🕊️ Hugo Orlando Gatti, legendary Argentine goalkeeper, has passed away | OneFootball

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'El Loco', an idol of Boca Juniors and famous on Spanish TV, passed away at 80 after a long hospitalization due to pneumonia.

One of the great symbols of Argentine football has said goodbye. Hugo Orlando Gatti, popularly known as 'El Loco', passed away on Sunday at the age of 80. He had been hospitalized for two months at the Pirovano Hospital in Buenos Aires due to a case of pneumonia.

According to LA NACIÓN, his family decided to remove his respirator because his health condition was already "irreversible". The former goalkeeper, an idol of Boca Juniors and famous for his appearances on Spanish TV, had a case of heart and kidney failure.

His legacy in Argentine football will be eternal, as he holds the record for most games played in the First Division: 765 appearances over 25 years (1962-1988), between Atlanta, River Plate, Gimnasia and Esgrima de La Plata, Unión de Santa Fe, and Boca Juniors, where he was twice champion of the Copa Libertadores (1977 and 1978) and won the Intercontinental Cup (1977).

Beyond his career, which lasted until he was 44 years old, he marked an era by being a goalkeeper who came out of the area and used his feet as a resource when it was not common.

After retiring, he lived most of his life in Madrid, where he was a panelist on the football program "El Chiringuito de Jugones" and won the affection of viewers with his polemic tone.

Hugo Orlando Gatti will forever be one of the best goalkeepers in the history of Argentine football and a charismatic figure on Spanish TV... Rest in peace, Loco!