GABRIEL PALETTA

'Gabriel Alejandro Paletta' (born February 15 1986, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine central defender, who currently plays for Boca Juniors.

Contents

Career

Statistics

Titles

References

External links

Career

Paletta came through the youth teams of Club Atlético Banfield and reached the first team in 2005. When Banfield qualified for the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores, they altered their 25 man squad for the event to include Paletta and immediately threw him into action against the Colombian team Independiente Medellín. Paletta played well and Banfield progressed, but Paletta was to play no further part in the tournament after being called up to the Argentine under-20 team to participate in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.
Paletta started all seven games playing in the heart of the Argentine defence. Argentina, led upfront by Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero went on to win the tournament and Paletta's performances brought him to the attention of Liverpool's scouts.
Rafael Benítez said of the player: "Paletta is very tough and he's exactly the sort of player we need who will suit the Premiership. When you talk about the Argentinean defenders I worked with in Valencia, Paletta is more like Roberto Ayala than Mauricio Pellegrino. If you're talking about Liverpool, he's more like Jamie Carragher than Sami Hyypiä. This is good because we will have a balance in the style of defenders."
Liverpool are believed to have paid a fee in the region of ₤2 million for the young defender. He put pen to paper on a 4-year deal on July 4 2006, making Paletta the second Argentine to play for the Merseyside club, after Mauricio Pellegrino. ^[1] He first appeared for Liverpool in a pre-season friendly against Wrexham in July, and he made his full debut in a League Cup 4-3 win against Reading on 25 October 2006, marking his first competitive appearance for the club with a goal in the 50th minute.
Paletta had a difficult time against Arsenal in the Carling Cup which Liverpool lost 6-3, and it has been speculated that he was too inexperienced for English Cup football^[2]. He returned to Argentina after one year, joining Boca.

Statistics

''correct as of 7 June 2007''

' Club Performance'

Club	Season	Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool FC	2006–07	3	0	0	0	3	1	2	0	0	0	8	1
Club	Season	Primera Div		---------		---------		Copa Liber		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Club Atlético Banfield	2005–06	33	3	-	-	-	-	0	0	3	0	36	3
	2004–05	9	2	?	?	-	-	2	1	0	0	11	3
Total		45	5	0	0	3	1	4	1	3	0	55	7

Titles

Season	Club	Title
2005	Argentina	FIFA U-20 World Cup

References

1. Fifa.com
2. BBC News item

External links

★

★ Official LFC profile