History of Champions | Hugo Gatti, the #1 of Argentinian goalkeeper!

Hugo Gati
“Wolf”, “Crucifixion”, “Surrender”, “Victory”, these are some of the designations that define him! They will call him “El loco”, crazy!

Exactly, crazy can be called such a goalkeeper who, in order to stop the opposing attackers, decides to face them by sitting on his knees, convinced that the ball will collide with his body. However, many others want to copy his style, but it is impossible. Anyway, Ugo Gatti made a big “mistake” because he wanted to challenge exactly the wrong man….

Sportis Vision + / The Hour of The Champions brings for all the readers of the page in the section “Champion`s History” the profile of a “crazy” goalkeeper, the Argentinian Hugo Orlando Gatti.

He was born in Carlos Tejedor on August 19, 1944. The goalkeeper played in the “Primera Division”, the national championship of Argentina from 1962 to the season of v. 1988, being active with several clubs such as “Atlanta” (1962-1964); “River Plate” (1964-1968); “La Plata High School” (1969-1974); “Union Santa Fe” (1974-1975) and “Boca Juniors” (1976-1988), managing to select a total of 757 matches and even scoring one goal. At the same time, he was the goalkeeper of the Argentine national team from 1966 to 1977 with 18 appearances.

With “Boca Juniors” he managed to win the title of National Champion three times, two Libertadores Cups and one Intercontinental Cup. He played until the age of 44.

Gatti, nicknamed “El Loco” (The Crazy One) was recognized for his charisma, innovative style of play for his position and his eccentricity. He evolved into a goalkeeper who relied on positional play rather than his reflexes. He often left the penalty area in the function of an additional player, joining the defense department – and even often jumping into the attack. Unlike most goalkeepers of his era, he used his legs, head and chest extensively to control or strike the ball.

He was one of the pioneers of the maneuvers, the technique of the goalkeeper running to challenge an approaching opposition player. Gatti also excelled in the face of penalty kicks, saving 26 of them during his career, tying the record for most ever set in the Primera División with fellow contemporary goalkeeper Ubaldo Fillol.

Below we will talk more about the “rebel” goalkeeper who believed in and had the only idol, Jesus Christ, so much so that he often placed himself in the gate with his arms open, taking the form of a crucified man.

He often won by “surrendering”. His position was there in the port, which means the last man in the trenches. Normally the goalkeeper is the last to win a match and the first to lose it. The last in the football game that has no tolerance for mistakes, that is, a delicate position which knows very well that it cannot correct mistakes. The goal line is more or less like a High Court without appeal.

For this reason, the goalkeeper is the only person charged with great responsibility, the weight of which presses him throughout the 90 minutes of the game. But not goalkeeper Ugo Gatti, who owns this profession in a completely different way. For Gati, defending the goal is the same as if you are sitting on a comfortable sofa and talking quietly with a friend, smiling, with your head “revealed” by responsibility and any pressure and even drinking something.

And why not? Ugo Gatti is a product of one of the cultures, traditions and histories that have shaped Argentina. The name is Italian, but the eyes and facial expressions are more Indian….a mixture exactly like that of Gati, who understands the entire field of play for the area of difficulty of a goalkeeper.

He never pulls back if it is necessary to make a triple, and imagine the comebacks in the game, the penalty shots…so a goalkeeper is always on the move and active, so much so that he was active in two Argentinian championship teams, sometimes with River Plate and sometimes with Boca Juniors, two clubs as equal as they are different and rivals. “River Plate” of the class of a high society and “Boca Juniors” of that of Port. River Plate brought Gati to the team in the 60s with that “Beatles” style of hair.

From the beginning of his career, the position of the goalkeeper on the opposite side of the field will resemble him sad, boring, motionless, completely opposite from what he applied himself.

In 1966, he will cover the role of the third goalkeeper of the Argentine representative in the London World Cup, even though Hugo knows very well that he will never see the starting post and the field of play. The music of the group “Beatles”, the style of clothing and the hair style were of the time, also for Gatti, who are the only ones left from that world. It is easy to ignore such behavior due to arrogance and snobbishness, but an exception can be made for Gatti because there are no good goalkeepers at his level. Even more so when the goalkeeper exalts his teammates and the fans on the stadium steps, even any behavior outside the target can be forgiven and in the end Hugo Gatti has never shown a lack of respect for any opponent. Never ever!

The jerseys and uniforms he wears are of an extravagance, for which the other sad and bored goalkeepers on the other side of the field are not allowed. A bandana tied around his forehead keeps his long hair…however, these are some of the details that Hugo Gatti displays, especially when in Spanish-speaking countries the “derby” matches are called “el classico”. Thus, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, such matches are very heated, with strong feelings and emotions, radical and fiery in rivalry.

It is played in the “Boka” stadium, which everyone there calls “La Bombonera” because on the day of the inauguration of this stadium, one of the designers said with a smile that the end of the playing field resembled a box of candies, small portions of chocolates. that were donated to this designer. However, on the day when the “el classico” matches were held, no one among the rival spectators brought candies or sweets…!

The things that fly onto the field from the steps of the stadium, precisely in the area of the goal that was defended by Hugo Gatti, “in the heart of the fans” of Boka, are completely different! That part of the field was completely filled with discarded items, plastic bottles, cleats, shoes…but Gatti stayed calm, he was not afraid of this provocative behavior of opposing fans who would later become his team’s fans.

At a certain moment, a broom flies from the stairs of the stadium, which falls right in front of his feet. Hugo Gatti doesn’t think long, grabs the broom and starts cleaning the things thrown in the area around his goal. This is a gesture of a “surrendered” man who, instead of a fearful situation, uses his sense of humor “raising his hands” and responding to all those who had taken him as a sign!!!

In real life, such a “handover” action can be much more of a gesture of intelligence and not an unnecessary action! A goalkeeper like Hugo Gatti, who carries the trademark of the production of these gestures, knows very well! It is March 20, 1976. The representative team of Argentina conducts a friendly tour in Poland and Soviet Union.

View from the match CCCP-Argentina 0-1 Gatti in flight

Argentina plays in Kiev against the Soviets. The only thing that worries Gatti this time is the cold, quite different with the items thrown in “Bombonera”, the field here is covered with snow and ice. And Hugo Gatti, for the first time, instead of wearing a bandana around his forehead, uses a wool cap to prevent his hair and to protect himself from this terrible cold.

Oh, what a performance Gatti makes in this match which is won by Argentina 1-0! The newspaper “El Grafico” writes on the front page: “Gatti, the man of Kiev”!!!

It would be necessary in this match for him to use his punches often, where the public also started to like him, which was shown later during the match quite openly by the cheers and applause of the locals. But what has not been shown openly as a detail in this match is how Gatti was able to resist that freezing cold?

A long time later, one day Gatti himself would remember how: “I had put a small bottle behind the gate, but of course it didn’t hold water. I had filled it with vodka. Every now and then, I went to where I had placed it and sip it back a little” This is why this goalkeeper wore the “El Loco” and not only for this.

Once again, in a very boring match where no ball was approaching his goal, it scrambles and lands on the crossbar!!!

“I was having a lot of fun. Nothing was happening and so I decided to sit on the crossbar” – he will say. When he was training, he often ignored the sessions dedicated to goalkeepers. “It’s much more fun to learn those of a center forward”!!!

Journalists often had to follow Gati running with a notepad in hand for interviews! Other cases prove that many times Gatti has caused panic among his teammates during matches while leaning on one of the vertical pillars with his eyes closed and his head up towards the sun!!!

“I am the best goalkeeper in the world and you know why? Because I have fun and no one has taught me anything about this profession. If you are number one, no one can teach you” – he would say!

The list of his “stories” is still long.

In 1988, with the Boca shirts that he has been wearing for more than 12 years, 44-year-old Hugo Gatti comes out of the goal area to triple the center forward of Deportivo, but… the episode turns into a tragedy. He does not manage to maneuver and his personal initiative and Boka loses in its field 0-1, while Gatti will spend all the remaining games of that season, which will be the last one on the reserve bench.

A contract is offered to him by the “Deportivo Kali” team from Columbus. Meanwhile, a match is being held to honor a veteran of the local team who is hanging up his shoes. Hugo Gatti, on the day of the presentation, appears wearing the jersey of Deportivo’s rivals, that of Amerika Kali!!! “Apriti Cielo” !!!

Everyone takes notice and the contract is not even considered! Joking with the rivals’ shirts, in fact, Gati had done it before in 1973 when he played with “Gimnasia La Plata”. Once again, he was in the gate next to the Boka fans in “Bobonera”.

This time too, as always, greetings, various items fly in the open field near the gate area. There is no broom to save him from this situation. Meanwhile, under the jersey of “Gimnasia” he is wearing the jersey of “Boca Juniors”, for which he has never stopped as a fan. This time, the fans “soften up” and fall “under his feet”.

Just one mistake would never be forgiven the “rebel” goalkeeper.

It is the year 1980 and Hugo Gati has taken the most wrong man in the world.

3. Gatti – Maradona

The match between Argentina Juniors and Boca Juniors will take place. Gati defended the goal of Boka.

“Everyone was talking about a phenomenon with a body length of 1 and a half meters and a bald head with curly hair. The fans adored him because at the age of 18 he had scored a record number of goals.

I told a journalist: He may be good, but he is a bully, he will fail. Then, before the match, I met him and I told him: Hey, look, you can’t score against me even if Jesus Christ returns to earth” – these are the words that Gati said about the phenomenon of this game, the one that will become “God ” of football, specifically for Diego Armando Maradona!

That day, Jesus did not come down to earth, but Maradona managed to deceive the arrogant goalkeeper! Precisely Maradona was the wrong man who had taken Gati as a sign and who had more or less the same nature and did not tolerate anyone taking him in return!

Maradona, angry of course, managed to turn all that anger into an intelligence, intuition and technique in the service of his team, as he did throughout his career. And this was a merit, it was a quality of a player of gigantic proportions, as it will turn out in the following years. Precisely Maradona would be known throughout his time as “el diez” (ten) and after his death that word would be transformed into “El Dioz” (God)!

Let’s go back to the aforementioned double challenge: The game has started and Boka has taken the advantage with a penalty. Penalty also for Argentina Juniors. Here is Maradona who transforms it into a goal. 1-1!

Again, Diego scores the second after a masterful and incredible free kick, just two or three steps away from the corner flag in the right corner of the Argentina Juniors attack. It’s the second half! He scores the third goal when Gati tries to go out of the gate but remains frozen in place… and it’s not over yet!

The fourth goal of the Maradona firm, scores again after a free kick, a heavy shot where the ball collides powerfully in the left triangle! In the end, the result shows Argentina Juniors – Boca Juniors 5-3! “Yes!

He made me 4 goals! Diego A. Maradona be damned” – that would be what Gati would say. This is how Hugo Gatti surrendered to Maradona, but later the two will become friends. and true friends in the “Boca Juniors” team.

One day Gati will say: “Diego and I, the two biggest non-champions of the world in Argentina in 1978”. Maradona did not participate in the representative team because he was still young, while Gatti did not want to be in the representative team because he did not want to be instrumentalized by the military junta (as he himself had quoted). But the real reason will actually turn out to be different. Gati refused to make the reservation considering that he had done it in 1966.

4 – Filiol and Gati

In goal, coach Menoti has chosen Ubaldo Fillol, a gentile, correct and educated person. Fillol is tradition while Gati is madness! Fillol plays matches while Gati lives! Finally, many goals that Gati conceded, Fillol, on the contrary, would have cleverly avoided them. But there are many more that Hugo Gati has actually saved and for Fillol they would have been really unavoidable for the nets.

Because Fillol does not jump, does not take risks. Can you trust a person who never “gives up” in life? Fillol is the ideal fiance` that every mother would want for her daughter, with the difference that in the end the girls preferred Gati. It was really like that!

Hugo Gatti had no idols in the game of football except himself, yet someone seemed to be inspired.

This inspiration took the form of a very visible gesture of “surrender” / “sacrifice”!

“I only admire the crucified Jesus Christ. He is considered my invisible father and everything else necessary that I need in the world” – he says. “I remember that this is how I have always acted since I started playing in goal. I ran straight ahead to the opponent, stopped, bent my knees a little and opened my arms as if I were crossed. This position often distracted the opponents, as if it scared them by falling into my trap”, he will continue. From such dangerous collisions, Gatti has received many blows to the face and body, and he was not even late, on the contrary, they have improved how to become a great goalkeeper.

“Like Christ on the cross” would be expressed by Hugo Gati himself to describe a waiting, a salvation that contained in itself a miracle in that time of Argentina that was full of religious believers!

“La posicion de dioz”!

The position that often made Gati in front of opposing attackers and that resembled a cross!

Against Maradona, however, the “crucifixion of God” position was not enough. Maradona’s movements and kicks were so fast that they had not given Gati the opportunity to take that position! It was a duel between two champions, two of the biggest who were adored by the crowd of fans. There was nothing mysterious, nothing angelic in that duel, except that sometimes technique and arrogance, intelligence and courage appeared there.

It was like verses of poetry that filled these two undisputed champions on the carpet, even with their mistakes during their careers. Similar in nature and not by chance, the two would become friends later when they were defending the colors of Boka. This was the story of Hugo Orlando Gati, the brave, rebellious and arrogant Argentinian goalkeeper!