Nicolás Burdisso
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicolás Andrés Burdisso | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Internazionale | ||
| Number | 16 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 May 2008 | |||
Nicolás Andrés Burdisso (born 12 April 1981 in Altos de Chipion) is an Argentine professional football centre back player currently playing for Internazionale of the Serie A in Italy.
Club career
Burdisso started playing professionally for the Argentine team Boca Juniors in 1999. With Boca Juniors he won 2 Argentine Championships (2000 Apertura and 2003 Apertura), 3 Copa Libertadores (2000, 2001, 2003) and 2 Intercontinental Cups (2000, 2003).
In 2004, he moved to Internazionale for € 3.5 million, signing a 4-year contract.[1] On August 31 2006, he extended his contract until 2009. During 2006, when Giacinto Facchetti died, Nicolás was given the number 16 jersey, for the retirement of Facchetti's beloved number 3 jersey.
However, he missed almost entirely the 2004–05 season with Inter because he returned to his native Argentina to tend his daughter, who overcame leukemia. With Inter, he won the 2006 Coppa Italia, and the 2006–07 Serie A.
In spite of being a defender, he has scored a number of goals, including two goals scored with headers on November 29 2006, in the 4-0 victory against Messina, and then again scoring twice on January 24, 2007, in the 3-0 victory against Sampdoria. He has also scored several goals from headers off corner kicks.
During the Champions League tie between Valencia and Inter Milan on March 5 2007, during the fracas between players of the two teams, Burdisso suffered a broken nose following a punch in the face from Valencia defender David Navarro. As punishment for his part in the brawl, Burdisso was handed a six match ban for all European club competitions, with additional two match suspended sentence, while Navarro was sentenced to a 7-month ban from domestic, European and International matches. He returned to duty on March 12 2008 in the second leg of the Champions League match against Liverpool, but was sent off in the 60th minute after receiving his second yellow card of the game.
Burdisso has expressed his desire to finish his career at Boca Juniors[2]
International career
Burdisso was also part of the Argentina Under-20 team that won the 2001 Football World Youth Championship.
On May 15 2006, he was named as a squad member for the 2006 World Cup by coach José Pekerman. He played in all three group matches. He also played for Argentina in the Copa América 2007.
On June 4, 2008 Burdisso scored his second goal for the National Team versus Mexico in a friendly match in San Diego.
