorer all time in the Italian league and is the top scorer for his country Argentina in international football.
Let us take a bow and salute the living legend of Batigol – one of the most prolific and charismatic strikers of all time s- Gabriel Omar Batistuta!
