World Cup countdown: 50 days, Argentina moment number 44, Gabriel BATISTUTA

1. […] Cup. 45: Javier ZANETTI scores in the 45th minute vs. England at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. 44: Gabriel BATISTUTA scores goal number 44 in his Argentina career at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. 43: Gonzalo HIGUAIN receives cap number 43 for Argentina vs. Germany in the final of the 2014 […]

2. Batistuta, the man who made me support Argentina. I’m still waiting to see another like him.

3. best striker for me

4. Batigol was really at his peak between 1997-2000. I think he was the best forward-striker, even comparing to El Fenomeno. But that’s only my opinion. Batigol was powerful, so strong in long shot and aerial duel, great ball protection and 1st touch(unlike what people said he was average technically).

   When I look at the list, other than the 2 legends Batigol and Zanetti, many of them would have had their place in the current national team if they were still active. For example, Almeyda or Simeone as DM, Veron as CM and of course Ayala.

   • I assure you that it is not only you. Batistuta was the best 9 i have ever seen too. He was fast, strong and physical and as you said he could score from every part of the field, from inside the box or lunching rockets from distance being double marked at the same time (remember his cl goal against Manchester united?), he was the only 9 being a master in free kicks and he was a biest in headers too.

     Are there people who really said that he was average technically? Well, as far as i know football is not only about dribbling, there is also something else called shooting technique refering to scoring by many different ways possible such as one touch volleys, bycicle kicks etc and also scoring from outside the box. Ronaldo was the best 9 with the ball on his feet indeed, but when it comes to shooting technique, shooting abilities and shooting accuracy Batistuta was and still is the best 9 ever, not only for you and me but for many other people too.

     • Happy to see people sharing the same point of view! If you re-watch the games played by him like the classic Fiorentina-Inter, you can see him really good on the ball. He never missed any control or passing, always good 1st touch that allowed him to continue his actions. It’s something very basic but in practice hard to do under pressure. As you said, unfortunately many people who don’t understand football only judge players by dribbling. Also he knew running in the right space for receiving in-deep pass, that required a lot of tactical intelligence. Basically he was fit in any system. To me dribbling is something good to have but not the necessary thing that a forward need to have, especially in a team which plays collectively.

       In the last decade, there were lots of great forwards who came after him like Crespo, Trezeguet, Van Nistelrooy, Van Persie, Drogba, Villa, Ibra, ….etc. but none of them was as complete as he used to be. Today there is less and less traditional number 9 unfortunately.

5. King of all strikers
   ♥Bati Goal♥

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