Christian Abbiati (born 8 July 1977) is an Italian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. Abbiati, who had been with

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

since 1998, started his career with

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...

, and later played more than 300 official matches for Milan. He also spent loan spells at Borgosesia Calcio,

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

. His honours include three

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

titles, one

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

, two

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual association football, football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles ...

victories, one

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

and one

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

. Although he was selected by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

(where the team reached the final), and the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, he did not represent the nation until he made his international debut in a 2–1 friendly win against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 2003. In total, he was capped four times by the national team. Abbiati currently holds the record for the most appearances as a goalkeeper for Milan (380). In his prime, Abbiati was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Italy.

Club career

AC Milan

Abbiati's

debut came on 17 January 1999 as a 92nd-minute substitute for

Sebastiano Rossi Sebastiano Rossi (born 20 July 1964) is an Italian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During a 21-year professional career, he appeared in 346 Serie A games, most notably representing A.C. Milan (12 seasons) with which ...

. Abbiati picked up a league title with

that season despite initially being third-choice goalkeeper behind Rossi and Jens Lehmann, while also facing competition from reserve keeper

Giorgio Frezzolini Giorgio Frezzolini (born 21 January 1976) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career A Lazio youth system product, Frezzolini never played for the '' biancocelesti'' and was instead sent on loan to several minor league te ...

. Due to his performances, Abbiati eventually broke into the starting line-up, and in the final match of the season on 23 May, he made several decisive saves, including one on

Cristian Bucchi Cristian Bucchi (born 30 May 1977) is an Italian football manager and former player who is the head coach of Serie B club Ascoli. A forward, he was best known for his goal-scoring ability in Serie B during the peak of his career. Club caree ...

, as Milan celebrated winning the ''

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' ( Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous sea ...

'' following a 2–1 away win over

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part ...

. He then became Milan's undisputed first choice goalkeeper for the next four years, until he lost his starting spot to backup

Dida In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) is an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14-16). DiDA was intr ...

early in the 2002–03 season after incurring an

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

during a

qualifying match in August 2002. Dida's top form effectively grounded Abbiati's playing time to a halt. Despite his relegation to the bench, Abbiati still managed to contribute to Milan's

and Champions League victories that season. He appeared in Milan's

2003 Supercoppa Italiana The 2003 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the 2002–03 Serie A champions, and Milan, the 2002–03 Coppa Italia winner. It was the sixth appearance for Juventus (3 victories in 1995, 1997 and 2002) and the seventh for Milan ...

defeat to

on penalties, but Dida later regained his position as starting goalkeeper. Abbiati played one minute in Milan's 2004–05 Champions League campaign, when he came on as a substitute in the 74th minute after Dida had been struck by a flare thrown from the crowd during the quarter-final second leg against cross-city rivals Internazionale on 12 April 2005. The match was ultimately suspended less than a minute later. His last match in a Milan kit came on 20 May in a 3–3 home draw with

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

, a match which saw the starters rested for the upcoming Champions League final, which Milan lost to

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

after squandering a 3–0 half-time lead. Milan finished second in

that season.

Loan spells

Abbiati announced his desire to move to another club in order to contend for a starting spot and was therefore loaned to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

for the 2005–06 season in July 2005, but he immediately returned to Milan after Genoa were relegated to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

due to a match-fixing scandal.

Juventus and Torino

Abbiati was soon on the move again, joining Juventus as a temporary replacement for incumbent

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded pl ...

, who had suffered a dislocated shoulder during the Luigi Berlusconi Trophy match against Milan in August 2005. With long-awaited regular playing time at his disposal, he flourished with the ''Bianconeri'', but when Buffon returned to the starting lineup six months later, Abbiati's services were no longer needed, and he left at the end of the season for another

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

squad when Milan loaned him to

in July 2006. Although Juventus managed to win the

title that season, it was later revoked due to their involvement in the ''

Calciopoli ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A and to a lesser extent Serie B. Involving various clubs and numerous executives, both from the same clubs and from the main Italian football ...

'' scandal, and they were relegated to Serie B the following season.

Atlético Madrid

Despite expressing his desire to stay for another season, Abbiati and Torino ultimately parted ways due to a salary dispute. He was once again loaned out by Milan for the third time in three seasons, this time to Spanish club

until June 2008.AC Milan to loan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati to Atletico Madrid
– SLAM! Sports, 26 June 2007 He began the season on the bench until an injury to incumbent

Leo Franco Leonardo "Leo" Neoren Franco (born 20 May 1977) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is a manager. After starting out at Independiente in 1995, he went on to spend the vast majority of his career in Sp ...

put him in the starting lineup. On 29 December, he expressed interest in staying with Atlético beyond 2007–08 season, saying, "My adaptation has gone better than I expected. I am happy at this club because they have helped me so much. I like playing in Spain and I think I will learn a lot during the time that I have left here."Abbiati Wants to Extend Atlético Stay
– Goal.com, 29 December 2007

Return to AC Milan

Abbiati returned to Italy after being called back by Milan for the 2008–09 season and took over as first choice from

Zeljko Kalac Zeljko Kalac (born 16 December 1972) is an Australian former soccer goalkeeper, who is currently the manager of NK Urania Baška Voda, who play in the Croatian third division. Nicknamed "Spider" due to his tall, gangly figure, standing at 2.02& ...

after a solid pre-season. However, on 15 March 2009, his season was cut short following a severe knee injury in the first half of Milan's 5–1 league win over

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

, after he suffered ligament damage to his right knee from a collision with teammate Giuseppe Favalli. He was ruled out of action for six months following

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

and knee surgery.Complex knee injury rules Abbiati out for season
– AFP, 16 March 2009 In 28 appearances, he kept 11 clean sheets and conceded 27 goals. On 8 November, nearly eight months after the injury, Abbiati was called up as Milan's third-choice behind Dida and new acquisition

Flavio Roma Flavio Roma (; born 21 June 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Roma started his career in the youth teams of Lazio. He was the third goalkeeper behind Luca Marchegiani and Fernando Orsi ...

for Milan's 2–1 away win over

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. In

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, Abbiati returned as starting goalkeeper for Milan after Dida's departure. He added two more year to his contract in July 2010, to last until 30 June 2013. He made some crucial saves in the first half of the season and was one of the primary reasons to Milan holding a top spot by January 2011. On 7 May 2011, after a series of good performances in crucial matches in the second half of the season, Milan clinched their first Serie A trophy in seven years. Abbiati followed up this victory by winning the

over Internazionale, although they were unable to defend the ''Scudetto'', finishing second to champions Juventus. On 20 May 2013 Abbiati signed a new one-year contract. In September 2013, he broke Sebastiano Rossi's record for the most appearances as a goalkeeper for Milan. His contract was renewed again on 21 May 2014. In the

2014–15 Serie A The 2014–15 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier Italian football, the 83rd in a round-robin tournament, and the fifth since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie ...

season, he was named Milan's second-choice goalkeeper following the arrival of former

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

goalkeeper Diego López. He received a new one-year contract extension on 1 July 2015. During the

2015–16 Serie A The 2015–16 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th season of top-tier Italian football, the 84th in a round-robin tournament, and the 6th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...

season, Abbiati became Milan's third-choice goalkeeper behind 16-year-old

Gianluigi Donnarumma Gianluigi Donnarumma (born 25 February 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in world footbal ...

. He made five appearances in the

, as he helped Milan to reach the final of the tournament, but was benched in favour of Donnarumma in Milan's 1–0 loss to Juventus in the final. Although it was initially unknown whether Abbiati would return for the 2016–17 season, he officially announced on 13 May that he would be retiring at the end of the season. Despite Milan announcing that Abbiati would make his final appearance in the season finale against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

on 14 May, Abbiati instead opted to let Donnarumma start due to the importance of the match. In total, Abbiati managed 281 league appearances during his 15 years with the club.

International career

Abbiati received his first call-up for

as the third goalkeeper for

, after Gianluigi Buffon withdrew from the squad through injury, and was part of the squad that participated in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. However, he did not earn his first cap until a 2–1 victory over

on 30 April 2003. Abbiati was left off the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

roster but was recalled to the national team in September 2006. In March 2009, three days before his season-ending knee injury, he said that he would refuse a future call-up for Italy in a non-starting role.Milan's Abbiati: I Don't Want To Be Third Choice For Italy
– Goal.com, 12 March 2009 In total, he made four appearances for Italy.

After retirement

In June 2017, it was announced in a statement published on Milan's official website that Abbiati would be joining the club once again as a club manager, acting as a liaison between the team and the club.

Style of play

In his prime, Abbiati was a physically strong, reliable and reactive keeper. Throughout his career, he stood out for his longevity, work-rate, leadership and composure in goal, as well as his ability to rush off of his line or come out to claim crosses, despite initially being somewhat indecisive in this area in his youth. Although his performances became more inconsistent during the later years of his career, he was initially regarded as one of the most talented young Italian goalkeepers of his generation since his emergence with Milan in Serie A during the late 1990s, and he subsequently cemented himself as one of the best Italian goalkeepers of his generation, as well as one of the best shot-stoppers in Serie A.

Personal life

In September 2008, Abbiati sparked controversy and criticism from the Italian media when he declared he was a

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

during an interview with Italian sports magazine ''Sportweek''. He later stated he rejected the fascist racial laws and aggressive foreign policies, but declared he was "not ashamed to proclaim" his far-right ideology. "I share heideals of fascism, such as the fatherland and the values of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

religion."I'm a fascist, says AC Milan star Christian Abbiati
– ''The Guardian'', 27 September 2008 Abbiati is married to an Italian woman, Stefania Abbiati. Their daughter, Giulia, was born on 30 January 2000.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;

(3): 1998–99, 2003–04,

(1): 2002–03 *

(2):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

(1): 2002–03 *

(1):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

* Intercontinental Cup (Runner-up):

International

;

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

(Runner-up):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Individual

* AC Milan Hall of Fame

Orders

: 5th Class / Knight: '' Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'': 2000

References

External links

*
AIC Profile

FIGC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbiati, Christian 1977 births Living people People from Abbiategrasso Footballers from Lombardy 2002 FIFA World Cup players A.C. Milan players A.C. Monza players Atlético Madrid footballers Christian fascists Expatriate footballers in Spain Association football goalkeepers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Italian expatriate footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Italian footballers Italian Roman Catholics Italian neo-fascists Italy under-21 international footballers Italy international footballers Juventus F.C. players Olympic footballers of Italy Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players La Liga players Torino F.C. players UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA Champions League winning players Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Milan