Duván Esteban Zapata Banguero (; born 1 April 1991) is a Colombian 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 le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

and the Colombia national team. After starting his career with Colombian club

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

, he later played for Estudiantes in Argentina. From 2013, he played in Italy's

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 Coppa ...

, for

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

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 fo ...

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

, and

. At international level, Zapata made his senior debut for

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

in 2017, and took part at the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to 10 July 2021. The tour ...

Club career

America de Cali

Zapata joined

's youth academy aged 13 in 2004, and made his debut with the first team on 18 May 2008, during a 3–2 loss against Boyaca Chico, where he also scored a goal. In July 2008, Zapata started in both legs of the finals against Boyaca Chico, who later beat America on penalties to win the league title. In December 2008, America de Cali won the league title by beating

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

in the finals, but Zapata didn't participate in either match. On 13 February 2011, he scored a hat-trick, the first of his career, in a 3–2 home victory against

Deportivo Pereira Deportivo Pereira is a professional Colombian football team based in Pereira, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium. History Early years While there are several ...

Estadio Pascual Guerrero A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

. At the end of the 2011 Apertura, Zapata left the club.

Estudiantes

On 27 July 2011, joined Estudiantes on loan for a $120,000 loan fee with an option for Estudiantes to purchase for $1.2 million. On his debut, Zapata scored a goal in a 3–2 win over Belgrano. During his first year with Estudiantes, Zapata would occasionally make appearances with their reserve team. Despite this, he still managed to score four goals in eight matches in the Torneo Clausura 2012. That year, within both the Apertura and Clasura, Zapata scored 5 goals in 11 matches. During the summer of 2012, Estudiantes purchased half of Zapata's playing rights from América de Cali. For the 2013–13 season, Zapata featured in Estudiantes' starting 11, eventually turning into a fundamental part of the team and attracting interest from many European clubs like

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

, after scoring 16 goals in 33 games. In July 2013,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

applied for a British work permit for Zapata ahead of a possible transfer from Estudiantes. Although not meeting the usual requirements for a permit, West Ham attempted to secure his arrival by claiming he was a "special talent" who would enhance the English game. However, West Ham's owners soon announced on social media they were pulling out of the deal, even after agreeing a ₤6.7 million fee with Estudiantes.

Napoli

On 25 August 2013, Zapata transferred to

club

for an undisclosed fee. He made his first start in Serie A on 28 September, in a 2–0 Napoli win against

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. On 22 October, he scored his first goal in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

in a 2–1 away win. Zapata scored his first league goals for the ''Partenopei'' on 26 March 2014, two in a 4–2 win at

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

in which his team got all their goals in the first half. He finished the season with five to his name, including two more in the last match, a 5–1 win over

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

at the

Stadio San Paolo Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (formerly known as Stadio San Paolo) is a stadium in the western Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples, Italy. It is the third largest football stadium in Italy, after Milan's San Siro and Rome's Stadio Olimpico, as well as ...

. On 22 July 2015, Zapata joined

on a two-year loan deal with the option to purchase him after his first year at the club. On 31 August 2017, Zapata joined

on a season-long loan deal with an obligation to purchase.

Atalanta

On 12 July 2018, Zapata joined

on a two-season loan deal with an option to purchase. On 26 December 2018, Zapata scored twice in a 2–2 draw against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. Later on 20 January 2019, Zapata scored four goals in a 5–0 away win versus

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

, becoming the first Atalanta player since

Hasse Jeppson Hans Olof "Hasse" Jeppson (10 May 1925 – 21 February 2013) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a striker. He was known for his impressive goals to games ratio at several clubs, and represented Örgryte IS, Djurgårdens IF, Cha ...

in 1952 to achieve this feat in Serie A. The goals lifted his tally up to 14 goals, all scored consecutively in his last 8 matches, making him the top scorer of the league jointly with

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and

Fabio Quagliarella Fabio Quagliarella (; born 31 January 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Sampdoria, whom he captains. Throughout his career, Quagliarella has played for eight different Italian clubs, winning ...

. On 30 January 2019, Zapata scored twice in a 3–0 win against holders

in the quarter-final stage of

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. After helping Atalanta to reach the

2019 Coppa Italia Final The 2019 Coppa Italia Final decided the winner of the 2018–19 Coppa Italia, the 72nd season of Italy's main football cup. It was played on 15 May 2019 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome between Atalanta B.C., Atalanta and S.S. Lazio, Lazio. This was ...

, and achieve a third-place finish in

, and consequently a spot in the Champions League, scoring 23 league goals in the process, Zapata was awarded a spot in the

Serie A team of the year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best during the previous c ...

at the end of the season. On 1 October 2019, Zapata scored Atalanta's first ever goal in the

in a 2–1 loss against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

. On 17 January 2020, Atalanta exercised their option to purchase Zapata's rights on a permanent basis. A week later, he scored his first goal since his return from a three-month injury in a 7–0 rout of Torino. On 11 July, Zapata scored his 15th goal of the season in a 2–2 draw against Juventus, making it the first time since Juventus in 1952 that a Serie A club had three players with 15 or more goals in a season ( Muriel, Iličić, Zapata). On 27 October 2020, he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

in the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defeat ...

. Zapata became Atalanta's joint-highest non-Italian goalscorer in Serie A on 15 May 2021, alongside

Germán Denis Germán Gustavo Denis (born 10 September 1981) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie D club Real Calepina. Career Denis began his career in 1997 playing for his local team Talleres de Remedios de Esca ...

, scoring his 56th league goal for the club against

International career

Zapata received his first call-up to the Colombia national team for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

in March 2017. He made his debut on 23 March, as a 64th-minute substitute for

Mateus Uribe Andrés Mateus Uribe Villa (born 21 March 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Portuguese club Porto and the Colombia national team. After coming through the ranks of Envigado's youth academy, Urib ...

in a 1–0 home win over Bolivia. In May 2018, Zapata was named in Colombia's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 World Cup tournament proper, in Russia. However, he did not make the final 23-man squad. On 30 May 2019, Zapata was included in the 23-man final Colombia squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 ...

. In a pre-tournament friendly on 9 June he scored his first international goal at the end of a 3–0 win away to Peru, having replaced

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and often captains the Colombia national team. Nicknamed "''El Tigre''" (Spanish for ''The Tige ...

at half time. He then scored in the first two group games in Brazil, against

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 ...

(2–0) and

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

(1–0). In June 2021, he was included in Colombia's squad for the

in Brazil. He successfully converted Colombia's first penalty kick in the quarter-final shoot-out against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Colombia would eventually eliminate Uruguay 4–2 on penalties following a 0–0 draw. Ultimately, Colombia achieved a third-place finish with Zapata failing to score despite appearing in a total of 7 matches.

Style of play

Zapata is primarily known for his speed, offensive movement, physicality, and goalscoring ability as a striker. He usually plays in a central role, and possesses a powerful and accurate shot. He is also known for his ability in the air, courtesy of his height, strength, and powerful physique, which also aids him in defending the ball with his back to goal, and enables him to hold up possession and bring his teammates into the game with his link-up play; he is also adept in one on one situations due to his technique and agility. Moreover, he is known for is defensive work-rate and willingness to press opponents off the ball.

Personal life

Zapata is the cousin of fellow Colombia international footballer and current San Lorenzo defender

Cristián Zapata Cristián Eduardo Zapata Valencia (born 30 September 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Atlético Nacional. A quick and physically powerful defender, known for his hard marking of opponents and strength ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zapata goal''.

Honours

América de Cali *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the ...

: 2008–II Napoli *

: 2013–14 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Colombia U20 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual *

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best during the previous c ...

: 2018–19

References

External links

Duván Zapata
at the Atalanta B.C. website * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapata, Duvan 1991 births Living people Colombian people of African descent People from Cauca Department Footballers from Cali Colombian men's footballers Men's association football forwards América de Cali footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers SSC Napoli players Udinese Calcio players UC Sampdoria players Atalanta BC players Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Argentine Primera División players Serie A players Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Colombia men's international footballers 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Italy