Sergio Fabián Zárate Riga (born 14 October 1969) was an Argentine former 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

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 spent most of his career in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

and the

Primera División de México Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

apart from his native

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Club career

Born in Haedo,

Morón Partido Morón is a '' partido'' ( second level administrative division) of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Located in the Greater Buenos Aires urban area, its head town is Morón which is located around from Buenos Aires. The provincial subdivis ...

, Zárate started his career with Vélez Sarsfield where he spent four years in the Argentinian Primera División. He then moved to Europe where he would eventually make 80 appearances in the

for 1. FC Nürnberg and

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

as well as a season in Italy with

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

. In 1995 Zárate moved to Mexico where he played 190 games for

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

and

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

during two stints.

International career

Zárate won his only international cap for

in 1992.

Personal life

Sergio is the eldest of five brothers of whom four became professional footballers;

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

played in Spain for

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

among other teams,

Rolando Rolando may refer to: Entertainment *'' Rolando'', a 2008 puzzle-adventure video game *'' Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid'', a 2009 puzzle-adventure video game *"Rolando", a song by Roland Kirk from the album ''Domino'' People *Rolando (gi ...

(also an Argentinian international) and youngest brother Mauro is a U-20 World Cup winner. Sergio works as an agent for his brothers. Sergio's nephew, Tobías, also became a professional footballer.

References

External links

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Player article

Player article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarate, Sergio 1969 births Club Puebla players Living people Footballers from Morón Partido Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Chilean descent Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentina men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers 1. FC Nürnberg players AC Ancona players Hamburger SV players Club Necaxa footballers Club América footballers Argentine Primera División players Bundesliga players Serie A players Liga MX players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Zárate family 20th-century Argentine sportsmen