Martín Zapata (28 October 1970 – 22 April 2006) was a Colombian

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

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 ...

. 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 ...

from 1992 to 1995,

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 football t ...

from 1995 to 1999,

Club Sport Emelec Club Sport Emelec is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil that is best known for their professional association football, football team. The football team plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of professional football in th ...

in 2000 and Deportivo Cali again in 2001. He was the top scorer of the

1999 Copa Libertadores The 1999 Copa Libertadores was the 40th edition of the Copa Libertadores, South America's premier club championship. It was held between February 21 and June 16. Palmeiras became the champions after beating Deportivo Cali on penalties for the fir ...

, in which Cali finished runner-up to

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

, and Zapata missed his penalty. He was capped 5 times for

Colombia national football team The Colombia national football team (), nicknamed ''Los Cafeteros,'' represents Colombia in men's international Association football, football and is managed by the Colombian Football Federation, Federación Colombiana de Fútbol (), the govern ...

, all at the

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

, and was also a squad member for the

1997 Copa América The 1997 Copa America was the 38th edition of the Copa America. It was held in Bolivia from 11 to 29 June. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. In this edition, Costa Rica and Mexico were the invited teams to br ...

. He was murdered in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

on 22 April 2006.

Titles

Deportivo Cali

* 1998 Torneo Finalizacion

References

External links

* * 1970 births 2006 deaths Men's association football midfielders Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's international footballers 1997 Copa América players Once Caldas footballers Deportivo Cali footballers C.S. Emelec footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Colombian expatriates in Ecuador Colombian murder victims Deaths by firearm in Colombia People murdered in Colombia Footballers from Cauca Department Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Colombia Pan American Games footballers for Colombia Pan American Games bronze medalists in football Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century Colombian sportsmen 2006 murders in Colombia {{Colombia-footy-midfielder-stub