Gabriel Milito
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gabriel Alejandro Milito | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Barcelona | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 May 2008 | |||
Gabriel Alejandro Milito (born 7 September 1980, Bernal, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine professional football defender, currently playing for Spanish La Liga club FC Barcelona. He is the younger brother of Real Zaragoza striker Diego Milito.
Club career
Previously, Milito played for Argentine first division Independiente from 1997 to 2003. During that time, he had to face his older brother Diego Milito, who played for Independiente's arch-rivals Racing Club, and who as of the end of the 2006-07 season was his teammate at Real Zaragoza.
In 2003, he was due to be transferred to Real Madrid, but the Spanish team rejected the player after some medical results that, so the club said, showed a not-fully-recovered knee injury. To many, it was a political move against Madrid's football director Jorge Valdano, who wanted the player in the team. It was also suggested that he was rejected because he was not a very famous player internationally, and therefore would not fit the galactico team which Real Madrid presented at the time.[citation needed] Milito decided to stay in Spain, and signed for Real Zaragoza.
On 10 July 2007 Real Zaragoza reached a transfer agreement with FC Barcelona for €20.5million (£13.9m) and on 19 July 19 Milito passed his medical at Barcelona and signed a four-year deal with the club worth €4million (£2.7m) a year. He was given the number 3 shirt, which was formerly worn by Thiago Motta, who had been transferred to Atlético Madrid.
Milito made his competitive debut for Barcelona on 2 September 2007 in a game against Athletic Bilbao.[1] He scored his first competitive goal for Barcelona on November 24 2007 in a league against Recreativo Huelva.[2]
On May 5 2008 it was announced that Milito had damage to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee which will keep him out for a maximum of six months.
International career
With the Argentine national football team, Milito participated in the Confederations Cup 2005 and was part of the squad which qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, performing well in the first-round match of Argentina against Netherlands national football team.
References
External links
- Guardian statistics
- Career details at national Football Teams
- Gabriel Milito's profile at FC Barcelona's official site
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Template:Argentina Squad 2006 World Cup
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- 1980 births
- Living people
- Argentine footballers
- Argentines of Italian descent
- Independiente footballers
- Football (soccer) central defenders
- La Liga footballers
- Real Zaragoza footballers
- People from Buenos Aires Province
- 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players
- 2006 FIFA World Cup players
- 2007 Copa América players
- Argentina international footballers
- Argentine football defender stubs