Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao Garcia Zarate (born 10 February 1986), mainly known as Radamel Falcao, is a Colombian footballer. He plays as a striker for Turkish club Galatasaray. He was named Falcao, in honor of Brazilian soccer player Paulo Roberto Falcao. Falcao is nicknamed El Tigre[1] or The Tiger in Spanish. He is widely known because of his ability to score goals with both feet and with his head.

Radamel Falcao
Falcao playing for Colombia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Radamel Falcao Garcia Zarate
Date of birth (1986-02-10) 10 February 1986
Place of birth Santa Marta, Colombia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Galatasaray
Number 9
Youth career
Lanceros Boyacá
2001–2005 River Plate
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Lanceros Boyacá 8 (1)
2005–2009 River Plate 90 (34)
2009–2011 Porto 51 (41)
2011–2013 Atlético Madrid 68 (52)
2013– Monaco 107 (65)
2014–2015 → Manchester United (loan) 26 (4)
2015–2016 → Chelsea (loan) 10 (1)
National team‡
2001–2005 Colombia U17 4 (1)
2005–2007 Colombia U20 11 (4)
2007– Colombia 89 (34)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 June 2019

Club Career

1996-2001: Lanceros Boyacá

When he was 13 years old, he started to play at Fair Play, which is a Colombian soccer school. In his two years with the club, he played eight matches and scored once.

2001-2009: River Plate

When he was 15 years old, Falcao was discovered by River Plate[2] in a match of selection in Colombia to footballers of maximum 17 years old. Before signing a professional contract with River Plate in 2005, he began to study journalism at the Palermo University in Argentina. When he was 19 years old, he scored two goals at his first match with River Plate. He scored seven goals in seven games, which is a goal each game, before he injured his right knee ligaments at the end of the 2005 season. After a long period of inactivity, he was injured again in January 2006.[3] On 27 September 2007, Falcao scored a hat-trick against Botafogo, which allowed River Plate to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana.

2009-2011: FC Porto

On August 16, 2009, Falcao scored his first goal for F.C. Porto against Paços de Ferreira. During the first season in Europe, he scored 25 goals in 28 matches of the Sagres League. He was the second best striker after Óscar Cardozo, a Paraguayan footballer. During the 2010-2011 season, Falcao scored 16 goals in 13 games in the Europa League, which is more than a goal each game.

2011-2013: Atletico Madrid
Falcao in an UEFA Europa League game against SK Rapid Wien during the 2010/11 season with FC Porto.

In August 2011, he moved to Atlético Madrid for 40 million Euros. In December 2012, he was elected as the second best player from La Liga, the top division of Spanish Football.

2014-2015: Loan to Manchester United

In September 2014, Falcao made a £16m loan move to Manchester United from French side Monaco.[4]He was earning £190,000 per week but his season was met with injuries. He scored 4 goals in 29 appearances.

Falcao playing for Manchester United against Chelsea

International Career

Falcao took part in the 2005 South American U-20 Championship which was held in his home country of Colombia. He won the tournament as well. On 3 June 2007, Falcao scored his first goal for the national team against Montenegro. He scored the only goal of that game. On 11 October 2013, he scored 2 penalties against Chile to help tie the match at 3-3 after losing 3-0. This result meant Colombia qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Falcao missed the 2014 World Cup because he was injured, but played in the 2018 World Cup and scored a goal against Poland. On 7 June 2017, Falcao became the Colombian national team top scorer, after scoring his 26th goal in a 2–2 draw with Spain.[5]

Club
As of 2 July 2020.[6]
Club Season League Cup[nb 1] League Cup[nb 2] Continental[nb 3] Other[nb 4] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
River Plate 2004–05 Argentine Primera División 40—00—40
2005–06 77—00—77
2006–07 203—30—233
2007–08 2711—128—3919
2008–09 3213—63—3816
Total 9034—2111—11145
Porto 2009–10 Primeira Liga 2825552084004334
2010–11 251633001618114438
Total 514188202422218772
Atlético Madrid 2011–12 La Liga 342410—1512—5036
2012–13 342842—21134134
Total 685252—1713139170
Monaco 2013–14 Ligue 1 1792200——1911
2014–15 320000——32
2016–17 29212121107—4330
2017–18 2618103353103624
2018–19 3315110050—3916
Total 10765645420101013983
Manchester United (loan) 2014–15 Premier League 2643000——294
Chelsea (loan) 2015–16 10100100010121
Career total 375207251584855654496286
Notes
  1. Includes Taça de Portugal, Copa del Rey, Coupe de France, FA Cup and Turkish Cup
  2. Includes Taça da Liga, Coupe de la Ligue and Football League Cup
  3. Includes Copa Libertadores, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League
  4. Includes Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Trophée des Champions and UEFA Super Cup

International
As of 28 June 2019[7]
Colombia
YearAppsGoals
200782
200851
200992
201041
201184
201275
201395
201431
201594
201620
201763
2018114
201982
Total8934


Honours

River Plate

Porto

Atletico Madrid

References
  1. http://www.worldsoccerbay.com/falcao-nicknamed-el-tigre/%5B%5D
  2. "Falcao García y su etapa Argentina: el Tigre de River Plate". GOL Caracol. 2 November 2012.
  3. "Falcao - Player Profile 18/19". www.transfermarkt.co.uk.
  4. "Radamel Falcao joins Manchester United in £16m season-long loan deal". the Guardian. 2014-09-02. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  5. "Falcao becomes Colombia's all-time top goalscorer". FourFourTwo. 7 June 2017.
  6. Radamel Falcao at Soccerway
  7. "García, Radamel Falcao". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 5 June 2012.

Other websites
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