Óscar Eduardo Córdoba Arce (born 3 February 1970) 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 le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He played more than 70 games for the Colombia national team. He is also the only person to never concede a goal in a

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

edition, having done so in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Club career

Córdoba started playing professionally with

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

in 1988, but transferred 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 ...

in 1989 and loaned to

Deportes Quindío Deportes Quindío is a professional Colombian football club based in Armenia that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on 8 January 1951, and its best achievement was winning the 1956 league tournament. They play th ...

in 1990. In 1991, he moved to

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 ...

, and in 1993 he played for

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Palogrande stadium. They were the surprise winners ...

, and

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 ...

, with which he would win the Colombian Championship in 1997. After the title, he moved to Argentine team

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

to what was probably his most successful time, winning the Argentine Championships

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 div ...

1998,

Clausura 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 div ...

1999 and Apertura 2000, the

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 ...

2000 and 2001, and the Intercontinental Cup of 2000. In 2000 and 2001 was part of the dream team of America. Ready to make the jump to Europe, Córdoba moved to Italian

Perugia Calcio Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio, or simply Perugia, is a professional football club based in Perugia, Umbria, Italy, that competes in the . Founded in 1905 as Associazione Calcistica Perugia, the club folded in 2005 and were re-founded t ...

, but after only half season he transferred to Turkish

Beşiktaş Istanbul 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 ...

. In Turkey he often played against another Colombian goalkeeper of the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

;

Faryd Mondragón Faryd Camilo Mondragón Alí (born 21 June 1971) is a Colombian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Since his debut in 1993, he has played over 50 times for the Colombia national team. He was named in the Colombia squ ...

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. After four seasons and after winning the

2002–03 Süper Lig The 2002-03 Süper Lig was the 45th edition of top-flight professional football in Turkey. The season celebrated the centenary of Beşiktaş J.K., who became eventual champions. Moreover, Malatyaspor qualified for the first time in a European cu ...

and the

2005–06 Turkish Cup The 2005–2006 Turkish Cup was the 44th edition of the annual tournament that determined the association football Super League (Süper Lig) Turkish Cup ( tr, Türkiye Kupası) champion under the auspices of the Turkish Football Federation ( tr, ...

, he transferred to

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Antalya. The club's colours are red and white. They play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the club won the First League twice in 1982 and 1 ...

, club in which he announced his retirement after the 2006–07 season. In spite of the announcement, he returned to Colombia and signed for

to play the following season. His contract with the Colombian side expired after Deportivo Cali were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Copa Mustang in the Apertura of 2008. In December 2008 he was nominated by the American channel Fox Sports as "Outstanding Career" Award given annually by such means the best athletes in the world. Oscar will be awarded with special recognition for Outstanding Career with Argentine striker

Gabriel Batistuta Gabriel Omar Batistuta (; born 1 February 1969) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer. During his playing career, Batistuta was nicknamed Batigol () as well as El Ángel Gabriel (; Spanish for ''Archangel Gabriel, ...

. After his experience at Deportivo Cali, Córdoba expressed his interest in either returning to Argentina, returning to Turkey, or retiring from football itself. He finally signed for

where he played until his retirement in December 2009. He won

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

's "Outstanding Career" Award with three other Colombians, including

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

driver Gustavo Yacaman and bronze medal-winning

Paralympic athlete The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

Elkin Serna.

International career

Córdoba made his debut for the Colombia national team in a friendly against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

on 31 March 1993. He has gone on to make over 70 appearances for his country, making him the most

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

goalkeeper in the history of Colombian international football.rsssf: Colombia record international footballers
/ref> In the

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending champi ...

he started in every game and conceded only two goals making him the best goalkeeper in the playoffs. He played a key role in the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil national football team, Brazil ...

, playing five of six games, and winning the tournament with no goals conceded. Along with

Miguel Calero Miguel Ángel Calero Rodríguez (14 April 1971 – 4 December 2012) was a Colombian professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He played 50 times for the Colombia national footba ...

, the Colombian side kept their net virgin throughout the tournament, first time to ever happen in the Copa América. He also won the award for best goalkeeper in the tournament. He played in the

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivie ...

where Colombia came fourth. On 10 September 2003, Córdoba surpassed

René Higuita José René Higuita Zapata (; born 27 August 1966) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("The Madman") for his high-risk ' sweeper-keeper' playing style and his flair for the dram ...

's record of 68 caps, to become Colombia's all-time record goalkeeper. He was called up to the Colombia national team for his final time in October 2009 as the third goalkeeper in a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

qualifier for the

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

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 ...

: 1996–97 *

: runner-up

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Boca Juniors *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

: 1998 Apertura, 1999 Clausura, 2000 Apertura *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Beşiktaş *

: 2002–03 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup ( Turkish: ''Türkiye Kupası'') is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası ...

: 2005–06 Colombia *

Individual * Most Valuable Player,

2000 Copa Libertadores The 2000 edition of the Copa Libertadores was the 41st in the tournament's history. It was held between February 15 and June 21. Thirty-two teams participated in this event. First round *Teams in green qualified to the next round Group 1 Grou ...

* Best Goalkeeper,

and

2001 Copa Libertadores The 2001 Copa Libertadores de América was the 42nd edition of CONMEBOL's premier club football tournament. The winners were Boca Juniors, beating Mexican club Cruz Azul in the finals on penalties and lifting its fourth Copa Libertadores trophy. ...

* Best Goalkeeper,

* Named to the América ''dream team'', 2000 and 2001 * First and only goalkeeper in

history to keep a perfect clean sheet

References

External links

*
Óscar Córdoba Interview

Óscar Córdoba: the greatest

Óscar Córdoba, from Maradona and his Ferrari Testarossa to football glory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordoba, Oscar 1970 births Living people Footballers from Cali Colombian footballers Association football goalkeepers Atlético Nacional footballers Deportivo Cali footballers Deportes Quindío footballers Once Caldas footballers América de Cali footballers Millonarios F.C. players Boca Juniors footballers Expatriate footballers in Argentina A.C. Perugia Calcio players Expatriate footballers in Italy Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Antalyaspor footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Colombian expatriate footballers Colombia under-20 international footballers Colombia international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1993 Copa América players 1995 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Categoría Primera A players Argentine Primera División players Serie A players Süper Lig players Copa América-winning players Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Colombia Pan American Games medalists in football Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games