| Christian Abbiati | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christian Abbiati | |
| Date of birth | July 8, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Abbiategrasso, Italy | |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | |
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1991–1992 1992–1993 1993–1994 |
Trezzano Assago Corsico |
|
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1994–1998 1995–1996 1998– 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 |
Monza → Borgosesia (loan) Milan → Juventus (loan) → Torino (loan) → Atlético Madrid (loan) |
52 (0) 29 (0) 122 (0) 19 (0) 36 (0) 21 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998–2000 1999–2005 |
Italy U-21 Italy |
16 (0) 4 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Christian Abbiati (born 8 July 1977 in Abbiategrasso, Milan) is an Italian football goalkeeper who plays for Italian Serie A club A.C. Milan.
Contents |
Club career
Having begun his footballing career at the age of 13, for Trezzano and Assago, he moved to Corsico and in 1996 secured a move to Monza. He transferred to A.C. Milan in summer 1998. His debut in Serie A for came on January 17, 1999 as a 92nd-minute substitute for Sebastiano Rossi. Since then, he became Milan's first choice goalkeeper for four years, until he lost his starting spot to backup Dida early in the 2002-2003 season after picking up an injury during a Champions League qualifying match in August 2002. Dida's top form effectively ground Abbiati's playing time to a halt.
On 25 August 2004, a brief controversy surfaced when an editorial criticizing Dida and Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti appeared on Abbiati's official website, stating that Dida had made mistakes in a friendly against U.C. Sampdoria and that Ancelotti was blocking a move that would have sent Abbiati to Palermo.[1] Abbiati denied that he'd written the piece and said that it had been posted by his webmaster. "I never speak to the person who looks after my site. I would never judge one of my teammates."[2] Though his webmaster claimed responsibility for the article, speculation nonetheless arose that it had been actually penned by Abbiati due to his frustration of warming the bench.
Abbiati literally played all of thirty seconds in Milan's 2004-05 Champions League campaign, when he came on as a substitute in the 74th minute after Dida had been struck by a flare thrown from the crowd during the quarterfinal second leg against Inter Milan, which was ultimately suspended less than a minute later. His last match in a Milan uniform came on May 20, 2005 in a 3-3 home draw with Palermo, a match that saw the starters rested for the upcoming CL final.
He later announced his desire to move to another club in order to contend for the #1 spot and was therefore loaned to Genoa for the 2005-06 season in July 2005, but he immediately returned to Milan after Genoa were relegated to Serie C1 due to a match-fixing scandal. He was soon on the move again, as he was shipped to Juventus as a temporary replacement for incumbent Gianluigi Buffon, who had suffered a dislocated shoulder during the Luigi Berlusconi Trophy match against Milan in August 2005. With long-awaited regular playing time at his disposal, he flourished with the Bianconeri, but when Buffon returned to the starting lineup six months later, Abbiati's services were no longer needed, and he left at the end of the season for another Turin squad when Milan loaned him to Torino F.C. in July 2006.
Despite expressing his desire to stay for another season, he and Torino ultimately parted ways due to a salary dispute. He was once again loaned out by Milan for the third time in three seasons, this time to Spanish club Atlético Madrid until June 2008.[3] He began the season on the bench until an injury to incumbent Leo Franco put him in the starting lineup. On December 29, he expressed interest in staying with Atlético beyond the '07-08 season. "My adaptation has gone better than I expected. I am happy at this club because they have helped me so much. I like playing in Spain and I think I will learn a lot during the time that I have left here."[4] However, he returned to Italy after being called back by Milan for the 2008-09 season and took over as first choice from Zeljko Kalac after a solid preseason.
On March 15, 2009, Abbiati was carted off on a stretcher in the first half of Milan's 5-1 league win over A.C. Siena, after he suffered ligament damage to his right knee following a collision with teammate Giuseppe Favalli, an injury that cost him the remainder of the season and will sideline him for up to six months following rehabilitation and knee surgery.[5] In 28 appearances, he kept eleven clean sheets and conceded 27 goals.
International career
Abbiati received his first call-up for Italy as the third goalkeeper for Euro 2000, and was part of the squad that participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics. However, he did not earn his first cap until a 2-1 victory over Switzerland on April 30, 2003. Abbiati was left off the 2006 World Cup roster but he was recalled to the national team in September 2006. In March 2009, three days before his season-ending knee injury, he said that he would refuse a future call-up for Italy in a non-starting role.[6]
Personal life
In September 2008, Abbiati declared that he was a fascist. "I am not ashamed to proclaim my political beliefs. I share [the] ideals of fascism, such as the fatherland and the values of the Catholic religion."[7]
Honours
Milan
- Serie A:
1998-99
References
- ^ August 2004 editorial - christianabbiati.it, 8/25/04 (in Italian)
- ^ Abbiati calms Milan rift - Football Italia, 8/26/04
- ^ AC Milan to loan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati to Atletico Madrid - SLAM! Sports, 6/26/07
- ^ Abbiati Wants to Extend Atlético Stay - Goal.com, 12/29/07
- ^ Complex knee injury rules Abbiati out for season - AFP, 3/16/09
- ^ Milan's Abbiati: I Don't Want To Be Third Choice For Italy - Goal.com, 3/12/09
- ^ I'm a fascist, says AC Milan star Christian Abbiati - The Guardian, 27 September 2008
External links
- Official website (Italian)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
