The experience and the change of continent was not an impediment for ‘Pato’ Abbondanzieri to show his quality as a goalkeeper. After a long journey through Boca Juniors, which meant practically a lifetime defending the colors of Xeneize, his career changed in the 2006/07 season to go to Getafe.
His arrival in Europe, at the age of 33, was a great challenge. Going from Argentina to the Spanish championship, in one of the teams that most often need their goalkeepers to achieve their goals. Abbondanzieri lived a short but intense stage as a azulón, getting out in his first season in Spain ‘Zamora’, being the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded, and visiting the rest of Europe in the UEFA Cup.
His high level, at the hands of Bernd Schuster, did not go unnoticed by the German coach. The good results achieved by the coach at Getafe would take him to Real Madrid. And one of the anecdotes of that obstacle is that he wanted to take ‘Pato’ with him to play at the Santiago Bernabéu.
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This is how Abbondanzieri relates it in the “Versus” of TyC Sports (by Matias Pelliccioni). “I would have liked to play for Real Madrid”, Said the former Boca player when asked about a club in which he would have liked to play. According to him in his response, ‘Pato’ was close to defending the white team’s shield after he landed in Europe.
“I was close to playing for Real Madrid. In 2007/08, Schuster wants to take me there, but as a substitute. It was impossible to touch Casillas”commented on this possibility. The figure of ‘Santo’ at Real Madrid was too great to offer or guarantee ownership to the Argentine, which led him to reject the offer of his former coach.
“I told him no, at 36 or 37 I prefer to play for Getafe, which is what I like”, explained the former footballer. His seasons in the Madrid team left a good memory, managing to stand out as a goalkeeper with a great ability to make saves and reflexes that, far from diminishing due to age, seemed to awaken in each game (he played a total of 93 matches as Azulón). And although he did not get the UEFA Cup pin or play for Real Madrid, the taste in Abbondanzieri’s mouth will surely be good, prioritizing the minutes for a great club.