Claudio Paul CANIGGIA | 1989-1992

[Messias18]

Stats by Messias18 (with suggestions from julgui, coolactive and Plava Čigra)

Name: Claudio Paul Caniggia

Nickname: "El Pájaro" ("The Bird") | "El hijo del viento" ("The son of the wind")
Club: Atalanta


"Electrical, controversial, hot-blooded. This was Claudio Caniggia." - 3m1n3m (old forum)

INFO:

Claudio Paul Caniggia (born 9 January 1967 in Henderson, Buenos Aires) is a former Argentine football forward, who played 50 times for the Argentine national team. He appeared in three World Cups, and was a member of both rival clubs River Plate and Boca Juniors. Caniggia made a hundred meters in 10.70s while competing in Argentina athletic tournaments at provincial level. It was 100 and 200 meters and long jump. However, he did not get to athletic of Nationals because he dedicated himself to football. He competed much until he became a professional football player in River Plate. Caniggia could as a player cover 100 meters in 11.2 seconds. He lives in Marbella, Spain.


Club career

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At club level, Caniggia played for River Plate (1985-88), Hellas Verona (1988-89), Atalanta (1989-92 and 1999-2000), AS Roma (1992-93), S.L. Benfica (1994-95), Boca Juniors (1995-98), Dundee (2000-01) and Glasgow Rangers (2001-03). He has become a club legend and cult-hero at many of the clubs he has played at.

Caniggia was a key player in both the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, but was not picked under the strict regime of coach Daniel Passarella for France '98. Caniggia got a 13-month ban for taking cocaine in 1993 and has a history of enjoying the high life.

Caniggia was globally recognized as one of the fastest footballers in the world, thus, he was given the nickname of "el hijo del viento" which means "the son of wind". On 3 April 2009, Caniggia was inducted into Dundee FC's Hall of Fame (International Award).

International career

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Caniggia was capped 50 times for Argentina, scoring 16 goals. He played at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, scoring 4 goals in 8 matches. Contrary to popular belief and largely due to loose interpretation, Caniggia was not a striker, but rather a playmaker forward. Throughout the Copa América 1991, Caniggia asserted his dominance and was arguably the most dynamic player. He scored 2 goals and made 4 assists in the tournament. He also helped Argentina win the 1992 Confederations Cup, in which he scored a goal in the final itself.

To Argentine football fans, Claudio has always been an eccentric footballer, playing for many different clubs in many different countries, which is why it is impossible to associate him with a single club. Instead he holds a unique place in their affections. Because when they think of El Pajaro, it is always in the "celeste and blanca" colours of the national team. Claudio is synonymous with World Cups, winning goals and triumphs in the Argentinian jersey.

Caniggia is great friends with Argentine legend Diego Maradona; the duo once celebrated a goal with a kiss on the lips. Claudio's wife at that time, model Mariana Nannis, said: "At times I believe Diego is in love with my husband. It must be the long hair and big muscles."

1990 World Cup

At the 1990 World Cup, Caniggia scored two key goals to help Argentina reach the final. He came off the bench in the inaugural match against Cameroon, memorably being fouled thrice in a single dribble as he carried the ball forward, the last, by Benjamin Massing earning the Cameroonian a straight red card (Massing kicked Caniggia so hard his own shoe came off). In the subsequent matches, Caniggia was in the starting lineup. In the second round, Argentina faced Brazil, and with the score 0-0 after 80 minutes, a pass by Diego Maradona left Caniggia one on one against Brazilian goalkeeper Taffarel; Caniggia dribbled past him and scored on the empty goal, giving Argentina the victory and eliminating Brazil from the tournament in what was seen as a huge upset. The goal gave him legendary status among the Argentine fans for knocking out their chief rivals.

Argentina then beat Yugoslavia on penalty kicks, advancing to semifinals, where they played against Italy. The Italians had not conceded any goals in five matches, and were up 1-0 at halftime. In the second half, Caniggia headed a cross into the net of goalkeeper Walter Zenga, ending his record streak at 517 minutes without conceding a goal, and sending the match into extra time. After no change in the score, penalty kicks were taken, and Argentina won again through this method, advancing to the final. Caniggia had been cautioned in the first round match against the Soviet Union, , and then received another yellow card against Italy for a deliberate hand-ball-play, which earned him a suspension. He had to watch the final between his team and Germany from the stands, which Argentina lost 0-1.

1994 World Cup

Caniggia scored two goals in the 1994 World Cup, both of them in the first round match against Nigeria, the first from a Batistuta freekick rebound and second one from a cleverly taken free kick by Diego Maradona, which he finished sublimely putting the ball in top right hand corner. This was the last match in which Maradona would be involved with the national team and is considered one of the best teams Argentina has ever had.

2002 World Cup

After refusing to cut his long hair despite the rules of national coach Daniel Passarella, he was frozen out of the national team for a number of years. He made a brief comeback to the Marcelo Bielsa-coached squad for the 2002 World Cup, but did not play. Nevertheless, he did manage to receive a red card for cursing at the referee from the bench in Argentina's last match against Sweden.

