Gabriel Milito

Gabriel Milito

Personal information
Full name	Gabriel Alejandro Milito
Date of birth	September 7, 1980 (1980-09-07) (age 29)
Place of birth	Bernal, Argentina
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Barcelona
Number	18
Youth career
	Independiente
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2003	Independiente	123	(3)
2003–2007	Real Zaragoza	137	(5)
2007–	Barcelona	27	(1)
National team‡
2000–	Argentina	32	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 May 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 May 2009

Gabriel Alejandro Milito (born 7 September 1980 in Bernal, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Barcelona in La Liga, as a centre back.

His older brother Diego is also a footballer and currently plays for Italian club Inter Milan. They both represented Real Zaragoza.

Club career

Milito started playing professionally with Argentine first division side Independiente in 1997. During that time, he often faced his older brother Diego, who played for Independiente's arch-rivals Racing.

In July 2003, Milito was due to be transferred to Real Madrid,^[1] but the Spanish team rejected the player after medical results showed, according to the club, a not-fully-recovered knee injury.^[2] To many, it was a political move against Madrid's football director Jorge Valdano, who wanted the player on the team. Milito decided to stay in Spain and signed for Real Zaragoza.^[3]

In his four seasons with the Aragonese side, Milito was an automatic first-choice (never played in less than 33 league matches), and rejoined brother Diego in 2005. On 10 July 2007, Zaragoza reached a transfer agreement with Barcelona for €20.5million (£13.9 million) and on 19 July, Milito passed his medical and signed a four-year deal with the club, worth €4 million (£2.7 million) a year.^[4] He was given the number 3 shirt, which was formerly worn by Thiago Motta, who is currently playing for Inter Milan.

Milito made his competitive debut for Barcelona on 2 September 2007 in a game against Athletic Bilbao.^[5] He scored his first competitive goal for the Catalans on 24 November, in a league match against Recreativo de Huelva.

On 5 May 2008, it was announced that Milito had damage to the ACL in his right knee;^[6] this rendered him ineligible for the entire 2008-09 campaign, which ended in a treble.

International career

With the Argentine national team, Milito participated in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and was part of the squad which qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, performing well in his only appearance, the first-round match against the Netherlands (0-0), which ended in a draw.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	October 16, 2007	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela	Venezuela	0-1	0-2	2010 World Cup qualification

Club statistics

Honours

Real Zaragoza

• Spanish Cup (1): 2003-04
• Spanish Supercup (1): 2004

Barcelona

• La Liga (1): 2008–09
• Copa del Rey (1): 2008–09
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2008–09
• Supercopa de España (1): 2009
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 2009

References

External links

• FC Barcelona profile
• Guardian statistics
• BDFutbol profile
• NationalFootballTeams data

Argentina squads v • d • e Argentina squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-up 1 Franco • 2 Samuel • 3 Sorín • 4 Zanetti • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Tévez • 8 Riquelme • 9 Saviola • 10 Aimar • 11 Delgado • 12 Lux • 13 G.J. Rodríguez • 14 Milito • 15 Placente • 16 Coloccini • 17 Bernardi • 18 Santana • 19 Maxi Rodríguez • 20 Demichelis • 21 Figueroa • 22 Galletti • 23 Caballero • Coach: Pekerman v • d • e Argentina squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Coloccini • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Franco • 13 Scaloni • 14 Palacio • 15 Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Cufré • 18 Rodríguez • 19 Messi • 20 Cruz • 21 Burdisso • 22 González • 23 Ustari • Coach: Pekerman v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2007 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Díaz • 4 Ibarra • 5 Gago • 6 Heinze • 7 Palacio • 8 Zanetti • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Carrizo • 13 González • 14 Mascherano • 15 G. Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Burdisso • 18 Messi • 19 Cambiasso • 20 Verón • 21 D. Milito • 22 Orión • Coach: Basile