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2006 FIFA WORLD CUP: Every Duck has its day

/noticias.info/ by FIFAworldcup.com

If there is one quality that Argentina goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri has learned during his long career between the posts, it is patience.

El Pato (The Duck), as he affectionately is known in his homeland, was certainly forced to bide his time before cementing a starting place both with his beloved Boca Juniors and, later, with the Albicelestes.

Nevertheless, now that the 33-year-old’s perseverance is finally being rewarded, he is happy to report that it has all been worth the wait.

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When Abbondanzieri said ahead of the tournament “the fans should have faith in me,” he was doubtless motivated by an awareness that his form in Argentina’s warm-up games had proved a cause for real concern, and given added weight to the claims of his many critics. However, all that has changed since Argentina’s Germany 2006 opener with Côte d’Ivoire.

A pair of safe hands
There were 35 minutes were on the clock in Hamburg when Didier Drogba, a constant thorn in the Argentine defence, dinked a cross into the path of the onrushing Kader Keita. With the goal at his mercy, the Lille forward produced a powerful downward header only to see Abbondanzieri block the ball with his legs and prevent what seemed a certain equaliser. It was the first indication that this was to be The Duck’s night.

“I felt good, very relaxed. I didn’t have to prove myself to anyone,” he explained after the game. Abbondanzieri’s performance also drew fulsome praise from coach Jose Pekerman. “He played an absolutely vital part in the victory, and we couldn’t be happier with the way he played.”

Pekerman certainly hadn't overstated his goalkeeper's contribution. Abbondanzieri had, after all, stood firm against a veritable deluge of crosses that rained in on the Argentina box and, as if that were not enough, even had a hand in launching some effective attacks. It was one, in fact, of his booming clearances that eventually led to Argentina’s first goal of the evening.

Only the dogged perseverance of Didier Drogba ten minutes from time prevented him from keeping a clean sheet. “It was a very quick move, and I’m not sure it didn’t come off someone," Abbondanzieri said of the goal afterwards. "I would have saved it otherwise.”

The first hurdle safely cleared, Abbondanzieri - one of only three representatives from the Argentine league in the national side - now faces an even more testing task against Serbia and Montenegro. In the short-term, his goal is to emulate Ubaldo Fillol and Sergio Goycochea, his country’s last two undisputed first-choice keepers.

He said: “Some people say that the Argentina goal is the biggest in the world... and I do think there’s no bigger job for a goalkeeper." That may well be true, but Abbondanzieri is certainly making that goal a great deal smaller for opposition forwards. notas_de_prensa_archivo