Gabriel Omar Amato (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine retired

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, rugby le ...

who played as a striker.

Football career

Born in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, Amato began his senior career with local

Club Atlético Aldosivi Club Atlético Aldosivi (usually called simply Aldosivi) is an Argentina, Argentine association football, football club based in the city of Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Province. The senior squad currently plays in Argentine Primera División, Pri ...

. In his first seven seasons as a professional he represented six clubs, also wearing the shirts of

Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasi ...

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 ...

Club Atlético Independiente Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentina, Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda in Greater Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, wh ...

Club Atlético Huracán Club Atlético Huracán () is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is notable for its football team, that currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football ...

and

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez, Buenos Aires, Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city ...

. In 1996, Amato moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

where he would remain for the better part of following eight years: he started with

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

, but only scored twice in more than 2,000 minutes of action as his club was

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. Amato joined

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

for the 1997–98 campaign, sharing teams with countrymen

Héctor Cúper Héctor Raúl Cúper (; born 16 November 1955) is an Argentine football manager and former player. As a player, he was a defender who spent most of his career at Club Ferro Carril Oeste, where played 463 games. His nickname was "Cabezón" ("Big ...

(manager), Óscar Mena and

Carlos Roa Carlos Ángel Roa (born 15 August 1969) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeper coach of Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Most of his professional career was spent with Racing A ...

as the team – freshly promoted to the top level – overachieved for a final third position in the league table with him as its top scorer. The

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

side also reached the final of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

, where he assisted

Jovan Stanković Jovan Stanković (; born 4 March 1971) is a Serbian retired football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder. He spent the better part of his career with Red Star Belgrade and in Spain, most notably with Mallorca – he playe ...

in the 1–1 equalizer and also converted his

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

attempt, but in an eventual loss. In-between his stint in the country, Amato spent two seasons in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

with Rangers, signing for £4.2 million. In his first competitive game for Rangers, a remarkable

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

tie away to

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

side Shelbourne (although played at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

Prenton Park Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...

), Amato marked his debut by scoring twice as Rangers came back from 3–0 down to win the match 5–3. He netted 13 times in 45 official contests during his time with the club, winning the title on both occasions and adding the 1999 edition of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 5–1 away routing of

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, one of the goals coming through a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. After

one year ''One Year'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Colin Blunstone, a member of the Zombies. It was released by Epic Records in 1971. It includes "Say You Don't Mind", which peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. Prod ...

in Brazil with

Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense (), commonly known as Grêmio, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre, capital city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The club plays in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série ...

, Amato played a further three 1/2 seasons in Spain. Midway through 2003–04 he left

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

and joined

Club Atlético Banfield Club Atlético Banfield is an Argentine sports club based in the Banfield district of Greater Buenos Aires. It was founded on 21 January 1896, by the British–origin inhabitants of that city (mostly English, and some Scots and Irish). The club ...

, retiring shortly after at the age of 34.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amato, Gabriel 1970 births Living people Footballers from Mar del Plata Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine footballers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Aldosivi footballers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Atlético Banfield footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Hércules CF players RCD Mallorca players Real Betis players Levante UD footballers Albacete Balompié players Scottish Premier League players Rangers F.C. players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil