Gabriel Batistuta Provides Fiorentina With A Huge Lift After He Visits A Training Session

Gabriel Batistuta Provides Fiorentina With A Huge Lift After He Visits A Training Session
11:26, 29 Mar 2018

While football fans all over the globe have differing opinions on world football’s biggest superstars, there is one man whose appeal is almost entirely universal. Gabriel Batistuta was an icon of Serie A throughout the 1990’s, having worn the instantly recognisable purple Fiorentina shirt for almost the entire decade.

At the Stadio Artemio Franchi this complete player showcased a vast range of skills that audiences had not seen before or since. The audacity and force of some of his strikes are still unbelievable to watch, in addition to goals from tight angles, finding the net with powerful headers and shots that no other player would even consider attempting. His personality too was something special, a humble man with a genuine passion for Florence, Fiorentina and her supporters.

That bond would mean Il Re Leone – “The Lion King” – would remain in the city through the very peak of his career, even when the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester United came calling. Many others wouldn’t have hesitated for a second to accept such lucrative offers, but Batigol was different and his love affair with everything purple was simply too strong. When asked his best memory of his time in Florence, the former striker replied "Every day of the ten years I was there.”

“After three or four months I was already in love with Florence,” he continued in an interview published last week in the Corriere dello Sport newspaper. “I understood the Florentines and I assure you that it is not easy. They understood me and I was married to the purple cause. I thought if I could win here, it would be a good thing. I did not succeed, but in order to get there I gave everything I had.”

No-one would begrudge him a move to AS Roma in 2000 in order to realise his dream of winning the Scudetto, but the Viola have remained in his heart forever. Just over two weeks had passed since Fiorentina had suffered the sudden and shocking loss of their captain Davide Astori when Batistuta jumped on a plane from Argentina, knowing the healing effect his presence would have on a city that was still hurting from such a tragic event.

After first declaring his love for Florence to the city’s Mayor Dario Nardella, the retired striker then turned up at a Fiorentina training session alongside Vice President and fellow club legend Giancarlo Antognoni. Having played alongside Batistuta at Fiorentina in the 1990’s, current Viola boss Stefano Pioli would’ve known exactly what this visit meant, and would’ve surely welcomed some light relief after the intensity of the previous weeks.

The club aired a live video on social media of when the former number nine met the playing squad, their faces revealing everything you needed to know about how excited the young team were to meet this idol of their club and indeed the world.

Batistuta has an ability to bring joy to the public, first of all through the sheer entertainment of watching him play and now through his stature as a retired legend, along with of course, a quiet and humble personality. Each player in turn took the opportunity to shake his hand, the Argentine bringing light to those who had experienced dark times of late.

He even took time to give advice to his compatriot, 22-year-old Giovanni Simeone who is now the proud owner of his number nine shirt, but is struggling to find the net of late. The youngster is of course the son of his former Argentina team-mate Diego Simeone, but words from a man who has such intimate experience of this club would’ve been worth their weight in gold.

“Don’t worry, sooner or later a goal will come and everything will return to normal,” Batistuta said to the youngster as reported by Corriere Fiorentino. “Trust in Florence, if you understand the city then it will give you a big helping hand.”

In this way the Fiorentina striker spoke from the benefit of experience, a man who trusted in Florence even in the face of more financially lucrative offers. That faith didn’t necessarily pay off for him in a sporting sense, but this man clearly measures success in a different way to many others. Now Gabriel Batistuta is returning that faith over and over again, returning to a team in crisis to offer valuable help when they needed him the very most.

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