An incredible tale: the Boca legend who played under two surnames | OneFootball

In the grand book of Boca's history, very few players stand out for having left an indelible mark on the hearts of the fans. Those footballers, celebrated and successful, are recognized by the institution and the Xeneize supporters, but what many do not know is that one of the most outstanding played with two different last names.

The Ribera team has been fortunate to have some of the best goalkeepers over the years. Roberto Abbondanzieri was one of the most outstanding under the blue and gold team's goalposts, but that wasn't always his last name. His nickname, Pato, appeared on the characteristic and historic numbers of several kits during his time with the Xeneize, but until 2002 his last name was Abbondacieri.

Roberto Abbondanzieri.

However, he had to change it by obligation to obtain a European Union community passport. In this way, he changed the letter “c” to a “z” and kept the current Abbondanzieri, the original surname carried by his Italian ancestors. Furthermore, with this procedure completed, if he were to join football in the Old Continent, he would not take up a foreign player slot.

Why Abbondanzieri played with two different last names

“The change was required in order to get the passport. My grandfather, when he came from Italy, had the last name with a Z, but when his children were registered, they wrote it as it sounded and that was the big problem. If I didn’t do it, they wouldn’t give me the passport,” explained the man who won 14 titles wearing the Xeneize jersey and managed to win the Copa Libertadores de América and the Intercontinental Cup.

All of Abbondanzieri’s titles with Boca

Roberto Carlos Abbondanzieri won a total of 14 titles with the Boca Juniors shirt in his 345 matches under the goalposts.

El Pato. Photo: Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.