If memory has color, for Argentine fans all over the world, it must be blue and white. And the person who gave this color to life, for the post-80s fans, it must be Batistuta.
Loyalty, violent aesthetics, sadness, is the unique mark that Barty left us, he does not have the melancholy that Baggio interprets to the extreme, and does not have the talent of Ronaldo to combine strength, speed, technology and explosiveness, but the wildness and passion he exudes, every time he shoots with the ball, it is adrenaline rushing, and the iconic strafing celebration action after the goal can make people feel the joy and madness of victory across the screen, as if Barty is born for the goal. All of this fits perfectly with the role of the center in our impression, in the hearts of countless post-80s fans, there is no center after Barty.
Florence, a city full of literary atmosphere, Barty dedicated the best youth of his life to her, although his wildness is incompatible with literature and art, but nine years of purple lily football career, Barty completely released the passion of the city. An Italian Cup, a Super Cup title, is the best gift That Barty has given to the city of literature with his youth and sweat, but for himself and Barty fans, it is far from enough. In the 92-93 season, Fiorentina was relegated because of a poor record, and Barty had the opportunity to go to any of the big clubs in Europe, but he chose to stay behind, interpreting the meaning of loyalty with practical actions. The following year, he led Fiorentina back to Serie A, setting a record of 11 consecutive Serie A goals in that year. Nine years of purple lilies, limited by the strength of the team, Barty's highest stage in Europe has very few opportunities to show, and in the semi-final of the 97 European Cup Winners' Cup, Barty's boos after scoring goals against Barcelona at Camp Nou are like celebratory actions, which can't help but make us sigh that talent will really be buried by time, eternity, but the illusion created by time.
In 2000, the 31-year-old Barty joined the Eternal City Roma team, as a Barty fan, we can fully understand his choice, should have left in the best years, but he has always stuck to Florence, just for a man's promise. In his twilight years, his ambitions were not rewarded, but Barty's choice won him the first and last Serie A title of his life. One afternoon in June 2001, when countless fans rushed into the Colosseum to celebrate the victory, Barty's heart may be calm, but for The post-80s Barty fans, we can't help but ask, ten years, a Serie A champion, is it worth it?
If Barty's Serie A years can be defined with sadness, then his career in the Argentine national team is sad. In the World Cup in 1998 and 2002, Argentina emerged a large number of young talents, Ayala, Solin, Zanetti, Simone, Ortega, Perón, Crespo... Coupled with the forward god of war, Barty, was once regarded as a favorite to win the championship, but the Pampas Eagles ultimately failed to spread their wings and fly high. In the 1998 World Cup, Argentina, led by Barty, gave the fans a classic game, but then they fell at the feet of the Dutch, more precisely, lost to the ice prince Bergkamp. 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, is the 33-year-old Barty to participate in the last competition, june 12, 2002, Argentina drew against Sweden, the group stage was eliminated, when we saw the god of war Barty burst into tears, the world was moved, his pursuit of a lifetime of ideals instantly shattered, and our youth seems to be forever frozen in the summer of that year. Sometimes, fate is like this, God has given you a good hand, but it can also be taken back at any time.
Barty has not been with us for a long time, but he is the guide for countless of our post-80s fans, he led us to open the door of the football world, since then, we fell in love with football, fell in love with the green field full of passion and blood.