Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and the Colombia national team.

Nicknamed "El Tigre" (The Tiger), he is considered one of the best strikers of his generation, and as one of the greatest Colombian footballers of all time.

Falcao made his debut for Lanceros Boyacá in the Colombian Categoría Primera B (second tier) on 28 August 1999, playing the last 40 minutes against Deportivo Pereira at the age of 13 years and 199 days, thus becoming the youngest debutant at that level of Colombian professional football.

In 2000, Lanceros' coach, Hernán Pacheco, began to consider the 14-year-old more seriously; Falcao played seven matches that year.

On 23 July, at the Estadio Olímpico del Sol in Sogamoso, he scored his first and only goal for the club, to seal a 2–0 win against Club El Cóndor that took Lanceros off the bottom of the table.

In his two years with the club, he played eight matches and scored once.

Falcao began his professional career in the Argentine league in River Plate, where he played with their youth academy from 2001 until 2004 and later won the 2007–08 Clausura tournament.

After training with Millonarios, who did not take up their option to purchase the player, Falcao was sold to River Plate of Argentina in February 2001, for a $500,000 fee.

He began his River career in the youth team, playing in the eighth division of Argentine football.

River's coach, Leonardo Astrada, gave Falcao his professional debut in the 2005 Torneo Clausura, on 6 March 2005, in a game that finished in a 3–1 victory for his club against Instituto de Córdoba.

Falcao became a regular in the first team during the 2005 Torneo Apertura.

He scored twice in a match for the first time in Argentina, on 2 October in a game against Independiente that finished as a 3–1 win for River.

He repeated the feat twice more during the Apertura: against Lanús, his brace contributed to a 4–1 home win, and against San Lorenzo, River won 5–1.

This brought his total for the competition to seven from as many games under the management of Reinaldo Merlo, who gave Falcao the trust he needed to establish himself in the team.

In the match against San Lorenzo in November, Falcao injured the ligaments of his right knee and missed the remainder of the Apertura; then, during pre-season training in January 2006, he sustained more serious damage to the same knee, which required surgery and was expected to keep him out for at least six months.

He returned to the field in September, soon after the start of the 2006 Torneo Apertura, in which he made 12 appearances, mainly as a substitute; he scored just once, to seal a 2–0 win against Rosario Central that took River clear at the top of the table.

A few days earlier, he made his debut in CONMEBOL competition, in the last eight of the 2006 Copa Sudamericana against Atlético Paranaense of Brazil.

He was replaced at half-time, and the match finished 2–2; this meant River were eliminated on aggregate, as they lost the home leg 1–0.

Falcao made his senior debut for Colombia in 2007, and has since earned over 100 caps and scored 36 goals, making him their all-time top scorer since breaking the previous record of 25 goals in June 2017.

He was sent off in his only outing in the 2007 Copa Libertadores, against Colo-Colo on 22 February 2007.

Domestically, he made little impression on the 2007 Torneo Clausura.

He scored in only one of the eight games he played: River's first two goals as they beat Racing Club 4–2 away from home.

Falcao scored his first professional hat-trick on 27 September 2007, as River made a historic comeback against Botafogo to win the series 4–3 after trailing 3–1 on aggregate and progress into the quarter-finals of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana.

The following week, he scored his first goal in a Superclásico, the first of River's goals as they beat Boca Juniors 2–0.

In 2009–10, he joined Porto, where he won several trophies, including the UEFA Europa League, Taça de Portugal and Primeira Liga treble in 2011.

In August 2011, Falcao moved to Spanish club Atlético Madrid for a club record €40 million.

Falcao was also prolific in La Liga during his time with Atlético, being the third-highest goalscorer in 2011–12 and 2012–13, both behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He represented his country at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 Copa América.

He set the record for most goals (17) in a European campaign in 2011 and is the first player to win consecutive Europa League titles with two teams (Porto in 2011 and Atlético in 2012) Falcao is Porto's all-time top goalscorer in international club competitions, and is also Monaco's highest goalscorer this century (83).

He was integral in the club's 2012 Europa League and UEFA Super Cup victories as well as their 2013 Copa del Rey Final victory over rivals Real Madrid.

He was named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI in 2012, becoming the first and only Colombian player to achieve this feat.

A three-time Ballon d’Or nominee, Falcao finished in fifth place for the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or, and was also awarded the 2012 Globe Soccer Best Footballer.

Regarded at the time as one of the best strikers and players in the world, Falcao controversially signed for newly promoted Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2013 for a club record €60 million, despite interest from top European clubs.

In the second half of his debut season, an ACL injury ruled him out for six months; he went on to spend the next two seasons on loan at Premier League clubs Manchester United and Chelsea.

Falcao missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup through injury, but made his World Cup debut at the 2018 tournament in Russia.

He also captained the national team various times between 2015 and 2021, until reoccurring injuries affected his availability.

Falcao is one of the all-time top scorers of the UEFA Europa League and holds the record of most goals scored in a single season of the tournament.

Rejoining Monaco in the summer of 2016, he regained his best form finishing as the club's top goalscorer in every competition and captaining them to their first Ligue 1 title in 17 years as well as a UEFA Champions League semi-final.

In November 2018, Falcao was honoured by the Atlético Madrid fans with a plaque outside the Metropolitano Stadium.

Falcao joined Turkish club Galatasaray in 2019, before returning to La Liga in 2021 with Rayo Vallecano.