José Luis Zalazar Rodríguez (born 26 October 1963) is a Uruguayan 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 mostly as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

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

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

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

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. 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 Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Zalazar started his career at local club C.A. Peñarol in 1982. After the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, 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-tea ...

he joined Mexican club Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara 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 Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

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 with

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

. 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

Castilla–La Mancha Castilla–La Mancha (, ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Province of Albacete, Albacete, Province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real, Province of Cuenca, Cuenca, Province of Guadalajar ...

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 black ...

. 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 Spanish language, Spanish-language multimedia news agency and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was ...

, awarded to the best

Ibero-American Ibero-America (, ) or Iberian America is generally considered to be the region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former territories of Spain or Portugal). Spain and ...

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, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

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 ...

'' tournament for hometown's

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

and the ''Clausura'' for C.A. Bella Vista. 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 Java ...

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in a 2–0 win, he was part of the squad at the

, making his only appearance of the tournament during the second half of a group stage 1–6 loss to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Zalazar also played six matches during the

1994 World Cup qualification The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitting ...

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

Personal life

Zalazar have three sons and all of them are footballers. His eldest son Kuki Zalazar is a former Spanish youth international and currently plays as

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) ** Smal ...

for

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

. Rodrigo Zalazar is a Uruguayan international and currently plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Portuguese club

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

while youngest son Mauro Zalazar also plays as a midfielder for German club

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

References

External links

*
National team data
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zalazar, Jose 1963 births Living people Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan men's footballers Men's 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 men's under-20 international footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen