Roberto Abbondanzieri

Born in Bouquet, Santa Fe, Abbondanzieri's professional debut took place on 6 December 1994 at Santa Fe's Rosario Central, with whom he would soon after winning the 1995 CONMEBOL Cup. He played with the club until 1997, when he moved to Boca Juniors to be the reserve goalkeeper.

Abbondanzieri trained in the shadow of Óscar Córdoba until the Colombian goalie suffered an injury during the Clausura tournament of 1999. However, Abbondanzieri himself then suffered a shoulder injury during a match against River 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 to Italian club Perugia.

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 third Recopa Sudamericana, he held the Boca Juniors record of 14 titles, surpassed later by Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

In June 2006, after weeks of speculation, Abbondanzieri signed a three-year contract with Spanish first division Getafe CF, claiming that "it's the right time for me to go to Europe".[5]

On 10 April 2008, in a UEFA Cup quarterfinal second-leg match against Bayern Munich, Abbondanzieri made a vital error in extra time, as the goalkeeper failed to hold a routine ball from a distant free-kick. The ball slipped under his legs while in the six-yard box, allowing Bayern striker Luca 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 the away 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" from Boca Juniors.[7] Abbondanzieri retired on 18 December after the match against Seongnam for the third place of FIFA Club World Cup. Internacional won 4–2.

In November 2012, Abbondanzieri was named as assistant when his former Boca teammate Martín Palermo was hired at Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba.[8] In April 2014, the pair and Rolando Schiavi took the same job at Arsenal de Sarandí.[9]

Abbondanzieri and Palermo moved to Chile to manage Unión Española in May 2016.[10]

[12]

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• Copa Conmebol 1995
• Apertura 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2005
• Clausura 1999, 2006
• Copa Libertadores 2000, 2001, 2003, 2010
• Intercontinental Cup 2000 and 2003
• Copa Sudamericana 2004 and 2005
• Recopa Sudamericana 2005

• South America Best goalkeeper in South America 2003
• Copa Sudamericana Best goalkeeper 2005
• Copa Sudamericana Best Player of the Final 2005
• Ricardo Zamora Trophy, best goalkeeper of La Liga: 2006–07
• Top 10 Goalkeeper of the 21st Century (IFFHS): 2001–2011