Roberto Abbondanzieri

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

Club career

Abbondanzieri's professional debut took place on 6 December 1994 at Santa Fe's Rosario Central, with whom Roberto Abbondanzieri would soon after win the 1995 CONMEBOL Cup. Roberto Abbondanzieri played with the club until 1997, when Roberto Abbondanzieri 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 Club Atlético River Plate, and the club's third-choice goalkeeper, Cristian Muñoz, took Roberto Abbondanzieri place. When Roberto Abbondanzieri recovered from Roberto Abbondanzieri injury Abbondanzieri was once again Córdoba's understudy until February 2002, when Córdoba moved to Serie A club Perugia Calcio.

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

Until September 2006, when Boca achieved their third Recopa Sudamericana 2006, Roberto Abbondanzieri 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 Spain La Liga Getafe CF, claiming that "it's the right time for me to go to Europe".

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 Roberto Abbondanzieri 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.

International career

As a youth, Abbondanzieri represented Argentina in the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship.

Since then, Roberto Abbondanzieri became a continuous presence in Boca's goal and, in June 2004, Roberto Abbondanzieri became the goalkeeper for the Argentina national football team and has since played in the Copa América 2004, Confederations Cup 2005 and the Football World Cup 2006 - South American Qualification Groups for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

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

On 30 June 2006, Roberto Abbondanzieri was injured in the 2006 FIFA World Cup against hosts Germany national football team, 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 (football), which Argentina lost 2:4.

Honors

- Apertura 1998, 2000, 2003-2004 in Argentine football Torneo Apertura ("Opening" Tournament) and 2005-2006 in Argentine football Torneo Apertura ("Opening" Tournament)
- Clausura 1999, 2005-2006 in Argentine football Torneo Clausura ("Closing" Tournament)
- Copa Libertadores de América 2000, 2001 and 2003
- European/South American Cup 2000 and 2003
- Copa Sudamericana 2004 and Copa Sudamericana 2005
- Recopa Sudamericana 2005
- Ricardo Zamora Trophy, best goalkeeper of La Liga 2006/2007