Mauro Zarate

At 37 years old, Mauro Zarate has this physical status:

Mauro Matas Zárate (American Spanish: [maw mati.as.sa]; born 13 March 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for the club Atlético Platense in Argentina.

Zárate started his career with Vélez Sarsfield, his native country, where he spent three years with the team and captured the Primera División title in the 2005 Clausura tournament. He then signed for Al-Sadd, a Qatari side, where he spent just six months before transferring on loan to Birmingham City in England. Zárate was loaned out again, this time to Lazio, Italy, where he claimed the Coppa Italia after Birmingham's demobilization. His move to Lazio was made permanent for a €20 million buy-out clause. He joined West Ham United in 2014 after a loan at Inter Milan and a brief return to Vélez Sarsfield, and spent the second half of his first season on loan at Queens Park Rangers. In January 2016, Zárate joined Fiorentina, an Italian team. He joined Watford of the English Premier League for two-and-a-half years.

Zárate scored the winning goal as the Argentina under-20 team defeated the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup final, which was held on international level.

Personal life

Zárate was born in Haedo, Argentina, to a footballing family. Sergio, a Chilean former professional footballer, competed for Independiente de Avellaneda. Catalina Riga, his mother, comes from Catanzaro, southern Italy. Juvenal's grandfather, who was also a footballer, was Chilean and also a footballer.

Mauro is both the younger brother of former footballers Rolando and Ariel, as well as former international Sergio who works as Mauro's agent. Tobas, Mauro's nephew, also became a professional footballer.

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Club career

Zárate started his club football career at Vélez Sarsfield, where he had competed since childhood. He was named in the first team, which was also too young for youth, in which he made his full debut against Arsenal de Sarand on April 21, 2004. He received the top-scorer award for the Apertura 2006 with Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors) with 12 goals each.

On June 18, 2007, Zárate signed a two-year contract with Al-Sadd in the Qatari League for a fee that Clarn estimated at $22 million. However, he did not stay in Qatar long, appearing just six league matches and scoring four goals before moving to Birmingham, England, on loan.

Zárate joined Birmingham City on loan until the 2007-08 season, with a view to a permanent contract. He made his debut for the club in the 2–0 loss at Sunderland on January 29th as a 66th-minute replacement for Cameron Jerome, and got his first match against Portsmouth on March 12th. On March 22, he scored his first goal for the club against Reading on March 22, 2013, followed by a brace in their next match against Manchester City, 3–1, and a free-kick against Everton on April 12th. After scoring a total of 4 goals in 14 games, Zárate relegated the club at the end of his loan period, effectively ending the Premier League's relegation, which does not guarantee that the loan will be considered.

On July 5, 2008, Zárate completed his transfer to Lazio, an Italian Serie A club. He started on loan, for €2.4 million, with Lazio having the opportunity to make the arrangement permanent, and a few days later, after a fruitful medical, he was introduced to the media a few days later.

In his Serie A debut against Cagliari and dedicating the second to the Lazio supporters, Zárate immediately endeared himself to the Lazio faithful, scoring twice twice and dedicating the second to the Lazio supporters. He scored on his home debut, as a left-footed kick against Sampdoria from outside the penalty box. Zárate scored twice against Milan at the San Siro, twice against Torino, and another against Siena. However, Zárate suffered from form by mid-season and was forced to be replaced for captain Tommaso Rocchi, who was recovering from injury.

In a 2–0 victory over Bologna on February 28, Zárate scored both Lazio goals; he became the sixth top scorer in the 2008–09 Serie A with ten goals.

Zárate defeated Lazio with a fourth-minute goal in the 1–1 draw with Sampdoria in the final, as well as a hat-trick in the victorious shootout on May 13th. Following the end of the season, he was moved to Lazio for a fee of approximately €20 million, with a €60 million buy-out provision included in the deal. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) later fined Lazio and suspended club president Claudio Lotito for financial corruption surrounding the transfer.

Zárate caused controversies after being photographed allegedly giving a fascist salute while watching Lazio lose to Bari in March 2010, among a group of supporters, though his spokesperson later said the player "did not know the difference" and didn't know who Hitler or Mussolini were.

Zárate's transfer in 2010 was another flash of solidarity.

