Ariel Silvio Zárate Riga (born 13 July 1973) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder, and a manager.

Ariel Zárate
Personal information
Full name Ariel Silvio Zárate Riga
Date of birth (1973-07-13) 13 July 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
Vélez Sarsfield
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996 Toluca 9 (0)
1996–1997 Riccione 13 (5)
1997–1998 Cádiz 50 (13)
1998–2002 Málaga 89 (9)
2000Elche (loan) 21 (6)
2002–2003 Xerez 38 (11)
2003–2005 Elche 47 (2)
2005–2006 Deportivo Morón 34 (11)
2007 Tristán Suárez 16 (3)
2007–2011 All Boys 77 (6)
Total 394 (66)
Managerial career
2014–2015 Deportivo Merlo
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Only having made his debut in the Primera División in his own country well past his 30s, he spent the vast majority of his professional career in Spain, mainly with Málaga which he represented in three full La Liga seasons.

Career

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After completing his formation at Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires-born Zárate began playing professionally in Mexico with Club Toluca. He then had a stint with lowly A.S.D. Riccione 1929 of Italy and spent seven years in Spain, with Cádiz CF, Málaga CF (helping the Andalusia team achieve promotion to La Liga in 1999), Elche CF and Xerez CD.

Subsequently, Zárate returned to Argentina, playing for modest clubs Deportivo Morón, C.S.D. Tristán Suárez and All Boys. He helped the latter to the Primera B Metropolitana championship in his first season.[1]

As All Boys returned to the Primera División in 2010 after an absence of nearly 40 years,[2][1] Zárate made his debut in the competition in a 1–0 home loss against Racing Club de Avellaneda for the campaign's Apertura, aged 37 years and 25 days.[3][4] Following his retirement, he acted as their general manager.[5]

Personal life

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Zárate's son luca debuted in admiral Brown yesterday and "el chino " had three brothers, all footballers: younger Rolando and Mauro and older Sergio, with all of them eventually representing the Argentina national team.[6] Ariel's nephew, Tobías, also became a professional footballer.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ariel Zárate no quiere darle la 10 a Ortega: "Sólo se la prestaría a Messi"" [Ariel Zárate does not want to give Ortega the 10: “I would only lend it to Messi”]. Clarín (in Spanish). 13 January 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  2. ^ "El furor por el regreso a Primera de All Boys" [Clamour over the return to Primera of All Boys] (in Spanish). Infobae. 6 August 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Racing ganó con lo justo ante All Boys" [Racing won barely against All Boys]. La Voz del Interior (in Spanish). 8 August 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  4. ^ Maverino, Silvio (7 February 2016). "Sebastián Bértoli es el jugador más longevo en debutar en Primera División (1990–2016)" [Sebastián Bértoli is the oldest player to make debut in Primera División (1990–2016)] (in Spanish). Goleamos. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  5. ^ Díaz, José M. (12 September 2012). "All Boys, renuncia el manager Ariel Zárate" [All Boys, manager Ariel Zárate leaves] (in Spanish). Todo Mercado Web. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "Vélez: Debutó otro Zárate en Vélez 32 años después". Marca. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
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