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^[5] 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 in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Radamel Falcao García Zárate[1]
Date of birth	(1986-02-10) 10 February 1986 (age 39)[2]
Place of birth	Santa Marta, Colombia[3]
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[4]
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Rayo Vallecano
Number	9
Youth career
	Deportivo Táchira
	Mineros de Guayana
	Monagas SC
–1995	Atlético El Vigía
1995–1997	La Gaitana
1997–1999	Lanceros Boyacá
2001–2004	River Plate
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2001	Lanceros Boyacá	8	(1)
2004–2009	River Plate	90	(34)
2009–2011	Porto	51	(41)
2011–2013	Atlético Madrid	68	(52)
2013–2019	Monaco	108	(65)
2014–2015	→ Manchester United (loan)	26	(4)
2015–2016	→ Chelsea (loan)	10	(1)
2019–2021	Galatasaray	34	(19)
2021–	Rayo Vallecano	65	(9)
International career‡
2001–2005	Colombia U17	4	(1)
2005–2007	Colombia U20	11	(4)
2007–	Colombia	104	(36)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:59, 10 March 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2023

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^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8]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.^[9]

Club

As of 2 July 2020.^[10]

Club	Season	League			Cup[nb 1]		League Cup[nb 2]		Continental[nb 3]		Other[nb 4]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
River Plate	2004–05	Argentine Primera División	4	0	—				0	0	—		4	0
	2005–06		7	7	—				0	0	—		7	7
	2006–07		20	3	—				3	0	—		23	3
	2007–08		27	11	—				12	8	—		39	19
	2008–09		32	13	—				6	3	—		38	16
	Total		90	34	—				21	11	—		111	45
Porto	2009–10	Primeira Liga	28	25	5	5	2	0	8	4	0	0	43	34
	2010–11		25	16	3	3	0	0	16	18	1	1	44	38
	Total		51	41	8	8	2	0	24	22	2	1	87	72
Atlético Madrid	2011–12	La Liga	34	24	1	0	—		15	12	—		50	36
	2012–13		34	28	4	2	—		2	1	1	3	41	34
	Total		68	52	5	2	—		17	13	1	3	91	70
Monaco	2013–14	Ligue 1	17	9	2	2	0	0	—		—		19	11
	2014–15		3	2	0	0	0	0	—		—		3	2
	2016–17		29	21	2	1	2	1	10	7	—		43	30
	2017–18		26	18	1	0	3	3	5	3	1	0	36	24
	2018–19		33	15	1	1	0	0	5	0	—		39	16
	Total		107	65	6	4	5	4	20	10	1	0	139	83
Manchester United (loan)	2014–15	Premier League	26	4	3	0	0	0	—		—		29	4
Chelsea (loan)	2015–16		10	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	12	1
Career total			375	207	25	15	8	4	85	56	5	4	496	286

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^[11]

Colombia
Year	Apps	Goals
2007	8	2
2008	5	1
2009	9	2
2010	4	1
2011	8	4
2012	7	5
2013	9	5
2014	3	1
2015	9	4
2016	2	0
2017	6	3
2018	11	4
2019	8	2
Total	89	34

Honours

Club

River Plate

• Argentine Primera División: 2007–08 Clausura

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 2010–11

• Taca de Portugal: 2009–10, 2010–11
• Portuguese Super Cup: 2010, 2011
• UEFA Europa League: 2010–11

Atletico Madrid

• Copa del Rey: 2012-13
• UEFA Europa League: 2010-11
• UEFA Super Cup: 2012