Rolando Zárate

Rolando David Zárate Riga (born 6 August 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a centre forward, and is a sports agent.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Zárate and the second or maternal family name is Riga.

Rolando Zárate
Personal information
Full name Rolando David Zárate Riga
Date of birth (1978-08-06) 6 August 1978
Place of birth Haedo, Argentina
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Centre forward
Youth career
Vélez Sarsfield
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2006 Vélez Sarsfield 102 (44)
1998 → Terrassa (loan) 2 (0)
1999–2000 → Real Madrid B (loan) 33 (21)
1999–2000 → Real Madrid (loan) 6 (1)
2001 → Murcia (loan) 21 (6)
2001–2002 → Ciudad Murcia (loan) 34 (12)
2002–2003 → Livingston (loan) 33 (9)
2004 → Ittihad (loan) 1 (0)
2006 Tigres 7 (0)
2007 Monterrey 10 (1)
2007 River Plate 7 (1)
2008 Barcelona SC 23 (5)
2009–2010 Vélez Sarsfield 27 (5)
2010–2011 Huracán 34 (6)
2011–2012 Defensa y Justicia 5 (1)
Total 345 (112)
International career
2005 Argentina 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Haedo, Buenos Aires Province, Zárate spent most of his career for Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield, representing the club in two different spells. He made his professional debut in 1997, playing in only 17 Primera División games in his first two seasons combined.

Zárate moved to Spain in 1998, going on to remain in that country for the following four years, always on loan: he started out at Terrassa FC in the third division, joining Real Madrid Castilla in the same level the following year. His impressive scoring form prompted Real Madrid boss Vicente del Bosque to promote him to the main squad, and he scored three official goals for them (one in La Liga and two in the Copa del Rey);[1][2] between 2001 and 2002 he represented Ciudad de Murcia and its neighbours Real Murcia, respectively in divisions three and two.

Zárate played with Livingston in the 2002–03 season, still owned by Vélez.[3] He netted twice on his debut in the Scottish Premier League, a 3–2 home win against Motherwell,[4] and eventually proved instrumental as the Livi Lions retained their division status.

Zárate's last loan would be with Ittihad FC in Saudi Arabia. Again with Vélez, he scored 13 times in the 2004 Clausura Tournament, adding eight in the following year's Apertura. In the subsequent Clausura, Roly netted seven goals as his team won the national championship for the first time in seven years.[5]

In the following years, Zárate played in Mexico for two teams, also representing Club Atlético River Plate without any impact. On 25 July 2009, he re-signed with Vélez on a free transfer after a period of trial, from Ecuador's Barcelona Sporting Club, but was released during that year due to injury to his spinal cord; he returned to training in early 2010 and, eventually, signed a new one-year deal.[6]

For 2010–11, 32-year-old Zárate joined Club Atlético Huracán in the top flight, for free.[7] At the end of the campaign, the side were tied with Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata for the second-to-last position in the relegation ranking, and thus needed to play a tiebreaker, losing it 2–0.[8]

Following Huracán's relegation, Zárate's contract at the Parque Patricios ended and he signed with another club in the second division, Defensa y Justicia, again on a free transfer. After his retirement he became a football agent, representing Maximiliano Romero among others and arranging his December 2017 transfer of Romero from Vélez to PSV Eindhoven.[9]

International career

Zárate made his debut for Argentina on 9 March 2005, a friendly match with Mexico in which the former only fielded players from the domestic league. He scored in a 1–1 draw, in Los Angeles.[10]

Also in that year, Zárate made his second and last appearance, playing 15 minutes in a 2–1 win in Bolivia for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[11]

International goals
Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Zárate goal.
International goal scored by Rolando Zárate
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
19 March 2005Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States Mexico1–01–1Friendly[10]

Personal life

Zárate has three brothers, all footballers: younger Mauro and older Sergio and Ariel, with the first two eventually representing the Argentina national team.[12] Rolando's son, Tobías, also became a professional footballer.[13]

Honours

Vélez Sársfield

Individual

References
  1. Torres, Diego (13 February 2000). "Del Bosque alaba a la defensa y dice que Zárate debe esforzarse más" [Del Bosque praises defense and says Zárate must work harder]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  2. "Zárate: goles argentinos para las penas del Real Madrid" [Zárate: Argentine goals for Real Madrid's aches]. La Nación (in Spanish). 16 February 2000. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  3. "Livi chase four signings". BBC Sport. 15 July 2002. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  4. "Livi hold off Well comeback". BBC Sport. 3 August 2002. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  5. Czyz, Fernando (13 August 2009). "Roly Zárate: "Todos los equipos le van a jugar a muerte a Vélez"" [Roly Zárate: "Every team is going to play Vélez to the death"]. La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  6. "Roly Zárate, en primera persona" [Roly Zárate, in the first person]. El Gráfico (in Spanish). 7 April 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  7. "El Roly Zárate jugará en Huracán" [Roly Zárate will play in Huracán]. Clarín (in Spanish). 30 June 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  8. "Huracán – Un descenso anunciado" [Huracán – Relegation foretold]. Clarín (in Spanish). 23 June 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  9. "PSV heeft goede zaken gedaan: 'Liever Europese club dan topclub in ons land'" [PSV made a good deal: 'Rather a European club than a top club in our country'] (in Dutch). Voetbal Primeur. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  10. "Cualquiera pudo ganar" [Anybody could have taken it] (in Spanish). ESPN. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  11. "Bolivia 1–2 Argentina... 32 años después, ganan pamperos en La Paz" [Bolivia 1–2 Argentina... 32 años later, pamperos win in La Paz] (in Spanish). Medio Tiempo. 26 March 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  12. "Extorsionan a una familia de futbolistas y les balean una casa" [A family of footballers is blackmailed and has house shot at]. Clarín (in Spanish). 10 August 2006. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  13. "Vélez: Debutó otro Zárate en Vélez 32 años después". Marca. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
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