Argentina icon Hugo Orlando Gatti passes away at 80 years old

 Hugo Orlando Gatti, better known as ‘Loco’ Gatti, passed away on Sunday at the age of 80 in his native Argentina. He had been in trouble for weeks.

Gatti had been in the Pirovano Hospital in the city of Buenos Aires for more than two months. There he underwent hip surgery in February. Subsequently, he suffered respiratory complications that finally ended his life.

The diagnosis indicated that he was suffering from “pneumonia, cardiac and renal failure” and “in a pharmacological coma”, an irreversible condition. According to 'Ole', his family finally decided to remove the respirator he was on in the intensive care unit.

The former goalkeeper of Boca, River or the Argentina national team had already been in a serious health condition in 2020, when he was infected with coronavirus. This time, however, he has not been able to overcome it.

Gatti made his professional debut in Atlanta in 1962. Afterwards, he played 4 years in the ranks of River Plate to later move to Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata and Union Santa Fe, where he was in 1975.

It was in the ranks of Boca Juniors where he became a great one. He spent 12 years in the 'Xeneize' jersey, from 1976 to 1988, winning, among other titles, the 1977 and 1878 Libertadores Cups and the 1977 Intercontinental Cup

Gatti, who played more than 400 games with the ‘Xeneize’, is known in Argentina for holding the record for the most games played in the first division, with 765 matches during the 26 years of his professional career, from his debut in 1962 until his retirement in 1988.

Gatti played 18 matches with the Argentina national team, being in the squad that played in the 1966 World Cup in England -he did not play a single minute- and the 1975 America Cup.

After his retirement in 1988, he devoted himself to commentating football matches, mainly in Spain, where he lived for several years and worked as a pundit in sports programs such as ‘Chiringuito’.

The news of his death generated multiple farewell messages. One of the first was that of the Argentine president -and Boca Juniors fan-, Javier Milei, who published an image of the deceased former goalkeeper with the phrase "Goodbye mate (if you allow me)", in allusion to the years that the president played as a goalkeeper in the Argentine club Chacarita Juniors during his adolescence.