Sergio Berti

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Berti and the second or maternal family name is Pizzani.

Sergio Berti

Personal information
Full name	Sergio Ángel Berti Pizzani
Date of birth	(1969-09-17) 17 September 1969
Place of birth	Villa Constitución, Argentina
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1990	Boca Juniors	6	(1)
1990–1992	River Plate	51	(14)
1992–1993	Parma	4	(0)
1993–1995	River Plate	55	(16)
1995–1996	Zaragoza	16	(0)
1996–1999	River Plate	63	(9)
1999–2000	América	21	(3)
2000	Al Ain	?	(?)
2001	Huracán	10	(4)
2002	Barcelona SC	5	(0)
2002	Livingston F.C.	0	(0)
Total		231	(47)
International career‡
1994–1998	Argentina	22	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 June 2006 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 June 2006

Sergio Ángel Berti (born 17 September 1969 in Villa Constitución, Santa Fe) is a retired Argentine professional football player, nicknamed La Bruja.

Berti began his career in 1988 with popular club Boca Juniors. In 1990 he found his way out of la Bombonera in a transfer to fierce rival River Plate. The red stripe was indeed the club he spent most of his career with, not to mention short spells in between for Parma F.C. and Real Zaragoza. At River, Berti lived the golden era winning 5 titles including 3 domestic tournaments, the Copa Libertadores 1996 and the 1997 Supercopa Sudamericana. In 1999, Mexican club América acquired total ownership of his rights.

In the Copa Libertadores 2000, when América came to visit his former club Boca Juniors for the first leg match of the semifinals, just minutes before the start of the game Sergio Berti withdraw from playing, arguing being scared for the safety of his family and himself based on the chants of the Barra of Boca Juniors. America lost that game 4–1 and Sergio Berti never played again with America. In 2001 Berti returned to Argentina and signed for recently promoted team Huracán. The following year, he had a brief stint at Barcelona SC of Ecuador.

His career came to an abrupt end in 2002 at the Scottish Premier League side Livingston after spitting at team-mate Richard Brittain, during a pre-season friendly.

National team

Berti was capped in 22 matches and scored one goal for Argentina, including two appearances during the 1998 FIFA World Cup and converting his penalty in the shoot-out against England in the Second Round. He was also a member of the national team that participated in Copa América 1995 and Copa América 1997.

External links

• Argentine Primera statistics
• Sergio Berti at National-Football-Teams.com
• FIFA statistics