.jpg) Balbo with Roma in 1995 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Abel Eduardo Balbo | ||
| Date of birth | (1966-06-01)1 June 1966 (age 58) | ||
| Place of birth | Empalme, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Newell's Old Boys | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1987–1988 | Newell's Old Boys | 23 | (9) |
| 1988–1989 | River Plate | 38 | (12) |
| 1989–1993 | Udinese | 134 | (66) |
| 1993–1998 | Roma | 146 | (78) |
| 1998–1999 | Parma | 25 | (4) |
| 1999–2000 | Fiorentina | 19 | (3) |
| 2000–2002 | Roma | 3 | (0) |
| 2002 | Boca Juniors | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 392 | (172) | |
| International career | |||
| 1989–1998 | Argentina | 37 | (11) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009 | Treviso | ||
| 2010–2011 | Arezzo | ||
| 2012 | Arezzo | ||
| 2022 | Central Córdoba | ||
| 2023 | Estudiantes | ||
| 2024 | Central Córdoba | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Abel Eduardo Balbo (Spanish pronunciation:[aˈβeleˈðwaɾðoˈβalβo]; born 1 June 1966) is an Argentinefootballmanager and former player who played as astriker.
Balbo played for various clubs in Argentina and Italy during the course of his career. He was also anArgentine international.
Balbo was born inEmpalme Villa Constitución,Santa Fe.
At club level, Balbo played forNewell's Old Boys (1987–88),River Plate (1988–89), before moving to Italy andUdinese (1989–93),Roma (1993–98 and 2000–02),Parma (1998–99) andFiorentina. He played four games forBoca Juniors before finally retiring. He scored a total of 138 goals in Serie A; his best seasons came in 1992–93 for Udinese and 1994–95 for Roma, with 22 goals in each of them.
In 2000, Roma paid Fiorentina 1.75 billionItalian lire to re-sign him and offered him a two-year contract with 1.7 billion annual salary before tax.[1]
ForArgentina, Balbo scored eleven goals in 37caps, and played at the1990, the1994, the1998 FIFA World Cups, the1989 and1995 Copa América. In the 1995 tournament inUruguay, Balbo partneredGabriel Batistuta in attack, and scored a goal againstBrazil'sClaudio Taffarel in an infamous quarter-final game that Argentina eventually lost in apenalty shootout after Brazilian strikerTulio Costa scored the Brazilian equalizer with ten minutes to go – after clearly controlling the ball with his arm.
After his retirement, Balbo eventually became a musician, performing songs in Italian and Spanish. He took hisUEFA Pro coaching badges in 2007,[2] and currently works as a football commentator forRAI Radio1.[3]
In February 2009, he took his first head coaching job, succeeding toLuca Gotti as manager of bottom-tableSerie B clubTreviso.[4] He resigned only a few rounds later, on 18 March, after having achieved only one point in four games, citing lack of professionalism and organizational issues as the main reasons for his choice to step down as Treviso manager.[5]
In November 2010, he was appointed as new technical area coordinator and assistant coach ofSerie D clubAtletico Arezzo until the end of the season.[6][7]
In the 2012–23 season, he coached theSerie D clubArezzo from the start of the season until 30 October 2012, when he left by mutual consent with the club. He subsequently worked as football commentator for Italian public broadcasting groupRAI.
In June 2022, after almost ten years without a coaching job, Balbo moved back to Argentina to accept the managerial position atArgentine Primera División clubCentral Córdoba.[8] On 20 October, after guiding his club to safety in the2022 Argentine Primera División, Central Córdoba announced the departure of Balbo by the end of the season.[9]
On 22 October 2022, Balbo took over fellow top-tier sideEstudiantes.[10] He left the following 4 March after only seven matches,[11] and agreed to return to Central Córdoba on 22 December 2023.[12]
Described as "an authenticcentre-forward," byIl Corriere dello Sport in 2019, Balbo was a physically strongforward, with good feet and a powerful shot, who was renowned for his composure in front of goal and his efficient playing style. He was mainly known for his eye for goal and his movement, in particular inside the penalty area, which also made him a threat on counter–attacks; he also excelled in the air. In addition to his playing ability, he was also known to be a correct player.[13]
Abel Balbo is married and a practising Roman Catholic.[14]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Newell's Old Boys | 1986–87 | Primera División | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1987–88 | 23 | 9 | — | — | — | 23 | 9 | |||||
| Total | 23 | 9 | — | — | — | 23 | 9 | |||||
| River Plate | 1988–89 | Primera División | 38 | 12 | — | — | — | 38 | 12 | |||
| Udinese | 1989–90 | Serie A | 28 | 11 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 11 | ||
| 1990–91 | Serie B | 37 | 23 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 40 | 25 | |||
| 1991–92 | 37 | 11 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 41 | 12 | ||||
| 1992–93 | Serie A | 32 | 21 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 1 | 34 | 22 | ||
| Total | 134 | 66 | 9 | 3 | — | 1 | 1 | 144 | 70 | |||
| Roma | 1993–94 | Serie A | 30 | 12 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 13 | ||
| 1994–95 | 32 | 22 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 22 | ||||
| 1995–96 | 26 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 7[c] | 4 | — | 34 | 17 | |||
| 1996–97 | 30 | 17 | — | 4[c] | 2 | — | 34 | 19 | ||||
| 1997–98 | 28 | 14 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 31 | 16 | ||||
| Total | 146 | 78 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 6 | — | 167 | 87 | |||
| Parma | 1998–99 | Serie A | 25 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 11[c] | 4 | — | 44 | 12 | |
| Fiorentina | 1999–2000 | Serie A | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10[d] | 4 | — | 31 | 7 | |
| Roma | 2000–01 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2001–02 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Boca Juniors | 2002–03 | Primera División | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 392 | 172 | 35 | 10 | 37 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 466 | 197 | ||
| Argentina | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 5 | 0 |
| 1990 | 5 | 1 |
| 1991 | – | – |
| 1992 | – | – |
| 1993 | 3 | 2 |
| 1994 | 9 | 3 |
| 1995 | 9 | 4 |
| 1996 | 4 | 1 |
| 1997 | – | – |
| 1998 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 37 | 11 |
Newell's Old Boys
Parma
Roma
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Romacaptain 1997–1998 | Succeeded by |
Argentina squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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