Walter Gaitan

Walter Nicolás Gaitán Sayavedra (La Rioja, Argentina; March 13, 1977), is a former Argentine professional soccer player. He has a Mexican passport.

Gaitán played as a midfielder and was recognized for his field vision, ball control, scoring nose, powerful left-footed shot and precise touch on the ball.

His most notable performances were in the First Division of Mexico with the Tigres de la UANL, where he was the scoring champion in the Apertura 2005 and won the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the league in the Clausura 2006.

Professional career

Debut

Walter Gaitán began his football career in Rosario Central on April 6, 1997, in a match against Club Atlético Huracán. That tournament he played five more games, and did not play again until the 1998 Apertura Tournament in which he was in 16 games and scored six goals.

Passage through Spain

At the end of 1998, he was sold to Villarreal of Spain. During that year, the team played its first tournament in the First Division. They finished the competition in 18th place, so they had to play in the promotion in which they lost against Sevilla FC 4-0, on aggregate score. Thus, they were relegated to the Second Division, but in the following season they would achieve promotion again. Walter Gaitán played a total of 48 games for the Spanish league and scored seven goals.

Return to Argentina

At the beginning of 2001, Gaitán returned to Argentina to join Boca Juniors, with Carlos Bianchi in the technical direction. Between the local championship and the Copa Libertadores, Gaitán was present in 20 games and scored five goals. For the local championship he scored against River Plate, achieving the final 1-1 at the Monumental. Newell's Old Boys, making it 2-2 in the final minutes; against Club Atlético Los Andes, in the 1-0 Boca victory; and two against Chacarita Juniors in a 4-4 draw. All of these goals were scored at the Alberto J. Armando Stadium. In the Copa Libertadores he scored against Palmeiras in the second leg, which Boca tied 2-2 and then won on penalties, as a visitor. He was champion of the Copa Libertadores, and runner-up in the 2001 Intercontinental Cup losing to the German team Bayern Munich.

Arrival in Mexico and retirement in Argentina

Gaitán arrived in the city of Monterrey as reinforcement of the UANL Tigres for the Mexican Apertura 2002 tournament, this at the request of the experienced Brazilian coach Ricardo Ferretti. From that moment on, the Pampero midfielder had outstanding performances with the Tigres, scoring a good number of goals, especially in the royal classics. Despite his good performance with Tigres, Gaitán was not able to win the Mexican tournament title, losing a final in 2003 against Pachuca. After 2005, Gaitán showed a noticeable decrease in his performance that marginalized him on the Tigres bench. He even decided to leave the squad before the end of the tournament, asking for a three-month leave to resolve personal problems. Once this permit is completed, he returns to Tigres where he trains for approximately a week, then the Monterrey board announces Gaitán's departure through a statement arguing that the footballer's personal reasons were the cause of his departure from the squad. His departure from Tigres was resented by a large part of the fans, who to this day consider him an idol. In December 2007 he was transferred to Rayos del Necaxa. With Necaxa he tried to add more scores to reach the important figure of 100 goals scored in Mexican soccer, however he passed without pain or glory, scoring only 3 goals: his first goal against Monterrey, (after the game he declared that facing Monterrey would always be a classic), his second goal was scored against Tigres and his last goal against América. In 2010, he was transferred to the Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, but was released from his contract for faking an injury in training. After his time in Mexico, he signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Blues of the USL Professional Division in the United States. After its completion, he returned to Argentina to play for Atlético Rafaela, where he eventually retired.

Fast football

After retiring from professional soccer, Gaitán decided to try his luck in fast soccer, playing a single game with Monterrey Flash, a city where he was a figure with the Tigres de la UANL.

Legacy

Nicknamed "Divino" for his elegant style of play and "Chueco" for his left-footed profile, Gaitán is considered by analysts, players and experts as one of the best offensive midfielders to have played in the Mexican League. Being a playmaker, he achieved a scoring championship, scoring 14 goals in the 2005 Mexican Apertura tournament. He has been one of the top scorers in the history of the Monterrey classics, with eight goals. Despite not having won the Mexican League championship, Gaitán is considered an icon and idol of the Tigres and is part of the team's historic ideal eleven along with players of the stature of Tomás Boy, Gerónimo Barbadillo, Lucas Lobos and André-Pierre Gignac.

Controversies

In March 2023, he was accused by his partner of domestic violence.

Clubs

Club	Country	Year
Central Rosary	Argentina	1997 - 1998
Villarreal	SpainSpain	1999 - 2000
Boca Juniors	Argentina	2001 - 2002
Tiger UANL	Mexico Mexico	2002 - 2007
Necaxa		2008 - 2009
Veracruz		2010
Los Angeles Blues	United States	2011
Atlético Rafaela	Argentina	2011 - 2012

Statistics

Club	Season	League		Nac Cup(*)		Inter Cup.(**)		Total
		Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Central Rosary Argentina	Clau.1997	6	0	-				6	0
	Aper.1998	16	6	-	-	7	1	23	7
	Total	22	6	0	0	7	1	29	7
Villarreal C.F. SpainSpain	1999	12	0	1	0	-		13	0
	1999-2000	32	7	-				32	7
	2000	4	0	-				4	0
	Total	47	7	1	0	0	0	48	7
Boca Juniors Argentina	2001	16	4	0	0	4	2	20	6
	2001-2002	16	8	-	-	6	0	22	8
	Total	32	12	0	0	10	2	42	14
Tiger UANL Mexico Mexico	2002-2003	33	12	-				33	12
	2003-2004	39	19	1	0	-		40	19
	2004-2005	35	22	3	0	9	2	47	24
	2005-2006	34	16	4	4	6	2	44	22
	2006-2007	27	2	3	1	-		30	3
	2007	7	0	-				7	0
	Total	175	71	11	5	15	4	201	80
Necaxa Mexico Mexico	2008	8	1	-				8	1
	2008-2009	10	2	-				10	2
	Total	18	3	0	0	0	0	18	3
Veracruz Mexico Mexico	2010	4	0	-				4	0
	Total	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Los Angeles Blues United States	2011	7	4	-				7	4
	Total	15	4	0	0	0	0	15	4
Atlético Rafaela Argentina	2011-2012	12	1	2	0	-	-	14	1
	Total	12	1	2	0	0	0	14	1
Total in your career	1997-2012	335	109	16	5	26	6	364	117

Hat-tricks

Matches in which he scored three or more goals:

Hat-tricks
N.o	Date	Stadium	Party	Goles	Outcome	Competition
1	24 August 2003	Corrective Stadium, Queretaro	Darling... Tiger UANL		1 - 7	Opening 2003
2	30 April 2005	University Stadium, Nuevo León	Tiger UANL - Santos.		3 - 1	Closure 2005
2	11 May 2005		Tiger UANL - Morelia		3 - 2

Statistical summary

Palmarés

National titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
InterLiga	Tiger UANL	Mexico Mexico	2005
InterLiga			2006

International titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
Copa Libertadores	Boca Juniors	Argentina	2001

Individual distinctions