Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986 in Santa Marta Colombia, commonly known simply as Falcao, a name given to him by his father as a tribute to the Brazilian coach Paulo Roberto Falcão, is a Colombian football striker, who currently plays for Atlético Madrid in La Liga and represents the Colombia national football team. Falcao is sometimes nicknamed El Tigre and King of the Europa League. [1][2][3][4][5]
He is considered by many experts to be one of the best strikers in the world, [6][7][8][9] having surpassed Jürgen Klinsmann's record of 15 goals (17) in a single annual international club football European competition UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League campaign. He also played a key role in guiding Porto to a second UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League title, as well as finishing undefeated in the 2010–11 Primeira Liga season. In July 2011, Falcao was regarded as the fifth best player in Europe during the 2010–11 season through balloting by 53 sportswriters of the UEFA member associations. Falcao had also received the Portuguese Golden Ball award in 2011, becoming the first Colombian to do so.[10] Falcao had won the GQ Spainaward for sportsman of the year 2012.[11]
Porto
2009–10 season
Falcao finally made it to Europe when he joined the Portuguese giants FC Porto on 15 July 2009, for €3.93 million,[21] after Porto sold Lisandro López to Olympique Lyonnais.[22]In the transaction, Porto also sold Mario Bolatti to a third party owner, Natland Financier B.V., in exchange for residual rights of Falcao, which worth €1.5 million.[23] (However the club later resold 5% economic rights back to Natland[23][24]) Curiously, Falcao was about to sign for SL Benfica days before, but the reluctance of its leaders to pay an additional 700,000 euros requested by Falcao dictated the end of negotiations; days later, Falcao joined FC Porto.[25] He made his debut against Paços de Ferreira on the opening day of the season, and scored an important goal to earn the team a draw.[26] He went on to score three goals in as many games, making him one of the very few to score four goals in the first four matchdays in the Portuguese league.
On 15 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 1–0 away defeat against Chelsea.[27] Falcao would later score a brilliant header to defeat rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal on the sixth matchday, giving his team a 1–0 home victory.[28] Four days later, on 30 September, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a group stage win over Atlético Madrid.[29] On 2 February 2010, Falcao scored twice in aPortuguese Cup quarter-finals victory against rivals Sporting CP.[30] In the same month, he scored the victory goal against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League round of 16 match,[31] being his fourth goal in the tournament. On 3 April, Falcao scored a brace against Marítimo, and turned into the highest goalscorer of the Portuguese League with 20 goals,[32] but he would finish the season as the second-highest league scorer with 25 goals, behind only Benfica's Óscar Cardozo, who had 26. He scored another goal in his last game of the season, the Portuguese Cup final, where Porto won 2–1 against Grupo Desportivo Chaves.[33] He wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 34 goals in all competitions.
2010–11 season
Falcao made an impressive start to the 2010–11 season, scoring a goal in the 2010 Portuguese SuperCup 2–0 victory over Benfica.[34] He scored his first two league goals on the second matchday of the season against Beira-Mar on 22 August 2010.[35] On 7 November, he scored twice (one of them an impressive backheel goal) in a 5–0 victory against the defending champions Benfica,[36] and later, on 2 December, Falcao scored his firsthat-trick for Porto against Rapid Wien during a UEFA Europa League clash, becoming the top goal scorer of the competition with seventeen goals. On 7 April 2011, Falcao scored another hat-trick in the quarter-final of the Europa League against Russian side Spartak Moscow, which was won by the Portuguese team by a score of 5–1, to bring his goal tally in the tournament to 10.
In the 2010–11 season, Porto won the league title in round 25 of the league against rivals and defending champions Benfica at the Estádio da Luz. He played a key role in that match, winning his team a penalty when the match was tied at 1–1; the penalty was scored by teammate Hulk. In the match against Spartak Moscow in the Europa League, Falcao scored a hat-trick and provided an assist in a 5–1 win. In the second leg, he scored another goal and provided another assist that took Porto to the tournament's semi-final stage. He further added to his position as top scorer in the competition by scoring four goals in the semi-final first leg against Villarreal, a game which finished 5–1 in favour of Porto.
In the UEFA Europa League final, Falcao scored the only goal of the game with a header after a cross from Fredy Guarín, giving the title to Porto.[37][38] He set a new goalscoring record of 17 goals in 14 games during the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, surpassing Jürgen Klinsmann's previous record of 15 goals.[39]
In July 2011 he extended his contract with a €45 million buy-out clause.[40] Porto paid a commission of €6,585,150 to extend the contract.[24]
Atlético Madrid
2011–12 season
On 18 August 2011, Porto announced they had agreed a fee with Atlético Madrid for the transfer of Falcao.[41] The transfer fee was €40 million with the fee potentially rising to 47 million based on performance-based clauses, making him the most expensive player in the club's history.[42] Falcao made his Atlético debut on 10 September away to Arsenal, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 defeat. [43][44] On 3 November, Falcao netted a goal in Atlético's 4–0 triumph over Udinese, the goal meant that Falcao had scored 19 goals in his last 18 Europa League games.[45]
Falcao's second hat-trick in La Liga came on 21 January 2012, when he led his team to a 4–0 victory against Real Sociedad at the Anoeta Stadium.[46] On 16 February, Falcao scored twice and assisted a goal in an away game against Lazio to progress to the Round of 16 in the Europa League.[47] In the second leg of Atletico's Round of 16 clash against Turkish giants Beşiktaş Falcao scored one goal and provided another in a 3–0 victory, 6–1 on aggregate.[48] On 21 March, Falcao netted a second half double to propel his side to a 2–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao and keep Atletico in the race for European places.[49] Falcao scored another goal sealing a 3–0 victory over Getafe. In both legs of the Europa League quarter-final tie versus Hannover 96 Falcao managed to score a goal for each leg, helping Atletico seal a 4-2 aggregate victory and increasing his goal tally to eight in the competition.[50][51]
Falcao played his first derby madrileño against Real Madrid on 11 April 2012, he had missed the first match at the Bernabéu due to injury, and scored Atletico's only goal as his side fell 4-1, thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick.[52] He scored his twenty second goal of the season against Rayo Vallecano, in a crucial 1–0 victory for Atlético Madrid. For the first leg of the 2011–12 Europa league semifinals against Valencia, Falcao scored a double in a 4–2 victory while making Atletico Madrid the first team to win 10 straight matches in a single Europa League season.[53] Falcao added to his Europa League tally in the final against fellow La Liga side Athletic Bilbao, netting Atlético's opening 2 goals in a 3–0 triumph at the Arena Națională in Bucharest on Wednesday 9 May 2012.[54] In doing so, Falcao not only became the top goal scorer in a Europa league season again but became the first player in history to win two consecutive Europa League/Uefa Cup titles with two different teams.[14][55] In all competitions, Falcao had scored a record of 36 goals for Atlético Madrid, the highest amount by any player in a first season playing for the club.[56]
2012–13 season
Falcao scored two hat-tricks at the start of the 2012–13 season; first in the La Liga game against 2012 Europa League finalists Athletic Bilbao,[57] and the second in the defeat ofChelsea, winning the 2012 UEFA Super Cup by a score of 4–1, on 31 August 2012.[58] At the same time, Falcao became the first player in history to score a hat trick in a UEFA Super Cup final in its current format; the original format was two legged before turning into a single legged final format in 1998. On 16 September, Falcao scored what turned out to be the decisive goal from the penalty spot in a 4–3 win over Rayo Vallecano, and did the same a week later against Real Valladolid, before going off at half-time in order to avoid a possible groin injury.[59] Falcao scored a double in a 4–2 away victory over Real Betis, converting a cross for the first and then converting a penalty, putting him to the top of the goal scoring charts in La Liga with seven goals.[60]
Falcao scored a wonderful header against Málaga and forced Málaga defender, Weligton, to score an own goal, pushing Altetico to victory in the final minute.[61] He scored once again in the away fixture to Real Sociedad after the international break, this time with a rare free-kick, his first professional free kick goal, in the 90th minute, winning the match 1-0.[62] In a game against Sevilla, Falcao scored a penalty and assisted another goal in a 4-0 victory; the strike marked his 50th goal for Atletico Madrid.[63] In the match againstDeportivo on 9 December, Falcao scored an astonishing five goals, becoming the first player in La Liga in over a decade to net five goals in a game.[64][65]
International
Early years 2005–2010
Falcao's national career was 'late' in terms of chances in playing for the national team due to injuries around important events. He represented the U-17 national team and the U-20. His first major national tournament was of the 2005 U-20 World Cup.
In the senior national team, Falcao's first goal came against Montenegro during the Kirin Cup held in Japan during 2007 at only 21 years of age, winning the match for Colombia 1–0. His second occurred later that year in a friendly against Peru. Falcao didn't score his third goal till 2008 against Nigeria in a 1–0 win.
Falcao's first World Cup Qualifying goal occurred in 2009, against Peru, who were the first team he scored against for his national team. His last goal for 2009 was againstVenezuela in a friendly that ended 2–1.
Falcao didn't score another goal for Colombia until the following year in 2011 during a friendly against Ecuador where his prime talents began to emerge during this era. Falcao scored against Ecuador again a few months later in another friendly where he scored the winning goal on both occasions.
Copa America 2011
Falcao's first Copa America (he missed the 2007 edition due to injuries) was upon him. Falcao became a huge threatening factor as his reputation in Europe at this time made him a feared striker. Failing to score against Costa Rica and the host nation Argentina, Falcao stepped up scoring a double against Bolivia causing Colombia to top their group, shocking and surprising the host country, Argentina, who were favorites to win the group.
In the next round, Falcao made a mistake when taking a penalty kick against Peru. Shooting wide, Falcao dashed Colombia's hopes of reaching the semi-finals, as Peru were able to score 2 goals in extra time due to various mistakes caused by Colombia. Falcao then vowed to perfect his penalty kicks after causing his nation the loss.
2014 World Cup Qualifiers
Falcao's first match in the 2014 world cup qualifiers started off with a goal against Bolivia in the last minute of added time, giving Colombia the win. This is the first time Colombia has ever managed to win an away game against Bolivia in World Cup qualifying history.
Under new management of the national team led by Jose Pekerman, Falcao scored a goal against Mexico in a friendly that ended 2–0.
Falcao's talents were shown once more against the 2011 Copa America winners, scoring in the 2nd minute to help Colombia beat Uruguay 4–0 in a crucial victory for the 2014 world cup qualifiers. In the same match, he assisted fellow country man Juan Camilo Zúñiga, sealing the 4–0 victory in the final minutes of extra time. Falcao scored again days later against Chile to help give Colombia a 3–1 away win which put them second in the table, one point behind Argentina.
Colombia defeated Paraguay 2–0 on 12 October 2012 to continue their great form, Falcao contributed greatly in this match by scoring both goals.
Playing style and praise
Falcao's talents have been recognized by many football players former and current, perhaps most notably by former FC Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, who described him as "sensational" and as one of the most talented in the world.[66][67][68][69] Many figures such as Fabio Capello have considered him to be on the same level as Lionel Messi andCristiano Ronaldo, and acknowledged Falcao as the best striker in the world.[70][6][7][8][9] Some tout him as the best signing for the Spanish league in the 21st century. [71][72][73]Falcao has even been praised by current King of Spain Juan Carlos I himself for his remarkable talents.[74]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other1 | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| River Plate | |||||||||||||
| 2005–06 | 11 | 7 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 7 | |||||
| 2006–07 | 20 | 3 | — | 5 | 4 | — | 25 | 7 | |||||
| 2007–08 | 27 | 11 | — | 12 | 8 | — | 39 | 19 | |||||
| 2008–09 | 32 | 13 | — | 3 | 3 | — | 35 | 16 | |||||
| Total | 90 | 34 | — | 20 | 15 | — | 110 | 49 | |||||
| Porto | 2009–10 | 28 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 34 |
| 2010–11 | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 38 | |
| 2011–12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 51 | 41 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 87 | 72 | |
| Atlético Madrid | 2011–12 | 34 | 24 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 12 | — | 50 | 36 | ||
| 2012–13 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 19 | ||
| Total | 48 | 40 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 65 | 55 | ||
| Career Total | 189 | 115 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 59 | 49 | 3 | 4 | 262 | 176 | |
1Includes other competitive competitions, including Portuguese SuperCup and UEFA Super Cup.
International
- As of match played 15 November 2012.
| Colombia national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2007 | 8 | 2 |
| 2008 | 5 | 1 |
| 2009 | 9 | 2 |
| 2010 | 4 | 1 |
| 2011 | 8 | 4 |
| 2012 | 7 | 5 |
| Total | 41 | 15 |
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