Former Giallorossi striker Abel Balbo turns 50

The shirt he decided to wear upon his arrival in Rome gave you an idea that he was a bit different from the onset.

For one thing, you'd have to have a bit of personality to wear an item of clothing with so many garish and clashing colours to your first meeting with your future employers. Abel Eduardo Balbo had personality in shedloads when, at the age of 27, he signed his first contract for Franco Sensi's Roma in 1993.

Today, celebrating his 50th birthday, he might opt for a slightly more restrained fashion sense but he'll never regret his decision to join the Giallorossi. "Rome and Roma are like my second homes,” he claimed on more than one occasion throughout his career.

Prized away from Udinese for a fee close to eight billion lire, it was the first big-money investment from the Rome-born president of the club who had taken over from Giuseppe Ciarrapico just one year previously. Balbo was an Argentine striker brought to Italy from River Plate by Udinese president Giampaolo Pozzo.

As a thoroughbred poacher, he came alive in the six-yard box. Whenever there was a loose ball near the goal, he'd put it in the back of the net without thinking twice. A true No.9 in the spirit of Gerd Muller, you'd realise he was there when it was already too late. Single-minded and ruthless.

He scored his first goal for Roma at home in front of the Curva Sud against Juventus. It was just the beginning of an extremely long run: 187 appearances and 87 goals overall in league and cup competitions across seven seasons between 1993 and 2002 (his spells at Parma and Fiorentina in the middle excluded, obviously).

He was part of Fabio Capello's Scudetto-winning squad in 2000-01 but only made two appearances. Nevertheless, he considers himself a fully-fledged champion of Italy.

"I really wanted to win something big with Roma and for Roma. I managed to achieve that aim, although I didn't play much, and I will remember it for the rest of my life," he declared on 17 June 2001, when his team-mates were singing his name in the changing rooms during the post-match celebrations.

He quickly won over the fans, who dedicated a chant in his honour to the tune of dance hit 'No limit' by 2Unlimited: "Balbo, Abel Balbo, Abel Balbo, Abel Balbo, Balbo, Balbo…"

This year he's among the candidates to be inducted into the 2016 Hall of Fame. "What gift would I like to receive on my 50th birthday? Nothing in particular, my career gave me enough," he said a few months ago to Roma Radio. "I'll enjoy the milestone with my family in the hope that I'll make it another 50 years." .

Abel Eduardo Balbo da Villa Constitución has come a long way since donning that shirt.