The midfielder won his first international championship the following year, a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. Considered a key player with Guillermo Barros Schelotto, he scored one of the victory goals in the final penalty shootout against Mexico. Argentina then finished second in the 1995 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 1996 Summer Olympics. Despite losing the Confederations Cup final to Nigeria, Gallardo said in 2018 that he valued that silver medal. He was on the Argentina squad for the 1995 and 1997 Copa América, reaching the quarter-finals both times (considered a failure by the local press).