 Abbondanzieri in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roberto Carlos Abbondancieri[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1972-08-19)19 August 1972 (age 53) | ||
| Place of birth | Bouquet, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rosario Central | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1996 | Rosario Central | 57 | (0) |
| 1996–2006 | Boca Juniors | 204 | (0) |
| 2006–2009 | Getafe | 83 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Boca Juniors | 22 | (0) |
| 2010 | Internacional | 18 | (0) |
| Total | 384 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1989 | Argentina U-17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2004–2008 | Argentina | 46 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012–2013 | Godoy Cruz (assistant) | ||
| 2014–2015 | Arsenal de Sarandí (assistant) | ||
| 2016–2018 | Unión Española (assistant) | ||
| 2019 | Pachuca (assistant) | ||
| 2020–2021 | Curicó Unido (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Roberto Carlos Abbondanzieri (also spelledAbbondancieri, born 19 August 1972), nicknamedEl Pato (The Duck), is an Argentine former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
He spent most of his career for theBoca Juniors in his homeland, as well asGetafe ofLa Liga. After his retirement, he took up coaching.[2]
Abbondanzieri earned 49 caps for theArgentina national football team from 2004 to 2008, playing at twoCopa America tournaments and the2006 FIFA World Cup.
Born inBouquet,Santa Fe, Abbondanzieri's professional debut took place on 6 December 1994 at Santa Fe'sRosario Central, with whom he would soon after winning the 1995CONMEBOL Cup. He played with the club until 1997, when he moved to Boca Juniors to be the reserve goalkeeper.
Abbondanzieri trained in the shadow ofÓscar Córdoba until theColombian goalie suffered an injury during theClausura tournament of 1999. However, Abbondanzieri himself then suffered a shoulder injury during a match againstRiver Plate, and the club's third-choice goalkeeper, Cristian Muñoz, took his place. When he recovered from his injury Abbondanzieri was once again Córdoba's understudy until February 2002, when Córdoba moved toItalian clubPerugia.
Abbondanzieri changed his name in July 2002 from Abbondancieri, a misspelling that arose at Argentinian customs when his grandfather immigrated there, to the original spelling that he uses today. The name change was prompted by Italian citizenship concerns in the case of his transfer to the European football leagues.[3] He was named South American Goalkeeper of the Year in 2003.[4]
Until September 2006, when Boca achieved their thirdRecopa Sudamericana, he held the Boca Juniors record of 14 titles, surpassed later byGuillermo Barros Schelotto.
In June 2006, after weeks of speculation, Abbondanzieri signed a three-year contract with Spanishfirst divisionGetafe CF, claiming that "it's the right time for me to go to Europe".[5] In hisdebut season in theSpanish league, he won theRicardo Zamora Trophy to the best goalkeeper, after conceding only 30 goals in 37 matches.
On 10 April 2008, in aUEFA Cup quarterfinal second-leg match againstBayern Munich, Abbondanzieri made a vital error in extra time, failing to hold a routine ball from a distant free kick. The ball slipped under his legs while in the six-yard box, allowing Bayern strikerLuca 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 theaway goals rule.[6]
Abbondanzieri continued with Getafe for the first half of the 2008–2009 season, but at his request was transferred back to Boca Juniors for the 2009 Clausura tournament. "El Pato" was again Boca's number one and competed in the Clausura, although Boca only finished in 14th. He also participated in the Copa Libertadores, where Boca fell to Defensor Sporting of Uruguay in the round of 16.
On 16 February 2010,Internacional signed the Argentine goalkeeper "Pato" fromBoca Juniors.[7]Abbondanzieri retired on 18 December after the match against Seongnam for the third place ofFIFA Club World Cup. Internacional won 4–2.
As a youth, Abbondanzieri represented Argentina in the 1989 FIFA U-17 World Championship.
Since then, he became a continuous presence in Boca's goal and, in June 2004, he became the goalkeeper for theArgentina national team and has since played in theCopa América 2004 and theSouth American Qualification for the2006 FIFA World Cup.
On 6 May 2006, he was named as a definite squad member for the2006 World Cup by coachJosé Pekerman.
On 30 June 2006, he was injured in theWorld Cup quarter-finals against hostsGermany, after Argentina had taken a 1–0 lead. German strikerMiroslav 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 byLeo Franco, who later failed to save Klose's equalizing strike in the 80th minute, and the four penalty kicks in the ensuingpenalty shootout, which Argentina lost 2–4.[8]
His strong performances at the World Cup ensured he continued to be Argentina's first choice goalkeeper under Alfio Basile following the 2006 World Cup. He played all six games at the2007 Copa América in Venezuela as Argentina reached the final, only to lose to Brazil 3–0. He remained Basile's goalkeeper through the early stages of qualifying for the2010 World Cup in South Africa but was forced out injured during a 1–1 draw at home to Paraguay. After recovering from his injury, Basile had been replaced byDiego Maradona, who left Abbondanzieri off the squad, with a total of 46 caps for his country.
In November 2012, Abbondanzieri was named as assistant to his former Boca teammateMartín Palermo when he was hired byGodoy Cruz.[9] In April 2014, the pair andRolando Schiavi took the same job atArsenal de Sarandí.[10]
Abbondanzieri and Palermo moved to Chile to manageUnión Española in May 2016.[11]
On 28 November 2020, Abbondanzieri was appointed as assistant coach at Chilean clubCuricó Unido, once again underMartín Palermo.[12] However, at the end of May 2021, Abbondanzieri announced that he would step back from football to spend more time with his family.[13]
Abbondanzieri shares his nickname with another renowned Argentine goalkeeper,Ubaldo Fillol.
| Club | Season | League | State league | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rosario Central | 1994–95 | Primera División | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||||
| 1995–96 | Primera División | 25 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||||
| 1996–97 | Primera División | 18 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 57 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 57 | 0 | ||||||
| Boca Juniors | 1996–97 | Primera División | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| 1997–98 | Primera División | 13 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | ||||
| 1998–99 | Primera División | 8 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| 1999–2000 | Primera División | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||||
| 2000–01 | Primera División | 16 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | ||||
| 2001–02 | Primera División | 22 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | ||||
| 2002–03 | Primera División | 33 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | — | 47 | 0 | ||||
| 2003–04 | Primera División | 32 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 0 | — | 54 | 0 | ||||
| 2004–05 | Primera División | 31 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 0 | — | 51 | 0 | ||||
| 2008–09 | Primera División | 33 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 33 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 204 | 0 | — | — | 71 | 0 | — | 275 | 0 | |||||
| Getafe | 2006–07 | La Liga | 36 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2007–08 | La Liga | 34 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2008–09 | La Liga | 13 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 83 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 85 | 0 | ||||
| Boca Juniors | 2008–09 | Primera División | 19 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | Primera División | 9 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 28 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | |||||
| Internacional | 2010 | Série A | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| Career total | 380 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 475 | 0 | ||
Appearances and goals by national team and year[14]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2004 | 11 | 0 |
| 2005 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 49 | 0 | |
Rosario Central
Boca Juniors
Internacional
Individual
Argentina squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
