Sergio Berti
Sergio Ángel Berti (born 17 September 1969) is a retired Argentine professional football player, nicknamed La Bruja, who played as a midfielder.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Sergio Ángel Berti Pizzani | ||
Date of birth | 17 September 1969 | ||
Place of birth | Villa Constitución, Argentina | ||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1988–1990 | Boca Juniors | 6 | (1) |
1990–1992 | River Plate | 51 | (14) |
1992–1993 | Parma | 4 | (0) |
1993–1995 | River Plate | 55 | (16) |
1995–1996 | Zaragoza | 16 | (0) |
1996–1999 | River Plate | 63 | (9) |
1999–2000 | América | 21 | (3) |
2000 | Al Ain | ? | (?) |
2001 | Huracán | 10 | (4) |
2002 | Barcelona SC | 5 | (0) |
2002 | Livingston F.C. | 0 | (0) |
Total | 231 | (47) | |
National team‡ | |||
1994–1998 | Argentina | 22 | (1) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 June 2006 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2006 |
Club career
Born in Villa Constitución, Santa Fe, Berti began his career in 1988 with popular club Boca Juniors. 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 F.C. and Real Zaragoza. At River, Berti lived the golden era winning 5 titles including 3 domestic tournaments, the Copa Libertadores 1996 and the 1997 Supercopa Sudamericana. In 1999, Mexican club América acquired total ownership of his rights.
In the Copa Libertadores 2000, when América came to visit his former club Boca Juniors for the first leg match of the semifinals, just minutes before the start of the game Sergio 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 Sergio Berti never played again with America.[1] In 2001 Berti returned to Argentina and signed for recently promoted team Huracán. The following year, he had a brief stint at Barcelona SC of Ecuador.
His career came to an abrupt end in 2002 at the Scottish Premier League side Livingston after spitting at teammate Richard Brittain, during a pre-season friendly.[2]
International career
Berti was capped in 22 matches and scored one goal for Argentina, including two appearances during the 1998 FIFA World Cup 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
- Sports, Our (23 January 2003). "SFA says Livingston wrong to sack Berti". The Times. London. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
External links
- Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI (in Spanish)
- Sergio Berti at National-Football-Teams.com
- Sergio Berti – FIFA competition record