José Luis Zalazar Rodríguez (born 26 October 1963) is a

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 ...

an retired

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 mostly as an

attacking 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 boundarie ...

. Nicknamed ''El Oso'' (Bear), he played most of his career in Spain, especially with

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

, being part of the club's most long tenure 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' ...

. He was also notable for his strong and accurate right-foot shot, as demonstrated with several goals from long distance, particularly from free kicks.FortuneCity biography
An Uruguay international for nearly one decade, Zalazar represented the country at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

Club career

Born in Montevideo, Zalazar started his career at local club C.A. Peñarol in 1982. After the 1986 FIFA World Cup he joined Mexican club

Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara The Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (, ''Autonomous University of Guadalajara''), commonly abbreviated to UAG or Autónoma, is a coeducational, independent, private university based in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. Established in 1935, ...

where, in his first year, he was the highest goalscorer of the tournament with 23 goals overall. He then moved to Spain, where he played with Cádiz CF one season before returning to Mexico for 1988–89, again with the ''Tecos''. Zalazar returned to Spain in 1989, playing one year in its

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

with

RCD Español Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

. He then joined

, where he would have his most successful period, playing six seasons and being part of the squad known as ''Queso Mecánico'' ("Clockwork Cheese"). He started his spell at the Castile-La Mancha team in the second level, scoring 15 times in all 38 matches in an eventual promotion – including two crucial ones against

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and blac ...

. During 1991–92's

, Zalazar again played in all the games, adding 13 goals and helping Albacete finish in seventh place, the highest position ever reached by the club in the top division. His performances earned him the ''EFE Trophy'' by Spanish news agency

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major multimedia news agency in Spanish language and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was created in 1939 ...

, awarded to the best

Ibero-American Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former territories of Portugal or Spain). P ...

player in the competition every year. During his career at Albacete, he also became the club's all-time leader in top level appearances, with 180 matches, and goals, with 57. After Albacete was relegated back to division two at the end of 1995–96, Zalazar left for

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...

for one single campaign. The following year he returned to Uruguay, playing the 1997 ''

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

'' tournament for hometown's

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

and the ''Clausura'' for

C.A. Bella Vista Club Atlético Bella Vista, usually known simply as Bella Vista is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The club plays its home games at Estadio José Nasazzi, which can hold 10,000 spectators. History Club Atlético Bella Vista was ...

. After a brief retirement the 35-year-old rejoined Albacete, still in the second tier, leaving the game for good at the end of the season.

International career

Zalazar obtained a total of 29

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Uruguay national team. Having made his official debut on 13 June 1984 against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in a 2–0 win, he was part of the squad at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, making his only appearance of the tournament during the second half of a group stage 1–6 loss to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Zalazar also played six matches during the

1994 World Cup qualification File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

process, his last representing Uruguay, which did not qualify.

Personal life

Zalazar have two sons and both of them are footballers. His elder son Kuki Zalazar is a former Spanish youth international and currently plays as forward for

Real Valladolid B Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol Promesas is the reserve team of Real Valladolid, a Spanish football club based in Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1942, currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 1, ...

. His younger son Rodrigo Zalazar is a Uruguay youth international and currently plays as a

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 boundarie ...

for Polish club

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce, , (Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish football club, which will compete in Ekstraklasa in the 2022–23 season. In the years 2002–08 the club ...

on loan from

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

References

External links

*
National team data
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zalazar, Jose 1963 births Living people Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan footballers Association football midfielders Uruguayan Primera División players Peñarol players Club Nacional de Football players C.A. Bella Vista players Liga MX players Tecos F.C. footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Cádiz CF players RCD Espanyol footballers Albacete Balompié players Racing de Santander players Uruguay under-20 international footballers Uruguay international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players Uruguayan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain