Marcelo Gallardo
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcelo Daniel Gallardo | ||
| Date of birth | 18 January 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Merlo, Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | River Plate (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1999 | River Plate | 109 | (18) |
| 1999–2002 | Monaco | 103 | (18) |
| 2002–2006 | River Plate | 132 | (38) |
| 2007–2008 | Paris Saint-Germain | 22 | (2) |
| 2008 | D.C. United | 15 | (4) |
| 2009–2010 | River Plate | 21 | (7) |
| 2010–2011 | Nacional | 12 | (3) |
| Total | 414 | (90) | |
| International career | |||
| 1994–2003 | Argentina | 44 | (13) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2012 | Nacional | ||
| 2014– | River Plate | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Marcelo Daniel Gallardo (born 18 January 1976) is a former Argentine footballer who is also the current manager for River Plate.[1] He was an attacking midfielder in the role of playmaker.
Club career
Early years
Nicknamed El Muñeco (the doll) due to his small frame (169 cm, 70 kg), Gallardo started his football career back in 1992-93 season with River Plate and won 4 Argentinian Torneo de Apertura (93, 94, 96 and 97), 1 Argentinian Torneo de Clausura (1997) and 1 Copa Libertadores (1996).
His initial spell with los millonarios lasted until season 1998-99; by then he had played 109 league games for them and scored 18 goals.
Europe
In 1999, he was snapped up by Monaco. In his first season in Europe, Gallardo proved his worth and played 28 games, scoring 8 goals and formed lethal partnership with Ludovic Giuly in Midfield.
In the following season, Gallardo won his first Première Division and Trophée Des Champions with Monaco.
As a team containing many big-name players such as Marco Simone, Fabien Barthez, Willy Sagnol, Martin Djetou, Pablo Contreras, Ludovic Giuly, Philippe Christanval, Rafael Márquez, Sabri Lamouchi, David Trezeguet, and John Arne Riise, Monaco enjoyed their success domestically and it was evident Gallardo was one of the star players, having won the French League Footballer of the Year that year.
However in his third season, things did not go well off the pitch for Gallardo as he was not in good terms with his coach Didier Deschamps[1] after being named on the bench midway through 2000-01 season. Following the examples of Panucci and Simone, Gallardo decided to leave Monaco at the end of the season.
Back to Argentina
After making 102 appearances and scoring 18 goals for Monaco, Gallardo returned to his old club River Plate as club captain, he helped them win another Clausura in 2004.
Back to France
Marcello Gallardo was bought by the Parisian club PSG for an undisclosed fee in January 2007. Paris Saint-Germain signed a two year contract with Marcelo and made his debut in a 3-0 cup win against Nîmes on 7 January.
On 13 January 2007 he played his first Ligue 1 match for PSG against Valenciennes[2]
After spending only one season with the club, Gallardo terminated his contract, looking to move to Major League Soccer in the United States.[3]
Major League Soccer with D.C. United
On 29 January 2008 Gallardo was presented as the newest member of D.C. United. With a 2008 salary of $1.87 million, Gallardo is the highest-paid player in United history and its first Designated Player. Gallardo has the third-largest salary in MLS for 2008, behind English midfielder David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy ($6.5 million guaranteed) and Mexican forward Cuauhtémoc Blanco of the Chicago Fire ($2.67 million).[4] He scored his first league goal for United on 5 April 2008 against Toronto FC. On 17 and 19 July Gallardo underwent surgery for a sports hernia. In February 2009 he left D.C. United and returned for the third time to his old club River Plate.
Nacional and new career as a manager
In 2010 he signed at Nacional de Montevideo in the Uruguayan League. On 12 June 2011, Gallardo played his last match winning the Uruguay Tournament making him one of the few players to win a championship or a league in every team that he played. He retired as a player, and was hired a few days later as new manager of Nacional, his first job as a football manager. He won the 2011/2012 championship and left the club. He was assisted by Matías Biscay, Pablo Rodríguez and professor Marcelo Tulbovitz during his time at Nacional Montevideo.
National team
Gallardo made his international debut for Argentina in 1994 against Chile and made 44 appearances and scored 13 goals.
He was also in the Argentina squad for the 1998 World Cup and 2002 World Cup.
Playing style
He tended to play as a central playmaker. He is well known for his free kicks and corners, and he is also skillful in confrontation and possesses an intelligent footballing brain, although he is best known for his defense splitting passes.
National team statistics
| Argentina national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1994 | 2 | 0 |
| 1995 | 11 | 5 |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | 8 | 5 |
| 1998 | 9 | 0 |
| 1999 | 4 | 0 |
| 2000 | 2 | 1 |
| 2001 | 5 | 2 |
| 2002 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 44 | 13 |
Honours
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Argentina
| ||
| Men's Football | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1996 Atlanta | Team Competition |
| Pan American Games | ||
 |
1995 Mar del Plata | Team Competition |
As a player
- Primera División Argentina (1993A, 1994A, 1996A, 1997C, 1997A, 2004C)
- Copa Libertadores (1996)
- Supercopa Sudamericana (1997)
- With AS Monaco FC
- Ligue 1 (2000)
- Trophée des champions (2000)
- Coupe de la Ligue (2003)
- With Paris Saint-Germain
- Coupe de la Ligue (2008)
- With D.C. United
- U.S. Open Cup (2009)
- Uruguayan Primera División (2010–11)
As a coach
- Uruguayan Primera División (2011–12)
Individual honors
| Distinción | Año |
|---|---|
| Chosen as the best young player in Torneo Apertura of Argentina | 1993 |
| Chosen as the best young player in Torneo Clausura of Argentina | 1994 |
| Chosen as the best player in Torneo Clausura of Argentina | 1994 |
| Chosen as the best player in Torneo Apertura of Argentina | 1994 |
| Chosen as the best player in Torneo Clausura of Argentina | 1995 |
| Chosen as the best player in Torneo Clausura of Argentina | 1996 |
| Chosen as the best player in Torneo Apertura of Argentina | 1997 |
| Chosen as the best player in the French League | 2000 |
References
- ^ «Gallardo es el técnico»
- ^ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
- ^ "Gallardo Leaning Towards MLS". Soccer365.com. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
- ^ Goff, Steven (4 April 2008). "Gallardo Is United's Highest-Paid Player Ever". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
External links
- Marcelo Gallardo – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Marcelo Gallardo at National-Football-Teams.com
- Statistics at Irish Times
- Argentine Primera statistics
Argentina Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- Use dmy dates from September 2012
- 1976 births
- Living people
- People from Buenos Aires Province
- Argentine footballers
- River Plate footballers
- AS Monaco FC players
- Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players
- D.C. United players
- Club Nacional de Football players
- Expatriate footballers in Uruguay
- Expatriate footballers in Monaco
- Expatriate footballers in France
- 1998 FIFA World Cup players
- 2002 FIFA World Cup players
- 1995 King Fahd Cup players
- 1995 Copa América players
- 1997 Copa América players
- Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for Argentina
- Olympic footballers of Argentina
- Argentina international footballers
- Ligue 1 players
- Argentine expatriate footballers
- Primera División Argentina players
- Expatriate soccer players in the United States
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Argentine expatriates in Monaco
- Olympic medalists in football
- Major League Soccer players
- Designated Players (MLS)
- Argentina youth international footballers
- Argentine football managers
- Club Nacional de Football managers
- River Plate managers