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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

. 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 CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

edition, having done so in

2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

Club career

Córdoba started playing professionally with

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

in 1988, but transferred to Deportivo Cali in 1989 and loaned to Deportes Quindío in 1990. In 1991, he moved to Millonarios, and in 1993 he played for

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

, and América de Cali, 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 professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

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 ...

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 ...

1999 and Apertura 2000, the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

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 , the third division of Italian football. Founded in 1905 as Associazione Calcistica Perugia, the ...

, but after only half season he transferred to Turkish

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

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

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

; Faryd Mondragón of

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. After four seasons and after winning the 2002–03 Süper Lig and the 2005–06 Turkish Cup, he transferred to

Antalyaspor Antalyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional multi-sport club based in Antalya, southern Turkey. The club's colours are red and white. The association football, football side play their home matches at the Antalya Stadium. In Turkey, the cl ...

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

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

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, 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 ...

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

Formula 3 Formula Three (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 drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

driver Gustavo Yacaman and bronze medal-winning Paralympic athlete Elkin Serna.

International career

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

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on 31 March 1993. He went on to make over 70 appearances for his country, making him the most capped 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 cham ...

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

where Colombia came fourth. On 10 September 2003, Córdoba surpassed René Higuita'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 called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

qualifier for the

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

Honours

América de Cali *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

: 1996–97 *

: runner-up

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Boca Juniors *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 1998 Apertura, 1999 Clausura, 2000 Apertura *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Beşiktaş *

: 2002–03 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () 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''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2005–06 Colombia *

Individual * Most Valuable Player, 2000 Copa Libertadores * Best Goalkeeper,

and 2001 Copa Libertadores * Best Goalkeeper, 2001 Copa América * 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 InterviewÓscar 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 men's footballers Men's 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 men's footballers in Argentina AC Perugia Calcio players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Antalyaspor footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Colombia men's 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 Copa Libertadores–winning players Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Colombia Pan American Games bronze medalists in football Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 21st-century Colombian sportsmen 20th-century Colombian sportsmen