Sebastián Battaglia

Sebastián Alejandro Battaglia (born 8 November 1980) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career with Argentine club Boca Juniors, but also had a brief spell with Spanish side Villarreal. At international level, he made 10 appearances for the Argentina national team between 2003 and 2009. Battaglia has been described in his club profile as displaying good positioning, being a ball-winner and possessing good aerial ability.[1]

Sebastián Battaglia
Battaglia in March 2015.
Personal information
Full name Sebastián Alejandro Battaglia
Date of birth (1980-11-08) 8 November 1980
Place of birth Santa Fe, Argentina
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
–1998 Boca Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2003 Boca Juniors 102 (9)
2004–2005 Villarreal 29 (1)
2005–2013 Boca Juniors 122 (9)
Total 252 (19)
National team‡
2003–2009 Argentina 10 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:31, 25 June 2011 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:28, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Battaglia is the most decorated player in Boca Juniors' history, having won 18 titles with the club between 1998 and 2012.[2][3] His last championship playing for Boca was the 2011–12 Copa Argentina.

Career

Even though he was born in Santa Fe Province, Sebastián began his career with the Boca Juniors' reserve team. He made his professional debut on 31 May 1998, and quickly became an important player for Boca Juniors'. He played for 5 years at the club, when in the middle of the 2003–2004 season, Villarreal CF of Spain bought 50% of his contract for 2.8 million euros and acquired his services. Villarreal was considered an excellent destination for Battaglia as there were already plenty of former Boca players such as Martín Palermo, Juan Román Riquelme, Diego Cagna, Rodolfo Arruabarrena and Fabricio Coloccini at the club.

Battaglia played only a season and a half at Villareal, and never displayed the form that had made him such a hot property in Argentina. His family also had trouble adjusting to their new life in Spain. After an injury stopped him playing for almost 6 months, he decided to return with his family to Argentina. In July 2005, after some prolonged negotiations between Boca Juniors and Villarreal, he got his wish.

Back at Boca Juniors he recaptured his old form and started to improve his game, becoming club captain and being called up to the Argentina national squad to participate in the World Cup Qualifiers match against Peru on 8 October 2005. He was also a starter in the friendly match against Qatar in November of the same year.

During the 'Torneo de Verano' of 2008, Battaglia scored in the Superclásico against arch rivals River Plate, in a game where which Boca Juniors won 2–0. On 4 May 2008, in the 'Torneo Clausura' Battaglia would again score against River Plate, by heading in a goal from a corner which won Boca the game at 1–0.

On 11 December 2011, Battaglia entered the pitch as a substitute to play the last minutes of the final match of the 2011 Apertura (that Boca Juniors had already won two matches earlier), therefore being part of the title-winning squad. Thus, he became the most successful player in Boca Juniors history, with 18 championships.

Career statistics

International
Battaglia with the Chief of Government of Buenos Aires and former Boca Juniors president, Mauricio Macri (left) in 2012.

[4]

Argentina national team
YearAppsGoals
200330
200400
200530
200600
200700
200820
200920
Total100

Honours

Club
Boca Juniors
Villarreal

References
  1. "Player Profile". Boca Juniors. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  2. "Se retiró Battaglia, el jugador más ganador de la historia de Boca", Infobae, 4 Apr 2013
  3. "Battaglia, el más ganador en la historia de Boca, anunció su retiro", La Razón, 4 Apr 2013
  4. "Sebastián Battaglia". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
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