With the intention of a permanent transfer, Zárate concluded a loan agreement from Lazio to Inter Milan on August 31. In an away match against CSKA Moscow in the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League group stage, he scored a 79th-minute winner, his first goal for the club, on September 27th. In a 5–4 victory over Genoa, his first Serie A goal for Inter came on April 1, 2012, when he scored their fourth goal, a "spectacular curling right-footed shot." He had three goals from 29 appearances in all leagues in the 2011-2012 season.

For the 2012-2013 season, Zárate returned to Lazio. However, he made five appearances, four in the UEFA Europa League, and one in Serie A, all without scoring, and he did not play for the club until November 2012. He was fined €500,000 by Lazio in March 2013; he had requested time off to fly back to Argentina for skin surgery, but instead, he and his family were on holiday in the Maldives.

Zárate returned to his first team, Vélez Sarsfield, in July 2013, without completing his Lazio deal. Consequently, FIFA ruled that Lazio should receive €5.26 million in compensation, which was jointly liable for Vélez and Zárate. Zárate was a member of the 2013 Supercopa Argentina team that defeated Arsenal de Sarand 1–0 in the final in January 2014. He finished the season as the top scorer in Primera División Torneo Final, scoring 13 goals in 19 matches.

When the international transfer window opened in June in 2010, Zárate signed a three-year deal with Premier League club West Ham United. On his debut for the club, he scored on August 23nd, kicking out a 3–1 victory over Crystal Palace with a 20-yard volley.

Zárate was loaned to Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League until the end of the season on January 6, 2015, after scoring two goals in eight matches for West Ham. Zárate retaliate after being dropped from the squad for a match against Liverpool having made four appearances for QPR without scoring in May 2015. His conduct was deemed bad enough by the club that he was forced to return to London and was fined two weeks' wages. This was the length of the suspension, which coincided with the start of the season, and it effectively ended his QPR career.

In a 2–2 draw against Romanian club Astra Giurgiu, Zárate played in West Ham's 2015–16 UEFA Europa League qualifying campaign in pre-season, scoring his first goal of the season. After a narrow second leg loss, West Ham eventually lost the tie 3–4 after a narrow second leg loss.

Zárate scored from outside the penalty area to end West Ham's 2–0 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in their first match match of the 2015–16 Premier League season. In the 2015–16 League Cup, Leicester City defeated Leicester City 2–1 after extra time, with his deflected strike preventing West Ham from third round elimination. He continued his good early season scoring form by scoring the first goal in the Hammers' 2–1 victory over Chelsea on October 24th, a 1–1 draw.

Zárate completed a transfer to Fiorentina, according to Sky Sports' report, it was £1.6 million. He made his La Viola debut ten days later, with their goalless draw at Genoa. He scored his first goal for the team on February 3rd, beating Carpi 2–1 in a 2–1 victory over Antonio Franchi. However, he was sent home by the same score against Inter for grabbing at Jeison Murillo 11 days later, earning him a three-match suspension.

Zárate joined Watford in Premier League on January 25th for a two-and-a-year contract. In a game against his former club West Ham on February 25, he won a penalty but later tore his cruciate ligament by twisting his knee awkwardly. Zárate needed nine minutes of medical attention and would likely miss the remainder of the season.

Zárate joined United Arab Emirati club Al-Nasr in a loan contract that will run until the end of the 2017-18 season. He scored three goals in as many games for the UAE Pro-League club after struggling to find the net in his first four games.

After eight appearances for Al-Nasr, it was announced that Zárate had rejoined Vélez Sarsfield on loan for his third stint at the club where he began his career in January 2018.

Despite publicly announcing his intention to join Boca Juniors permanently, Zárate signed for Boca Juniors in July 2018. Despite qualifying for the Round of 16 in Copa Libertadores due to a lack of playing time, Zárate left Boca Juniors in May 2021.

Zárate, a Brazilian Série A side of América Mineiro, joined Brazilian Série A on August 30, 2021.

International career

In 2007, Zárate helped the Argentina national under-20 team win the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup by scoring the winning goal against the Czech Republic in the final.

Diego Maradona, the Argentina national team's 2008 manager, said that if Zárate's good form continued, he might have a chance with the team.

After not being named in the new Argentina squad chosen by boss Gerardo Martino, Zárate decided to play international football for Chile in 2014. Through his father, he is eligible for the country. However, Zárate has openly stated that he is Argentine and has always wished to play for Argentina.

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