Gabriel Milito

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gabriel Alejandro Milito (born 7 September 1980 in Bernal, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for FC 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.

[edit] Club career

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

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 FC 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.

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.

[edit] 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

[edit] Club statistics

[edit] Honours

[edit] Zaragoza

• Spanish Cup: 2003-04
• Spanish Supercup: 2004

[edit] Barcelona

• Spanish League: 2008–09
• Spanish Cup: 2008–09
• UEFA Champions League: 2008–09
• Spanish Supercup: 2009
• UEFA Super Cup: 2009

[edit] References

[edit] 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