Gabriel Alejandro Milito (born 7 September 1980) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for FC Barcelona in La Liga, as a central defender.

Club career

Born in Bernal, Buenos Aires Province, Milito started playing professionally with Argentine first division side Club Atlético Independiente in 1997. During that time, he often faced his older brother Diego, who played for Independiente's arch-rivals Racing Club de Avellaneda.

In July 2003, Milito was due to be transferred to Real Madrid,[1] but the Spanish team rejected the player after medical results showed, according to the club, a not-fully-recovered knee injury.[2] To many, it was a political move against Madrid's football director Jorge Valdano, who wanted the player on the team. Milito decided to stay in Spain and signed for Real Zaragoza.[3]

In his four seasons with the Aragonese side, Milito was an automatic first-choice (never played in less than 33 league matches), and rejoined brother Diego in 2005. On 10 July 2007, Zaragoza reached a transfer agreement with FC Barcelona for €20.5million (£13.9 million) and on 19 July, Milito passed his medical and signed a four-year deal with the club, worth €4 million (£2.7 million) a year.[4] He was given the number #3 shirt, which was formerly worn by Thiago Motta.

Milito made his competitive debut for Barcelona on 2 September 2007 in a game against Athletic Bilbao.[5] He scored his first competitive goal for the Catalans on 24 November, in a league match against Recreativo de Huelva.

On 5 May 2008, it was announced that Milito had damage to the ACL in his right knee;[6] this rendered him ineligible for the entire 2008–09 campaign, which ended in a treble.

After being sidelined for almost two years (602 days), Milito finally returned to action when he played in a friendly against Kazma Sporting Club in Kuwait.[7] On January 5, 2010, he made his return to competitive football, appearing in the first leg of the season's Copa del Rey, a 1–2 home loss against Sevilla; five days later, he reappeared in the domestic league, replacing Carles Puyol for the final seven minutes of the 5–0 win at CD Tenerife.

International career

With the Argentine national team, Milito participated in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and was part of the squad which qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, performing well in his only appearance, the first-round match against the Netherlands, which ended in a 0–0 draw.

On August 20 2010 Argentina National Team Coach Sergio Batista recalled Gabriel Milito to the Argentina National Team, a friendly against Spain, to be played on Tuesday 7 September 2010 at the Monumental Stadium River Plate.

Honours

Independiente

Argentine League: (1) Apertura 2002

Zaragoza

Spanish Cup: (1) 2003–04

Spanish Supercup: (1) 2004

Barcelona

UEFA Champions League: (1) 2008–09

UEFA Super Cup: (1) 2009

FIFA Club World Cup: (1) 2009

Spanish League: (2) 2008–09, 2009–10

Spanish Cup: (1) 2008–09

Spanish Supercup: (2) 2009, 2010

Personal

Milito's older brother, Diego, is also a footballer. A striker, he currently plays for F.C. Internazionale Milano, and they both represented Real Zaragoza and the national team.