Argentina rewards 'Batigol' for record marksmanship


July 9, 2003
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Argentinian football great Gabriel Batistuta was
given a special award for his record goalscoring exploits for the
national side here on Wednesday during a friendly match to celebrate
the 25th anniversary of their first World Cup triumph.

The 34-year-old scored 57 goals in 78 internationals but never tasted
World Cup glory, the 1998 quarter-finals being the nearest he got to
a final in three renewals.

The former Inter Milan, AS Roma and Fiorentina star bade his farewell
to his devoted fans, though he left open the unlikely possibility of
him once again returning to the international fold from which he
announced his retirement last summer after exiting at the first
hurdle of the World Cup finals.

"I believe you will never see me again in the national colours," he
said.

"However if I feel well physically well we will see," he added.

Batistuta is the latest former top class player to join the lucrative
route to football in the tiny Gulf state of Qatar having joined Al-
Arabi on a two year contract.

It was reported he would receive 5.5 million dollars for the first
year and 2.5 million dollars for the second.

Qatar, with huge financial resources thanks to its oil and gas
wealth, has attracted numerous ageing top-level players in recent
months including 1994 Brazil World Cup winning striker Romario,
France's 1998 World Cup winning defender Frank Leboeuf and German
veterans Stefan Effenberg and Mario Basler.

Batistuta will be hoping for better fortune on the pitch than
Romario, who returned to Brazil after just three months with Al-Saad
having failed to score - though his bank balance swelled by
1.5million dollars.