Christian Abbiati is a former Italian goalkeeper who spent most of his sports career in Milan. At the moment, he does not occupy any other position, since he left the sport only a few months ago. Christian Abbiati, whose age is currently 39 years old, spent a long and successful career in which he achieved impressive results with Milan.
Carier start
Christian Abbyati was born in July 1977 in Italy, where he began to play football. At the age of eleven, he joined the football academy of the small club Aurora, where he spent three years. Christian Abbyati, whose height is 191 centimeters, was an ideal candidate for the goalkeeper position, which he began to take from an early age. In 1991, he moved to the Trezzano Academy, and a year later to the Assago Club. But there he did not stay long - in 1993, the 16-year-old Christian moved to the academy of the Corsica club and only from there he already moved to the professional club Monza, with which he signed a full-fledged contract.
Already at the age of sixteen he made his debut for the club, but that was all. In 1995, he was sent on loan to the Borogesia club, where he was to gain practice. During the year, he played in the new team and spent 29 matches in which he conceded a total of 27 goals. Even then, it became clear that Christian was a growing talent. Returning to his club, he immediately became a base player - for two years he defended the gates of the team, having entered the field 53 times and conceded 60 goals. Such a large number is due to the fact that in 1997 Monza went to Serie B, where the opponents were much stronger. However, this had a positive effect on the career of Abbyati - he was noticed by one of the strongest clubs in Italy, “Milan”, which in the summer of 1998 acquired a talented goalkeeper for 750 thousand euros.
Going to Milan
Already in his first season, Christian Abbyati spent as many as 18 matches for the team, and from the second season he became the main goalkeeper. He defended the colors of Milan for seven years, and during that time he played 164 matches. However, in the seasons 03/04 and 04/05, he lost his place at the base, having gone over the course of these two years totaling only sixteen times on the field. But Abbyati did not want to leave the club, so it was decided to rent it out. Turin Juventus immediately expressed a desire, where the goalkeeper went for a year.
Rental period
Christian Abbyati is a football player who is completely devoted to his club. He did not want to get game practice on an ongoing basis anywhere else, but chose to stay in Milan throughout his career, having gone on lease only to wait for a chance at his native club. In “Juventus”, Abbyati played 27 matches, having conceded 17 goals in them, after which he returned to Milan. But there was still no place for him, so the next year he went on loan to another Torino club - Torino, which paid 300 thousand euros for the rental season. There he became a base player and spent 38 matches, and when the lease term ended, he went abroad to Madrid Atletico. The Spaniards paid “Milan” 500 thousand euros for the annual agreement, and Abbyati defended 30 matches at the goal of “Atletico”. Only in 2008, the 31-year-old goalkeeper returned to Milan to stay there until the very end.
Return to Milan
In 2008, Christian Abbiati returned to Milan and played in his favorite club until 2016, when he completed his career. The first two years after returning, he served only as a reserve goalkeeper, having played 39 matches in two seasons. However, since 2010, for four seasons, Christian was again the main goalkeeper of the club, having played another 158 matches. In 2014, he held 13 more games, and in 2015, only six, after which he announced his retirement from the sport. Together with Milan, Abbyati won many trophies - three times he became the champion of Italy (twice - in his first stay and once - in the second), in 2003 he won the Italian Cup, in 2004 and 2011 he won the Italian Super Cup. Also in 2003, Abbyati won the trophy that every footballer dreams of - the Champions League Cup. And although he was a reservist that year, he got the trophy in the same way as all the other members of the team.
Team appearances
The Italy national team has always had enough strong world-class goalkeepers, so Abbyati played only four matches in his entire long career. He made his debut in a friendly game with the Swiss national team in 2003, in the same year he played with the Romanians, and then in 2005 he played two games in a row - against the national teams of Holland and Côte d'Ivoire. However, it is worth paying attention that often he became one of the three goalkeepers needed to participate in major tournaments. The first tournament Abbyati went to was the 2000 European Championship. Then he was called to the 2002 World Cup, but this tournament was the last for the goalkeeper. Already in 2004, he was not included in the application for the European Championship and since then has not taken an active part in the affairs of the national team. The last time he was called up for a qualifying match against Scotland in 2007, but he spent the whole game on the bench.