Alberto Zapata

Alberto de Jesús Zapata Urriola (born 28 February 1979) is a retired professional Panamanian football forward who played for last time in Atlético Nacional.

Alberto Zapata
Personal information
Full name Alberto de Jesús Zapata Urriola
Date of birth (1979-02-28) February 28, 1979
Place of birth Panama City, Panama
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Atlético Nacional
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999 Real España
1999 Vida
2000–2002 Tauro
2001 Tecos UAG 20 (16)
2002 Chorrillo
2003 Alianza (Panama)
2004 Olimpia Asunción
2005 Municipal Valencia
2005 Alianza (Panama)
2006 San Francisco
2007 Puerto Rico Islanders 17 (4)
2008 San Francisco 37 (25)
2009 Maccabi Netanya 11 (1)
2009 Alianza (El Salvador) 10 (1)
2010 San Francisco 19 (5)
2010–2012 Sporting San Miguelito 29 (9)
2013–2015 Atlético Nacional
International career‡
2000–2009 Panama 15 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 September 2008
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 20, 2008
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Zapata and the second or maternal family name is Urriola.

Club career

A much-travelled striker or attacking midfielder, Zapata played alongside compatriot Roberto Brown for Honduran side Real España in 1999[1] and left fellow Hondurans Vida in December 1999 after claiming the club had not paid him his wages.[2] In 2001, he played for Mexican second division side Tecos UAG,[3] for whom he rattled in 16 goals in 20 games.[4] He later joined Chorrillo from Tauro in his native Panama in summer 2002[5] and moved to Alianza in 2003,[6] winning the Panamanian league's MVP award 2003 in the process.[7]

In January 2004 he moved abroad again to play for Paraguayan giants Olimpia[8] and returned to Honduras in January 2005 when recommended to Municipal Valencia by Víctor René Mendieta.[9]

He returned to Panama in 2005 to play for Alianza again and from 2006 for San Francisco and played with fellow Panamanians Víctor Herrera Piggott and Gustavo Ávila at Puerto Rican outfit Puerto Rico Islanders in 2007. In January 2009 he went to Europe for a spell alongside Alberto Blanco in Israel with Lothar Matthäus-led Maccabi Netanya and scored his first goal for them in April 2009 against Hapoel Petah Tikva.[10] In July 2009 he signed with Salvadoran side Alianza,[11] only to leave them in November 2009 after an unsuccessful spell at the club.[12]

After another stint at San Francisco he moved to Sporting San Miguelito in summer 2010[13] and later joined then second division side Atlético Nacional. In June 2015 he clinched promotion to the LPF after his team Atlético Nacional won the Panamanian Second Division championship decider against SUNTRACS with Zapata scoring one of the goals.[14]

International career

Zapata made his debut for Panama in a January 2000 friendly match against Guatemala and has earned a total of 15 caps, scoring 2 goals. He represented his country in two qualifying matches for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and four qualifying matches for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[15]

His final international was a January 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup match against Guatemala.

International goals
Scores and results list. Panama's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.June 21, 2000Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama Venezuela2–02–0Friendly
2.January 27, 2009Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras Guatemala1–01–02009 UNCAF Nations Cup

References
  1. Alberto Zapata aspira dejar Honduras y jugar en México - Panamá América (in Spanish)
  2. Alberto Zapata no jugará para el Club Vida catracho - Crítica (in Spanish)
  3. Zapata con 12 goles en el fútbol azteca - Crítica (in Spanish)
  4. Zapata con positiva campaña en las inferiores de los Tecos - Panamá América (in Spanish)
  5. Alberto Zapata es el nuevo fichaje de El Chorrillo - La Prensa (in Spanish)
  6. El Alianza se encamina según su delantero Alberto Zapata - Crítica (in Spanish)
  7. Alberto Zapata más valioso del 2003 - Panamá América (in Spanish)
  8. Alberto Zapata se sumó al plantel de Olimpia - La Prensa (in Spanish)
  9. Alberto Zapata jugará en Honduras - Panamá América (in Spanish)
  10. Zapata anota su primer gol en el fútbol de Israel - La Prensa (in Spanish)
  11. Panameño Zapata reforzará al Alianza de El Salvador - RPC (in Spanish)
  12. Zapata se fue de Alianza Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine - La Prensa Gráfica (in Spanish)
  13. TORNEO APERTURA DE LA LIGA PANAMEÑA DE FÚTBOL Altas y bajas de la LPF Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine - La Prensa (in Spanish)
  14. Vence al Suntracs 3-0 La Policía Nacional sube a la LPF - La Prensa (in Spanish)
  15. "2004 MATCHES : NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
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