Gabriel Heinze

Early career

Heinze was born in Crespo, Entre Ríos to a father of Volga German descent and a mother of Italian descent, thus also holding an Italian and a German passport. He began his career in his home country with Newell's Old Boys and, following attention from various European clubs, the 19-year-old signed for Real Valladolid in Spain, not managing one single La Liga appearance in his first season and also being loaned to Sporting CP in December 1998. After the 2000–01 campaign, where he appeared in 36 league games to help the Castile and León side narrowly avoid top flight relegation, Heinze moved to Paris Saint-Germain, where he amassed over 100 overall appearances in three years, helping to the 2004 conquest of the Coupe de France.

Manchester United

In June 2004, Heinze joined Manchester United for a fee of £6.9million. He marked his debut on 11 September with a goal in a 2–2 away draw against Bolton Wanderers, and immediately established himself as first-choice left-back, being regularly lauded by fans with the chant of "Ar-gen-tina!" and eventually voted the club's best player for the 2004–05 season. On 14 September 2005, Heinze was injured in a UEFA Champions League match with Villarreal and was ruled out of first-team action for the rest of the campaign. Previously, he had scored two goals in the same competition, the 3–0 second-leg qualifier away win over Debreceni. He made a comeback with the reserve team in April 2006, but a minor injury…

Heinze first represented Argentina on 30 April 2003, in a friendly away win with Libya. The following year, he was selected as one of the three overage players then Argentina U23 won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He scored in a 6–0 win over Serbia and Montenegro in the group stage. Despite missing most of 2005–06 with Manchester United due to injury, Heinze was called up for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. In the quarter-final clash against the hosts, he started as Argentina lost on penalties. Heinze participated in the 2007 Copa América, scoring with his head from a Juan Román Riquelme free kick in the semi-finals against Mexico, a 3–0 win for the eventual runners-up. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup he played in four of Argentina's five matches in South Africa, netting the game's only goal – his third international – in a group stage victory over Nigeria.

Early years

Even though he still did not possess the proper license, Heinze began working as a manager in June 2015, being appointed at Godoy Cruz in the Argentine Primera División. On 12 July, he won 3–0 at home to Crucero del Norte on his debut. He was sacked on 27 September, following two wins, two draws and six defeats. Heinze signed at Argentinos Juniors in June 2016. In July of the following year, after achieving top-level promotion, he resigned. On 11 December 2017, Heinze was appointed at Vélez Sarsfield. Having led the team to two consecutive Copa Sudamericana qualifications, he chose not to continue past the end of the 2019–20 season.

Atlanta United

On 18 December 2020, Heinze was named manager of Major League Soccer club Atlanta United on a two-year contract. On his debut the following 6 April, the side won by one goal away to Alajuelense of Costa Rica, in the last-16 first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League. Heinze banished Atlanta's star striker Josef Martínez from training, and publicly said that this was his own decision, rather than a precaution based on the Venezuelan's COVID-19 diagnosis at the 2021 Copa América. On 18 July that year, having won just twice in 13 games, he was dismissed from his job.

Newell's Old Boys

On 25 October 2022, Heinze was hired by Newell's, having rejected an offer from the club the previous December. His team were knocked out in the last 64 of the Copa Argentina on 22 February, 1–0 at home to…

Heinze was named in the Panama Papers, a 2016 leak of offshore accounts used for tax evasion. In 2005, he signed an endorsement with Puma, in which at least a million dollars was paid to him over a period of five years through an account in his mother's name in the British Virgin Islands. An urban myth, published in sources including UEFA's website, suggested that Heinze was a member of Y Wladfa, the Welsh-speaking colony in Patagonia. This was proven false by a Manchester United spokeswoman.