Martín Palermo

Martín Palermo (born November 7, 1973 in La Plata, Argentina) is a professional Football (soccer) currently playing for Club Atlético Boca Juniors of Primera División Argentina. Nicknamed "El Loco", Martín Palermo has also played in Argentina for Estudiantes de La Plata as well as in Spain in La Liga for Villarreal CF, Real Betis, and Deportivo Alavés.

Biography

Martín Palermo career started slowly at Estudiantes de La Plata and it was not until Martín Palermo transferred to Boca Juniors that Martín Palermo won international recognition due to Martín Palermo impressive goal average, and Martín Palermo excellent performances in international matches. The peak of Martín Palermo career was probably the European/South American Cup in 2000, when Martín Palermo scored two goals in Boca's 2–1 victory over Real Madrid, catching the attention of football clubs in Spain.

However Palermo then suffered a number of injuries that held Martín Palermo back from a transfer to S.S. Lazio in Italy, and also hindered Martín Palermo adaptation to European football when Martín Palermo was finally transferred to Spain:
- On November 13 1999 Martín Palermo had a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament of Martín Palermo right knee, which required a six-month recovery period.
- On November 20 2001, after celebrating a goal, Martín Palermo stood on a small concrete wall, which collapsed under the weight of Villarreal's fans and broke both the tibia and fibula of Martín Palermo left leg, leading to two months of inactivity.

Back to Boca Juniors, Martín Palermo kept himself among the best scorers of the Argentine league, reaching the 2006-07_in_Argentine_football Top_Scorers_2. But then, at the beginning of the
- On August 24 2008 Martín Palermo injured the anterior cruciate ligament and tore the medial collateral ligament during the 2-1 victory against Club Atlético Lanús, with an expected recovery period of 5 to 8 months.
After this was known, Argentine selector Alfio Basile commented Martín Palermo had chosen Martín Palermo to play for the national team in the following match for the World Cup qualifications

Boca Juniors fans consider Martín Palermo an idol, not only because of the number of goals Martín Palermo has scored for the team, but also for scoring many important goals against Boca's arch rivals Club Atlético River Plate.

On May 24, 2000, Martín Palermo returned to football after more than six months of inactivity after Martín Palermo first major injury. Martín Palermo played the last fifteen minutes of the quarterfinal match of the Copa Libertadores against River Plate, and scored the goal that sealed the victory with what Martín Palermo called "the most emotional goal of my career," leaving the score at 3–0 to Boca Juniors (the first match ended 1–2).

With the Argentina national football team Martín Palermo played seven matches, and scored three goals. Martín Palermo is featured in the Guiness Book of World Records for missing three penalties for Argentina in a single international match against Colombia national football team for the Copa América 1999. The first penalty rebounded off the crossbar, whilst the second went over, causing TV commentators to remark, "Even higher than the first one." Though the third was on target it was saved. It seemed that Martín Palermo international career had finished in 1999 with no further call ups, but in 2008 national coach Alfio Basile stated that Martín Palermo was very disappointed that Palermo had suffered an injury, because Martín Palermo had been considering offering Martín Palermo a return to international football.

Martín Palermo scored three goals against Martín Palermo former team Estudiantes de La Plata in the 3-1 Boca's victory at La Plata, and Martín Palermo didn't celebrate any of them. It was the fourth hat-trick of Martín Palermo career. A game later, on March 18, Martín Palermo scored a career high of four goals in the 5-1 victory against Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, Estudiantes de La Plata's archi-rivals. On September 16 2007, in a game against Club Atlético Banfield, Martin scored four goals (again) in the 6-0 Boca's victory. Palermo scored Martín Palermo fifth career hat-trick in a 3-0 Boca Juniors victory, this was a must win game that was played in Jalisco, Mexico, against the Mexican team F.C. Atlas A.C. on May 21 2008.

Achievements

Team

Individual

- Argentine League Primera División Argentina topscorers 10th place of All Time in a Career with 197 goals (34 with Estudiantes L.P. and 163 with Boca Juniors).
- Golden Shoe of America 2007-2008 (share with Giancarlo Maldonado).
- Argentine First Division 2006-07_in_Argentine_football Top_Scorers_2 with 11 goals in 16 matches.
- Man of the Match 2000_Intercontinental_Cup.
- Best South American Footballer of the Year 1998.
- Argentine First Division 1998-99_in_Argentine_football Top_Scorers with 20 goals in 19 matches a tournament record (short tournaments).

Facts

- First professional match: July 5 1992 Clausura. (San Lorenzo 0–0 Estudiantes)
- First professional goal: May 22 1993 Apertura. (Estudiantes 3–0 San Martín)
- First European professional match: February 4 2001. (Villarreal 2–1 Alavés)
- Martín Palermo is in the Guinness book of records for having missed three penalty kicks in the same match, against Colombia national football team in Copa América 1999.
- Palermo holds an Italian passport,which enables Martín Palermo to play as a UEFA player.
- Martín has been Boca_Juniors_topscorers Most_frequent_Boca_Top_Scorers 12 times.
- Martín Palermo is Boca Junior's top scorer in international matches with 43 goals, 18 more than 2nd place Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
- Martín surpassed Francisco Varallo to become the top scorer in the professional era among Boca Juniors topscorers All time Topscorers with 206 Goals. (163 in Primera división Argentina tournaments and 43 in international tournaments)
- Palermo is currently in 2nd place among Boca Juniors topscorers All time Topscorers with 206 goals , 15 shy of Roberto Cherro record of 221 Goals.

Career