Luis Eduardo Zapata Zapata (born 24 April 1980) is a Colombian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender who currently plays for

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

Club career

Zapata began his career with

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

, making his debut in the Colombian top flight during the 2001 season. Since making his debut with Millonarios, Zapata was a regular starter at left back and was known primarily for his speed. During the 2004 season he was sent on loan to

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

and had an extraordinary season before returning to Millonarios. He is nicknamed "El Morumbí", for his goal in a

Copa Sudamericana 2007 The 2007 edition of the Copa Sudamericana was played by 34 teams; 30 teams from the CONMEBOL and 4 teams from the CONCACAF. CONMEBOL organized the tournament and invited three North American clubs which were the best three of the CONCACAF Champ ...

match played in São Paulo, Brasil against

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube (), commonly referred to as São Paulo, is a professional football club in the Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1930. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista (the State of São Paulo's premier state leag ...

which gave

an unprecedented victory. In 2008, he left his longtime club and signed with

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 ...

. He remained at the club for six months and appeared in 13 matches during that time. For the second half of the 2009 season Zapata joined

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 only remained at the club for six months as he and sixteen other players were let go at the end of the season. In July 2010 Zapata signed with Venezuelan club

Caracas F.C. Caracas Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football team based in Caracas. The club has won twelve First Division titles making it the most successful in Venezuelan football history. They are nicknamed ''Los Rojos del Ávila'', or the "Reds from � ...

After one season in Venezuela Zapata signed with

Wilstermann Club Deportivo Jorge Wilstermann, known simply as Wilstermann, is a Bolivian football club from the city of Cochabamba, founded on 24 November 1949 by a group of workers of Lloyd Aereo Boliviano. It is named after Bolivian aviator Jorge Wilste ...

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 ...

for the clubs

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

campaign. While with Wilstermann he appeared in two Copa matches. After a brief stay in Bolivia the Colombian defender signed with

Deportivo Pasto Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad. D ...

. In his first year at the club he helped Pasto in capturing the Primera B title and gain promotion to the

Liga Postobón Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

.Pasto es de primera
/ref> After a three-week trial, Zapata signed with Colorado Rapids of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

References

External links

* *
asmsoccer.com profile

Colombianos en Venezuela
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zapata, Luis Eduardo 1980 births Living people Footballers from Cali Colombian men's footballers Millonarios F.C. players Deportivo Cali footballers Deportivo Pereira footballers América de Cali footballers Caracas FC players C.D. Jorge Wilstermann players Deportivo Pasto footballers Colorado Rapids players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Venezuela Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Men's association football defenders