Víctor Eduardo Zapata (born 20 January 1979) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

retired

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

. Originally a pacey

left winger 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. ...

, Zapata has developed his game as a

deep-lying playmaker 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. ...

since his arrival to Vélez in 2007.

Club career

Zapata started his career in 1998 with

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

. In 1999, he moved to River Plate, where he won four league titles during his first spell with the club. During the 2003–04 season, he was loaned to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

in the Spanish ''

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 ...

'', but returned to River after Valladolid was relegated at the end of the season. In 2007, Zapata joined Vélez Sársfield in a free transfer, after River denied the possibility of extending his contract. He was a regular starter in the team's 2009 Clausura championship, playing 18 of the 19 games (and scoring one goal). He also played 13 games as a starter (1 goal) in Vélez' 2011 Clausura winning campaign, his second Argentine league title with the club and sixth in his career.

International career

Under José Pekerman's coaching, Zapata played a friendly match with the Argentina national team in 2005. The game was a 1–1 draw with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, in which Argentina had a squad formed exclusively by local league players.

Honours

;River Plate *

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 ...

(4): 1999 Apertura, 2000 Clausura, 2002 Clausura, 2003 Clausura ;Vélez Sársfield *

(2): 2009 Clausura, 2011 Clausura

References

External links

Profile
at Vélez Sársfield's official website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapata, Victor 1979 births Living people Footballers from San Martín, Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Primera B Metropolitana players Argentinos Juniors footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Chacarita Juniors footballers Unión de Santa Fe footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers La Liga players Real Valladolid players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentina men's international footballers