Gonzalo Rubén Bergessio (; born 20 July 1984) is an Argentine 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, rugby ...

who plays as a striker for

Club Atlético Platense Club Atlético Platense is an Argentine sports club based in Florida, Buenos Aires. The club nickname is (Squid) after the journalist Palacio Zino said that the team moved "like a squid in its ink". Although the club hosts many activities, Pla ...

Club career

Early career

Born in Córdoba, Córdoba Province, Bergessio started his career in the lower leagues with

. In 2005, he was signed by

Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba (commonly referred to as Instituto de Córdoba) is an Argentine sports club from the city Córdoba, whose professional football team currently plays in the Primera Nacional, the second division of the Argenti ...

of the Primera División, but at the end of the 2005–06 season Instituto were relegated, and the player was sold to

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

. Bergessio contributed six goals in the ''Apertura'' 2006 and, in the following year's ''

Clausura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

'', continued to score on a regular basis. His fast pace earned him a big following at the

Estadio Juan Domingo Perón A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

, and he became a fan favourite after scoring the game winner against Boca Juniors, adding another against

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

Benfica, return to Argentina

On 26 June 2007, Bergessio signed a five-year deal with Primeira Liga club

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

for a reported

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

2.5 million fee, as an unknown party remained eligible to 50% of the future transfer fee the Portuguese received. He only appeared in three league matches during his spell, one more than his opportunities in the

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, in January of the following year he returned to his country. In January 2008, Bergessio joined

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team ...

. On 8 May, he was involved in the Copa Libertadores tie against River where, after his team had two players

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

and were 0–2 down, he scored twice to give it an improbable aggregate win.

Saint-Étienne

On 25 August 2009, Bergessio returned to Europe by agreeing to a four-year contract with France's AS Saint-Étienne, for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for his new club during his second appearance, a 1–1 home draw with

AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...

, but netted just five times more in his first one and a half seasons with the Ligue 1 club.

Catania

In the last hours of the 2011 winter

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

, Bergessio joined Italian side

Calcio Catania Catania S.S.D., commonly known as Catania, is an Italian football club based in the city of Catania, Sicily, that plays in . Originally founded in 1908 as ''Associazione Sportiva pro Educazione Fisica'', the club boasts 17 appearances in the ...

, arriving on loan for the remainder of the season – the

Sicilians Sicilians or the Sicilian people are a Romance speaking people who are indigenous to the island of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the largest and most populous of the autonomous regions of Italy. Origin and i ...

had the option to sign him player permanently at the conclusion of this loan agreement. He made his

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 ...

debut on 20 February, playing the full 90 minutes and being booked in a 1–0 away loss against

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...

. After an initial delay in the transfer, Bergessio signed a permanent four-year contract on 29 August 2011 for €945,000. In the 2012–13 campaign he became a key part of Rolando Maran's team, forming an efficient attacking partnership with countrymen

Pablo Barrientos Pablo Cesar Barrientos (born 17 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career San Lorenzo Barrientos was born in Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. He began his professional career ...

, Lucas Castro and

Papu Gómez Alejandro Darío Gómez (; born 15 February 1988), known as Papu Gómez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward, winger or attacking midfielder for Spanish club Sevilla and the Argentina national team. Gómez started hi ...

; he scored his first

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 Italy's top flight on 5 May 2013, in the 3–0 home win over A.C. Siena. Bergessio helped Catania eventually finish in eighth position, with a record in total points for the fifth consecutive season. On a personal level he was also the club's highest goalscorer during a single campaign, since Gionatha Spinesi netted 17 times in 2006–07. On 30 October 2013, Bergessio suffered a broken

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...

as a result of a late tackle by

Giorgio Chiellini Giorgio Chiellini (; born 14 August 1984) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Considered one of the best defenders of his generation, Chiellini is known for his stren ...

in a 4–0 defeat at

Juventus FC )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnell ...

Sampdoria

On 1 August 2014, Bergessio was sold to

U.C. Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

of the same country and league for a fee of €2.65 million, putting pen to paper to a three-year deal. On 3 June of the following year, after 24 appearances in all competitions and two goals, he was released by mutual consent.

Later years

Bergessio moved teams and countries again on 24 June 2015, joining Atlas F.C. from Mexico. The following 8 September, he signed a one-year deal with former club San Lorenzo.

International career

Bergessio made his debut for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 15 October 2008, playing the second half of a 1–0 loss in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifiers. He scored his first and only two goals for his country on 20 May of the following year, in a 3–1 win over

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergessio, Gonzalo 1984 births Living people Argentine footballers Footballers from Córdoba, Argentina Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Platense footballers Instituto footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers Ligue 1 players AS Saint-Étienne players Serie A players Catania S.S.D. players U.C. Sampdoria players Liga MX players Atlas F.C. footballers Uruguayan Primera División players Club Nacional de Football players Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay