Sergio Ángel Berti (born 17 February 1969) is an Argentine retired professional footballer, nicknamed ''La Bruja'', who played as a midfielder.

Club career

Born in Villa Constitución, Santa Fe, Berti began his career in 1988 with popular club

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

. In 1990, he found his way out of ''la Bombonera'' in a transfer to fierce rival River Plate. The red stripe was indeed the club he spent most of his career with, not to mention short spells in between for Parma and Real Zaragoza. At River, Berti lived the golden era winning five titles including three domestic tournaments, the Copa Libertadores 1996 and the 1997

Supercopa Sudamericana The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually between 1988 and 1997 by t ...

. In 1999, Mexican club América acquired total ownership of his rights. In the Copa Libertadores 2000, when América came to visit his former club

for the first leg match of the semifinals, just minutes before the start of the game Berti withdraw from playing, arguing being scared for the safety of his family and himself based on the chants of the Barra of Boca Juniors. America lost that game 4–1 and Berti never played again with America. In 2001 Berti returned to Argentina and signed for recently promoted team

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ Maya mythology, Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in ...

. The following year, he had a brief stint at

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club () is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Ecuador, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Barce. T ...

of Ecuador. His career came to an abrupt end in 2002 at the Scottish Premier League side Livingston after spitting at teammate

Richard Brittain Richard Brittain (born 24 September 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He spent the 2015–16 season as manager of Brora Rangers after a short playing spell at the club. He started his career at Livingston and also played for R ...

, during a pre-season friendly.

International career

Berti was capped in 22 matches and scored one goal for Argentina, including two appearances during the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

and converting his penalty in the shoot-out against England in the Second Round. He was also a member of the national team that participated in Copa América 1995 and Copa América 1997.

References

External links

Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berti, Sergio 1969 births Living people People from Constitución Department Association football midfielders Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Serie A players Parma Calcio 1913 players La Liga players Real Zaragoza players Liga MX players Club América footballers Al Ain FC players Club Atlético Huracán footballers Barcelona S.C. footballers Livingston F.C. players UAE Pro League players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1997 Copa América players Argentina international footballers Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Expatriate footballers in Ecuador Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province