HONOURS:

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Caps
Argentina: 50 appearances / 16 goals

Club
1985–1988 River Plate - 51 appearances / 8 goals
1988–1989 Hellas Verona - 21 appearances / 3 goals
1989–1992 Atalanta - 85 appearances / 22 goals
1992–1994 Roma - 20 appearances / 4 goals
1994–1995 Benfica - 23 appearances / 8 goals
1995–1998 Boca Juniors - 60 appearances / 28 goals
1999–2000 Atalanta - 17 appearances / 1 goals
2000–2001 Dundee - 25 appearances / 8 goals
2001–2003 Rangers - 50 appearances / 13 goals
2003–2004 Qatar SC - 15 appearances / 5 goals

Trophies & Tournaments:
1985-1986 Primera División Argentina - River Plate
1986 Copa Libertadores - River Plate
1986 Intercontinental Cup - River Plate
1986 Copa Interamericana - River Plate
1990 FIFA World Cup - Argentina (runner-up)
1991 Copa América - Argentina
1992 Confederations Cup - Argentina
2002 Scottish Cup - Rangers
2002 Scottish League Cup - Rangers
2002-03 Scottish Premier League - Rangers
2003 Scottish League Cup - Rangers
2003-2004 Prince Cup - Qatar SC

VIDEOS:

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ADDITIONAL LINKS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Caniggia

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Caniggia

http://onegil.tripod.com/index.htm

http://www.elbuenfutbol.com/2010/04/01/ ... -caniggia/

http://www.excalciatori.com/2009/12/cla ... iggia.html

http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football ... roID=45711

http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football ... ton=Search

[TheSinisterViper]

TS 96
ACC 97same as cruyff

[juan92]

some changes in my mind

ATT: 84
TS: 97
ACC: 95/96/97
RES: 81
DA: 83
CURL: 77
AGG: 92
TW: 74

ATT, RES and TW: i think that he's currents "off the ball" movements are out of the standars, they just make him more intelligent player that he was in this era, for example with the currnets 86 for attack would be the best WF in attck, so maybe take him down to the level of robben(84) would be the best option.
about res, he dosnt need a such high value as 83, maybe the same value than walcott or 1 point more could fit him better, he wasnt the kind of responds player to loose balls, found rebounds, etc. and an 83 just help him a lot
about TW, im pretty sure that the value that i have gave it to him, sounds pretty weird but im against to give high levels of tw the players like walcott robben cani and others WF/SS who just dosnt move around the field searching better positions to play with their teammates, but anyway the cuurrent value is not as crazy as mine i guess

DA: as jurguens said previously he's DA should come down a bit, at this era hes dribbles was "hit and run" dosnt need a high number to reply this, its more realistic to have the ball a bit more away from the feet

here is he's classic dribble



but in he's boca days (1995-1998)he become more slower and with more close control of the ball







CURL: agree with jurguens old post(again) he dont put good curling in he's shoots, he's shoots were based on one on one definitions choosing a post and shooting colocated.damn i just wrote it as hell...sorry!!!

AGG: agressive as f**k he could easily sit on pair with robben but i just put him one point below because it felt realistic in my pes, but again, he could sit in 93(same as robben aswell)

TS and ACC: one thing i now for sure... he was the fastets player that i've ever saw and the fastets player that i' would seen in my whole life. for sure with better long runs than CR7 and also better here than theo walcott, ont only that he could reach he's max speed in just seconds. what?? you dont belive me?? watch!!



just amazing. no more words

[jurgens]

Good post.

About response/attack I'd leave the attack as it is.. maybe it's slightly too high, but he was really a player who knew how to take advantage of space and beat the defensive line, also he could play a more central role pretty decently. So I'll leave it as it is. His attack is value is closer to the real way we should be rating attack anways, like a lot of classic players. His response can come down, I'm not really sure on a value, I'd like to hear more opinions on it. For now 82.. I'm gonna go with DA 83 for now. TS.. I'm pretty sure he was the fastest player ever.. I don't know, it's hard to judge the differnce between the top 5 but I would say cannigia was consistently faster than them all. I'll go with 97 TS for now. ACC imo could be 97 too. His acc was really out of this world..he exploded at the drop of a hat, really phenomenal but I'll keep it at a 95 for now until we get more opinions. I've taken down his DS aswell to compenstae for the increase in TS, could probably sit better at a 90.

Updated.

TS: 97
ACC: 95
RES: 82
DA: 84
DS: 92
CURL: 77
AGR: 92
TW: 72

Added Darting run. I'd say we can comfortably take down his agility a good few points too. I also see no reason for WFF of 6 doesn't seem to use it more than he needs to in any world cup matches I've seen. I'd drop it to 5 for average.

[juan92]

good update

still waiting for more comments about he's DA and ACC(here i also will go for 97 taking down he's DS to 90)

AGILITY 91??

PD: take a look about he's run at 2:35 in the last video that i post( with the NT blue shirt,number 3).AMAZING!!!

[jeanclaude]

ok, great update. but he was absolutely right footed.

[juan92]

wow i never realized that he was left fotted in this thread!! i think it could be a mistake from the site maybe??

[jurgens]

Sorry. The editor makes everyone left footed by default, I forgot to change it. Thanks for pointing that out. Updated.

[21fadhil]

Caniggia can get 98 for TS and 96 for Acceleration.From what i see, he's using his speed more constantly than Walcott and Overmars (probably because he's less prone to injury).And his acceleration is simply mind-blowing.Still not sure about 97, though.
And he's simply not that agile.Not sure about the right value, thought.

[reckless]

This guy was miles faster than C Ronaldo who is way overrated on 95.

He thoroughly deserves 97 for top speed.

[Brunus]

By Caniggia have a history of amateur athletics, including how best mark with 10.20s in the 100m. He also ran the 200m and long jump.

Caniggia, by the way, early in his career, just before professionalize, divided the time of his life, between athletics and football. But his marks were not sufficient for a professional Olympian, leaving athletics and concentrating on football.

I would put in their status speed:

TS: 99
AC: 96
RE: 92
JU: 94

ST: 90

Other skills for football, I regard as correct.

My opinion.

[maTa10]

More faster than Overmars?, i don't think so...