For the baseball player, see: Mauro Zárate (baseball).

Mauro Zárate
Personal information
Full name	Mauro Matías Zárate
Date of birth	March 18, 1987 (1987-03-18) (age 22)
Place of birth	Haedo, Argentina
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Lazio
Number	10
Youth career
	Vélez Sársfield
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004–2007 2007–2009 2008 2008–2009 2009–	Vélez Sársfield Al-Sadd → Birmingham City (loan) → Lazio (loan) Lazio	75 (22) 06 0(4) 14 0(4) 35 (13) 05 0(2)
National team2
2007	Argentina U-20	05 0(2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:50, 23 April 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 07:48, 28 April 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Mauro Matías Zárate (born 18 March 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer, currently playing for Italian side S.S. Lazio.

Zárate started his career with Vélez Sársfield, team by which played three years and won the Primera División. He later signed for Al-Sadd in 2008, a Qatar team where he played only six months before going to Birmingham City on loan. However, Birmingham were relegated and Zárate was loaned out again, this time at Lazio. In Italy he won the Coppa Italia. At the end of the season, his move to Lazio was made permanent for a fee of about €20 million, with a €60 million buy-out clause.

In international football, the Argentine played the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup and won the competition even thanks to the decisive goal he scored in the final.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Early years 1.2 Qatar 1.3 Birmingham 1.4 Lazio 2 International career 3 Personal life 4 Honours 4.1 Club 4.2 International 4.3 Individual awards 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early years

Zárate began his club football career at Vélez Sársfield, where he played since his childhood. At 17, considered too strong for the youth category, he was promoted in the first team where he made his full debut on 21 April 2004 against Arsenal de Sarandí. He shared the top-scorer award for the Apertura 2006 with Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors) with 12 goals each.^[1]

[edit] Qatar

On 18 June 2007, Zárate signed a two-year deal with Al-Sadd in the Qatari League.^[2] in a deal thought to be worth around $20M.^[3] Zárate did not remain in Qatar long however, playing just six league games and scoring four goals, before heading on loan to English Premier League side Birmingham.

[edit] Birmingham

On 21 January 2008, he joined Premier League side Birmingham City on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season, with a view to a permanent deal.^[4] He made his debut for the club in the 2–0 defeat at Sunderland on 29 January 2008,^[5] and made his first start in March against Portsmouth. He scored his first goal for the club against Reading on 22 March 2008,^[6] followed by a brace in their next match against Manchester City^[7] and an equalising free kick against Everton.^[8] Zárate left the club at the end of his loan spell, their relegation from the Premier League meaning that no extension to the loan would be considered.^[9]

[edit] Lazio

Zárate completed a move to Lazio on 5 July 2008. He joined initially on loan, with Lazio having an option to make the deal permanent,^[10][11] and following a successful medical he was presented to the media a few days later.^[12]

Zárate immediately endeared himself to the Lazio faithful, scoring a brace in his Serie A debut against Cagliari and dedicating the second to the Lazio supporters.^[13] Zarate also scored on his home debut, with a left footed strike from outside the penalty area against Sampdoria. This rich goalscoring form continued with Mauro scoring once against Milan at the San Siro, twice against Torino and another against Siena. By mid-season however, Zárate hit a dip in form and found himself being substituted for captain Tommaso Rocchi who was returning to form following serious injury.

On 28 February, Zárate scored a brace for Lazio at the Olimpico against Bologna, the game ended 2–0 for Lazio becoming the sixth top scorer in the Serie A with 10 goals.

On 13 May, Zarate won the Coppa Italia scoring one goal and one penalty in the Final.^[14] After the season ended his move to Lazio was made permanent for a fee of about €20 million, with a €60 million buy-out clause.^[15]

[edit] International career

In 2007, Zárate helped the Argentina Under-20 team to win the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring the winning goal in the final against the Czech Republic.^[16]

In 2008, legend Diego Maradona was appointed manager of the Argentine national team and declared in light of his sensational form for Lazio that Zárate would get a chance with the national team.^[17]

In 2009, Zarate (under his agent's supervision) declared that he would welcome the possibility to be included in the Italy national team if Diego Maradona does not call him up to his Argentina's squad for the 2010 world cup.

[edit] Personal life

Zárate was born in Haedo, Buenos Aires to a reasonably wealthy family with much footballing pedigree. His father Sergio is a former professional footballer, who played for Independiente de Avellaneda and A.C. Ancona. His mother, Catalina Riga, has Italian origins, with her family originating from Catanzaro in southern Italy. His grandfather Juvenal was Chilean and also a footballer.^[18]

Mauro is the brother of fellow footballers Rolando who currently plays for Vélez Sarsfield and Ariel of All Boys, as well as former international Sergio Zárate who currently acts as Mauro's agent.^[19]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

Vélez Sársfield

• Argentine Primera: Clausura 2005

S.S. Lazio

• Coppa Italia: 2008–09
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2009

[edit] International

Argentina

• FIFA World Youth Championship: 2007

[edit] Individual awards

• Argentine Primera Joint Topscorer: Apertura 2006

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mauro Zárate

• (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics at Futbol XXI
• Mauro Zárate career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e S.S. Lazio – current squad 1 Bizzarri · 2 Lichtsteiner · 3 Scaloni · 4 Firmani · 5 Mauri · 6 Dabo · 7 Eliseu · 8 Matuzalém · 9 Rocchi · 10 Zárate · 11 Kolarov · 13 Siviglia · 17 Foggia · 18 Makinwa · 19 Pandev · 21 S. Inzaghi · 23 Meghni · 24 Ledesma · 25 Cribari · 26 Radu · 28 Stendardo · 32 Brocchi · 33 Baronio · 40 Iannarilli · 41 Sciamanna · 42 Sevieri · 52 Luciani · 68 Manfredini · 74 Cruz · 79 Bonetto · 81 Del Nero · 86 Muslera · 87 Diakité · 88 Berni · 89 Degrè · 91 Faraoni · 99 Perpetuini · Manager: Ballardini

Persondata
NAME	Zárate, Mauro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Zárate, Mauro Matías
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	1987-03-18
PLACE OF BIRTH	Haedo, Morón Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH