You can't speak of Batistuta, 'The Legend' without
mentioning his family. It will be like trying to
build a mosaic without it's most important part.
Because for Gabriel, family always comes first.
Our story begins in l970, Gabriel was a little
Argentine boy living a very normal life. A life very
similar to that of other boys, dividing his time
between dreams of adventures and school. From his
granfathers, Melchior and Nestor, he learned to love
fishing and hunting. They took him fishing to the
Parana River. They taught him to love and appreciate
nature. The grandmothers loved and snuggled him, and
many were the times that they had to run with him to
the hospital for them to take care of some cuts and
scrapes due to some of Gabriel's mischief.
Time passes and Gabriel grew, along side his sisters,
Elisa, Alejandra and Gabriela. With them always two
very important figures, father Osmar, an infatigable
worker, Gloria, the mother, the one that help to
create a love tie between a stern father and a son
wanting to prove himself. But Osmar carries a secret
within himself that Gabriel discovered throughout the
years. Behind all that work, behind all the silence
there is a man to whom family is sacred. Osmar has
taught Gabriel what really is important in life, he
has given his son the tools to face life. This is
Gabriel's first family, the one that saw him grow, the
one that saw him trying to find his place in life.
Yes, this is the story of a young boy who grew along
the banks of the Parana River...from here in a few
years a champion will emerge. But before he became
known, he was looking for that special woman. One
that will love the Argentine young man more than a
known champion. Someone willing to be part of his
world.
So it happen that Gabriel was invited to a
birthday party. A young girl was celebrating her
fifteenth birthday. This is a very important occasion
for any Argentine girl. When Gabriel saw Irina in her
pink dress, her sweet ways, he was struck. He forgot
his date and from that moment on his thoughts were all
for Irina. Gabriel was seventeen years old. From that
young age he knew that Irina was the woman for him.
Their first kiss happened eight month from that night.
The young couple felt that they were born to be
together. They knew they would have to face may
difficulties and hard moments, but they will face them
together.
Gabriel was to sign his first contract as a
professional soccer player, but for this he had to
move to another city. Irina remains in Reconquista,
this was a very hard period for the both of them.
They married the 28 of December, l990, in Saint Roque
Church, and is from here that Batistuta's second
family start, that of Batistuta the man, Batistuta the
husband and later on Batistuta the father.
In the year l991 Gabriel and Irina arrived at
"Firenze", here their three sons were born: Thiago,
Lucas and Joaquin. It's here were they grew as a
couple, as a family. Gabriel becomes "Batigol", Irina
meanwhile gets acquainted with the people and the
city.
Throughout the years they have become a very important
part of the city. Their children go to school here,
their friends are Fiorentines. But we know that deep
in Gabriel's heart theres the memories of those dawns,
sunsets facing the Parana River, the familiar scents
back home. Because like father Osmar, Gabriel also
think that family come first, that family should be
together. Thats why when he is in Argentina he
doesn't want to waste a minute apart from his loved
ones. This is the time he uses for getting closer to
those he's been apart because of his work. "Firenze"
is were he works, a place very dear to him. But
Reconquista is home, is the place were he learned to
face the world.
At the end of his career he'll go
back to his beloved land. True, time passes and these
plans can change. But even if thats the case his
heart, that nostalgic, passionate Argentinian heart
will remain forever linked to his homeland. And his
two families, the one who so him grow and the one he
started became just one. Following the dream and
example of that stern, silent
man to whom family is all. So ingrained are these
feelings in Gabriel that even now that he has become a
millionaire soccer champion, he has remained a down to
earth guy.