Pablo Daniel Osvaldo

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Personal information
Pablo Daniel Osvaldo

Full name	Pablo Daniel Osvaldo
Date of birth	January 12, 1986 (1986-01-12) (age 22)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Fiorentina
Number	9
Youth clubs
1995-1999 1999-2000 2000-2005	Lanús Banfield Huracán
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2005 2006 2006-2007 2007-	Huracán Atalanta Lecce Fiorentina	33 (11) 3 (1) 31 (8) 13 (5)
National team²
2007-	Italy U-21	8 (2)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 18, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of May 29, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (born January 12, 1986 in Capital Federal, Buenos Aires) is an Italo-Argentine footballer, currently playing for ACF Fiorentina.

[edit] Career

Osvaldo made his competitive football debut in the Argentine 2nd Division for Club Atlético Huracán in 2005. After less than a year he was signed by Italian side Atalanta, where he played only three matches with a single goal in the Serie B 2005–06. In 2006 Atalanta agreed a co-ownership deal which sent the player to Lecce, another Serie B team, where Osvaldo had the opportunity to play regularly, scoring eight goals in 31 appearances with the giallorossi. Following such a fairly impressive season, Atalanta regained the full player's property and sold him to Fiorentina. He played his first Serie A match on September 29, 2007, scoring two goals in a 3–0 away win to Livorno.

On March 2, 2008 he headed in a cross from team mate Papa Waigo N'Diaye to give Fiorentina a 3-2 win in stoppage time over their fiercest of rivals, Juventus. He was then sent off for his goal celebration, after having been booked earlier in the match, when he removed his team jersey and pretended to machine gun his own fans in a similar fashion to Fiorentina legend Gabriel Batistuta's goal celebration. His most important goal saw Fiorentina to the Champions League on 18 May 2008 with an overhead kick against FC Torino.[1]

Osvaldo's celebration was significant seeing as both Batistuta and Osvaldo hail from Argentina and both wore Fiorentina's celebrated number 9 jersey.

On November 9, 2007 Osvaldo, a dual Italian and Argentine citizen, accepted to be called-up by Pierluigi Casiraghi to become part of the Italian Under-21 national team.

On May 18, 2008 Osvaldo scored the game winning and only goal against Torino Football Club with a spectacular overhead kick. The victory allowed Fiorentina to finish two points ahead of A.C. Milan and qualify for UEFA Champions League.

On May 29, 2008 Osvaldo scored the game winning and only goal against Chile U21 in the final of the 2008 Toulon Tournament. It was his only goal during this event.

[edit] External links

Guardian statistics

Persondata
NAME	Osvaldo, Pablo Daniel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Osvaldo, Pablo Daniel
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Football (soccer) player
DATE OF BIRTH	1986-1-12
PLACE OF BIRTH	Capital Federal , Argentina
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH