Abel Enrique Aguilar Tapias (born 6 January 1985) is a Colombian retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a central or

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. Having started his career at Deportivo Cali, Aguilar signed with Italian club

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

at the age of 20 then spent seven seasons in

Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Spain has some of the most important teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and others). It also has a high number of players (most of them being unprofession ...

with four teams, appearing in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

for

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

, Hércules and Deportivo. He also competed professionally in France, Portugal and the United States. A Colombian international since 2004, Aguilar represented the nation in two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and as many Copa América tournaments while playing 71 matches.

Club career

Italy

Aguilar was born in Bogotá.

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a foo ...

bought his rights in the summer of 2005, from local Deportivo Cali, and loaned him immediately to fellow league team

Ascoli Calcio 1898 Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C., commonly referred to as Ascoli, is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Serie B. The team traditionally play in vertical black and white stripes. ...

due to the excess of foreign players in the roster; however, after some problems in the arrival of the transfer, the player missed pre-season training, only joining it a month into the season. Aguilar returned to Udinese in January 2006, after having never played for Ascoli, but received few playing opportunities in the following months (two league matches and the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

0–1 loss at

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

, all incomplete).

Spain

For the following three years, Aguilar was also loaned, always in the

Spanish second division Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. He started out in January 2007 at

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

, where he remained until the end of the 2007–08 campaign, always as first choice. In 2008–09, Aguilar represented Hércules CF, being a permanent fixture as the

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

side fell three points short of a return to

. On 24 July 2009 he was again loaned, now to

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

, which in turn promoted to the top flight; he made his debut in the competition on 29 August, starting and playing 71 minutes in a 1–0 home win against

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

, and scored all his four league goals during the first two months of competition. Aguilar was released by Udinese in July 2010, immediately signing a four-year contract with former club Hércules, returned to the top division after an absence of 13 years. He appeared in 34 scoreless games during the season, which ended in relegation. Aguilar returned to the Spanish top tier in the 2012–13 campaign, being loaned to

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

. He netted twice in just his second league appearance to help to a 3–3 draw at

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

, but his team was again eventually relegated.

Toulouse

On 22 August 2013, Aguilar agreed to a three-year deal with Toulouse FC. His maiden appearance in Ligue 1 occurred nine days later, putting on an average performance and being booked in a 1–2 away loss to

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of French f ...

. Aguilar spent his third year in France on the sidelines, nursing a serious

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joi ...

injury. In the very last moments of the 2016 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

, he joined C.F. Os Belenenses from Portugal.

Return home

On 12 June 2016, after 11 years playing in Europe, Aguilar returned to his country and Deportivo Cali, signing a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for the team on 29 July, in the 2–1 victory against América de Cali for the

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...

FC Dallas

On 27 August 2018, Aguilar joined Major League Soccer side

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

. At the end of the season, he was released.

Unión Magdalena

Aged 33, Aguilar returned to his country in December 2018, agreeing to a deal at

Unión Magdalena Unión Magdalena () commonly known as El Unión, and nicknamed as El Ciclón Bananero (The Banana Cyclone) and also Los Samarios (The Samarios), is a Colombian football club from the city of Santa Marta, capital of the department of Magdalena, ...

for the upcoming season. On 18 February 2020, he announced his retirement.

International career

Aguilar was the captain of the Colombia national U-17 team and U-20 levels. He rose to stardom as leader of the latter side that finished third at the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

. Aguilar was then promoted to the senior squad for the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held i ...

held in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. There, he scored two goals, helping his country to the semi-finals. Subsequently, Aguilar returned to the under-20 (again as captain), helping them to a first-place finish at the 2005 South American Youth Cup with the consequent qualification for the World Championship of the category in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After helping the national team to three group stage wins, he could not prevent a round-of-16 1–2 ousting at the ends of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Aguilar was selected by

José Pekerman José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

for his 2014 FIFA World Cup squad. He played his first-ever game in the tournament on 14 June, starting in a 3–0 group stage win against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

which was also his 50th

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

. Aguilar was also picked for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia.

Career statistics

International

(Colombia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Aguilar goal)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar, Abel 1985 births Living people Footballers from Bogotá Colombian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Categoría Primera A players Deportivo Cali footballers Unión Magdalena footballers Serie A players Udinese Calcio players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players La Liga players Segunda División players Xerez CD footballers Hércules CF players Real Zaragoza players Deportivo de La Coruña players Ligue 1 players Toulouse FC players Primeira Liga players C.F. Os Belenenses players Major League Soccer players FC Dallas players Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Colombia men's international footballers 2004 Copa América players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in France Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States