Montero is close to having his long-awaited fourth central defender: the Uruguayan emphasized the need to add one more defender after the departures of Diego Braghieri and Fabricio Coloccini. Cristian Zapata is already in Argentina and must serve a week of quarantine to rule out a possible case of COVID-19. Once this period is over, he will swab, perform his medical check-up and sign his link with San Lorenzo.
They wait for Zapata
He arrives in free condition after passing through Genoa in Italy, this being his second experience in South American football after playing just a handful of games at Deportivo Cali. It should be noted that the club negotiated its contract directly with the player since the defender does not have a representative although it was once Iván Córdoba who had Zapata in charge.
The 1.87 defender was trained in the lower teams of Deportivo Cali in addition to having been part of the sub-17 and sub-20 teams in Colombia. At just 19 years old, Zapata caught the attention of Udinese from Italy, who bought his token for a historic qualification to the UEFA Champions League. In his first season, the native of Padilla was able to make a place in the team only in the second half where he began to play UEFA Cup and Italian league matches.
A Colombian in the sights of San Lorenzo
In the following two seasons, Cristian Zapata began to be a fixture in the team in the northern team, starting in the vast majority of league games and attracting attention in the Colombian coaching staff. For his fourth season at Udinese, Zapata was already starting to start in the knockout games as well as returning to the international level with his team.
Although the 2011 Copa América Zapata was called up, the defender failed to add minutes in a coffee presentation that barely lasted four games. In that same year, Villarreal of Spain was going to bet heavily on the Colombian since he signed the defender in exchange for 9 million euros. The Spanish club intended to bet heavily on their return to the UEFA Champions League and La Liga, but the results were extremely disappointing. Although Zapata was able to face Napoli, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, the Yellow Submarine did not add units at the international level while in the local tournament they lost the category.
The following year, Milan invested 400 thousand euros in a loan for the coffee defender who would have a new experience in Italy and in a much more important team. Zapata returned to play in the Champions League against Anderlecht and Zenit, in addition to having a tough series against Barcelona where he assisted in a goal for Milan to win the first leg 2-0. To their regret, Barcelona turned the series around and qualified for the quarterfinals.
In the coming season, Zapata would continue to be an important piece in the rossonero team, which is why Milan invests 10 million euros in his hiring. The native of Padilla continued to warm up with the best in Europe, playing once again in the UEFA Champions League where he scored a goal against Celtic and faced Ajax and again with Barcelona. The European adventure culminated in losing to Atlético Madrid in the round of 16.
One of the best moments in his career would come in 2014 since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for José Pekerman’s National Team was unforgettable. Zapata started against Greece in 3-0, against Ivory Coast in 2-1 and substitute against Japan to rest. In the round of 16, Colombia defeated Uruguay 2-0 and Zapata was once again part of the starting eleven, while in the quarterfinals, although the 1.87 defender was there from the start, Brazil managed to eliminate one of the best teams from that World Cup.
After the World Cup, Zapata continued to defend the colors of Milan, although the team ceased to be the historical protagonist of European football and plunged into an unprecedented football crisis. The footballer suffered certain muscle injuries and ankle surgery for which the footballer played approximately half of the games in the following seasons.
Zapata was part of the delegation that traveled to Russia 2018 although he only added a handful of minutes in the round of 16 against England where the shots from the penalty spot smiled at the European team. In his last season at Milan, Zapata had a fibrillar tear although he was able to play for several minutes before going free to Genoa.
Despite the coronavirus and muscle problems also generated by this disease, Zapata played 35 minutes in two seasons with the Italian team. Although the team always hovered in the lower positions of the standings, Zapata and his teammates managed to maintain the category with the southern team.
The 34-year-old defender is currently training in his native country where he is waiting to stamp his signature and join San Lorenzo de Almagro. His extensive experience in Europe and in World Cups deserve him to be a footballer who helps in the training of youth in his position such as Federico Gattoni or Francisco Flores and surely helps the Cyclone to compete again at the first level.
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