Gabriel Paletta

Gabriel Alejandro Paletta (born 15 February, 1986 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentina central defender, who currently plays for Boca Juniors.

Career

Banfield

Paletta came through the youth divisions of Club Atlético Banfield and reached the first team in 2005. When Banfield qualified for the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores, they altered their 25 man squad for the event to include Paletta and immediately threw Gabriel Paletta into action against the Colombian team Independiente Medellín. Paletta played well and Banfield progressed, but Paletta was to play no further part in the tournament after being called up to the Argentina national under-20 football team team to participate in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Liverpool

Paletta signed for Liverpool at 21 years of age, the club was believed to have paid a fee of ₤2 million. Gabriel Paletta agreed to sign with the club in February of 2006 and signed Gabriel Paletta contract for a 4-year deal on July 4 2006, making Paletta the second Argentine to play for the Merseyside club, after Mauricio Pellegrino.

Boca Juniors

Gabriel Paletta returned to Argentina after one year with Liverpool to join Boca Juniors, Gabriel Paletta played in the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup Final in which Boca Juniors lost 4–2 against AC Milan. Upon Gabriel Paletta return, in early 2008 Gabriel Paletta scored against arch rivals River Plate in the Superclásico of the Copa Revancha final, Gabriel Paletta also played in the Copa Libertadores 2008 where Boca Juniors reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by Fluminense.

During the Apertura of 2008, in a 1–0 win against Arsenal de Sarandi November 9, Paletta was ruled out for six months after tearing the cruciate ligament in Gabriel Paletta right knee, the injury was a vital incident to occur leading up to the final stages of the Apertura as Paletta's team mate Martin Palermo had also suffered the same injury in August. Paletta returned to the scene in May of 2009 against Velez Sarsfield and unfortunately suffered an ankle sprain after just 17 minutes.

International career

In 2005, Paletta was selected for the Argentina U-20 team to participate in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. Gabriel Paletta started in all seven games of the tournament, playing in the heart of the Argentine defence, alongside Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero. Argentina went on to win the tournament and Paletta's performances attracted the attention of Liverpool.

Titles