.jpg) Aguilar withColombia at the2018 World Cup | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Abel Enrique Aguilar Tapias[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1985-01-06)6 January 1985 (age 40) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bogotá, Colombia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Deportivo Cali | 102 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2010 | Udinese | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 | →Ascoli (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | →Xerez (loan) | 48 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | →Hércules (loan) | 34 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | →Zaragoza (loan) | 27 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Hércules | 73 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | →Deportivo La Coruña (loan) | 28 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Toulouse | 49 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Toulouse B | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Belenenses | 9 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Deportivo Cali | 55 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | FC Dallas | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Unión Magdalena | 41 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 475 | (33) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Colombia U20 | 9 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2018 | Colombia | 71 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Abel Enrique Aguilar Tapias (born 6 January 1985) is a Colombian formerfootballer who played as acentral ordefensive midfielder.
Having started his career atDeportivo Cali, Aguilar signed with Italian clubUdinese at the age of 20 then spent seven seasons inSpanish football with four teams, appearing inLa Liga forZaragoza,Hércules andDeportivo. He also competed professionally in France, Portugal and the United States.
AColombian international since 2004, Aguilar represented the nation in twoWorld Cups and as manyCopa América tournaments while playing 71 matches.
Aguilar was born inBogotá.Serie A clubUdinese Calcio bought his rights in the summer of 2005, from localDeportivo Cali, and loaned him immediately to fellow league teamAscoli Calcio 1898 FC due to the excess of foreign players in the roster;[2] however, after some problems in the arrival of the transfer, the player missed pre-season training, only joining it a month intothe season.
Aguilar returned to Udinese in January 2006, after having never played for Ascoli,[3] but received few playing opportunities in the following months (two league matches and theUEFA Cup1–0 loss atRC Lens, all incomplete).[4]
For the following three years, Aguilar was also loaned, always in theSpanish second division. He started out in January 2007 atXerez CD,[5] where he remained until the end of the2007–08 campaign, always as first choice.[6]
In2008–09, Aguilar representedHércules CF,[7] being a permanent fixture as theAlicante side fell three points short of a return toLa Liga.[6] On 24 July 2009 he was again loaned, now toReal Zaragoza,[8] which in turn promoted to the top flight; he made his debut in the competition on 29 August, starting and playing 71 minutes in a 1–0 home win againstCD Tenerife,[9] and scored all his four league goals during the first two monthsof competition.[10]
Aguilar was released by Udinese in July 2010, immediately signing a four-year contract with former club Hércules,returned to the top division after an absence of 13 years.[11] He appeared in 34 scoreless games duringthe season, which ended in relegation.[12]
Aguilar returned to the Spanish top tier in the2012–13 campaign, being loaned toDeportivo de La Coruña.[13] He netted twice in just his second league appearance to help to a 3–3 draw atValencia CF,[14][15] but his team was again eventually relegated.[16]
On 22 August 2013, Aguilar agreed to a three-year deal withToulouse FC.[17] His maiden appearance inLigue 1 occurred nine days later, putting on an average performance and beingbooked in a 2–1 away loss toSC Bastia.[18]
Aguilar spent histhird year in France on the sidelines, nursing a seriousankle injury.[19] In the very last moments of the 2016 Januarytransfer window, he joinedC.F. Os Belenenses from Portugal.[20]
On 12 June 2016, after 11 years playing in Europe, Aguilar returned to his country andDeportivo Cali, signing a three-year contract.[21] He scored his first goal for the team on 29 July, in the2–1 victory overAmérica de Cali in theCopa Colombia.[22]
On 27 August 2018, Aguilar joinedMajor League Soccer sideFC Dallas.[23] At the end ofthe season, he was released.[24]
Aged 33, Aguilar returned to his country in December 2018, agreeing to a deal atUnión Magdalena forthe upcoming season.[25] On 18 February 2020, he announced his retirement.[26]
Aguilar wascaptain of theColombia national team atunder-17 andunder-20 levels.[27] He rose to stardom as leader of the latter side that finished third at the2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.[28]
Aguilar was then promoted to the senior squad for the2004 Copa América held inPeru. There, he scored two goals, helping his country to the semi-finals.[29]
Subsequently, Aguilar returned to the under-20 (again as captain), helping them to a first-place finish at the 2005 South American Youth Cup with the consequent qualification for theWorld Championship of the category in theNetherlands. After helping the national team to three group-stage wins, he could not prevent around-of-16 2–1 ousting at the ends ofArgentina.[27]
Aguilar was selected byJosé Pekerman for his2014 FIFA World Cup squad.[30] He played his first-ever game inthe tournament on 14 June, starting in a 3–0 group stage win againstGreece which was also his 50thcap.[31]
Aguilar was also picked for the2018 World Cup in Russia.[32]
| Colombia[33][34][35] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2004 | 7 | 2 |
| 2005 | 5 | 2 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009 | 7 | 0 |
| 2010 | 2 | 0 |
| 2011 | 9 | 0 |
| 2012 | 2 | 0 |
| 2013 | 11 | 1 |
| 2014 | 9 | 0 |
| 2015 | 2 | 1 |
| 2016 | 3 | 1 |
| 2017 | 10 | 0 |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 71 | 7 |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 July 2004 | Estadio Mansiche,Trujillo, Peru |  Peru | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2004 Copa América |
| 2. | 17 July 2004 |  Costa Rica | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3. | 12 July 2005 | Orange Bowl,Miami,United States |  Trinidad and Tobago | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 4. | 17 July 2005 | Reliant Stadium,Houston, United States |  Mexico | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
| 5. | 6 February 2013 | Sun Life,Miami Gardens, United States |  Guatemala | 3–0 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 6. | 30 March 2015 | Mohammed Bin Zayed,Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates |  Kuwait | 1–0 | 3–1 | |
| 7. | 11 October 2016 | Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez,Barranquilla, Colombia |  Uruguay | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2018 World Cup qualification |
Colombia squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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