| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rolando David Zárate Riga | ||
| Date of birth | (1978-08-06)6 August 1978 (age 47) | ||
| Place of birth | Haedo, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Vélez Sarsfield | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2006 | Vélez Sarsfield | 102 | (44) |
| 1998 | →Terrassa (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | →Real Madrid B (loan) | 33 | (21) |
| 1999–2000 | →Real Madrid (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2001 | →Murcia (loan) | 21 | (6) |
| 2001–2002 | →Ciudad Murcia (loan) | 34 | (12) |
| 2002–2003 | →Livingston (loan) | 33 | (9) |
| 2004 | →Ittihad (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2006 | Tigres | 7 | (0) |
| 2007 | Monterrey | 10 | (1) |
| 2007 | River Plate | 7 | (1) |
| 2008 | Barcelona SC | 23 | (5) |
| 2009–2010 | Vélez Sarsfield | 27 | (5) |
| 2010–2011 | Huracán | 34 | (6) |
| 2011–2012 | Defensa y Justicia | 5 | (1) |
| Total | 345 | (112) | |
| International career | |||
| 2005 | Argentina | 2 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rolando David Zárate Riga (born 6 August 1978) is an Argentine former professionalfootballer who played as acentre forward, and is asports agent.
Born inHaedo, Buenos Aires Province, Zárate spent most of his career forClub Atlético Vélez Sarsfield, representing the club in two different spells. He made his professional debut in 1997, playing in only 17Primera División games in his first two seasons combined.
Zárate moved to Spain in 1998, going on to remain in that country for the following four years, always on loan: he started out atTerrassa FC in thethird division, joiningReal Madrid Castilla in the same level the following year. His impressive scoring form promptedReal Madrid bossVicente del Bosque to promote him to the main squad, and he scored three official goals for them (one inLa Liga and two in theCopa del Rey);[1][2] between 2001 and 2002 he representedCiudad de Murcia and its neighboursReal Murcia, respectively in divisions three andtwo.
Zárate played withLivingston in the2002–03 season, still owned by Vélez.[3] He netted twice on his debut in theScottish Premier League, a 3–2 home win againstMotherwell,[4] and eventually proved instrumental as theLivi Lions retained their division status.
Zárate's last loan would be withIttihad FC in Saudi Arabia. Again with Vélez, he scored 13 times in the2004 Clausura Tournament, adding eight inthe following year's Apertura. In the subsequentClausura,Roly netted seven goals as his team won the national championship for the first time in seven years.[5]
In the following years, Zárate played in Mexico for two teams, also representingClub Atlético River Plate without any impact. On 25 July 2009, he re-signed with Vélez on afree transfer after a period of trial, from Ecuador'sBarcelona Sporting Club, but was released during that year due to injury to hisspinal cord; he returned to training in early 2010 and, eventually, signed a new one-year deal.[6]
For2010–11, 32-year-old Zárate joinedClub Atlético Huracán in the top flight, for free.[7] At the end of the campaign, the side were tied withGimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata for the second-to-last position in the relegation ranking, and thus needed to play a tiebreaker, losing it 2–0.[8]
Following Huracán's relegation, Zárate's contract at theParque Patricios ended and he signed with another club in thesecond division,Defensa y Justicia, again on a free transfer. After his retirement he became afootball agent, representingMaximiliano Romero among others and arranging his December 2017 transfer of Romero from Vélez toPSV Eindhoven.[9]
Zárate made his debut forArgentina on 9 March 2005, afriendly match withMexico in which the former only fielded players from the domestic league. He scored in a 1–1 draw, inLos Angeles.[10]
Also in that year, Zárate made his second and last appearance, playing 15 minutes in a 2–1 win inBolivia for the2006 FIFA World Cupqualifiers.[11]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 March 2005 | Memorial Coliseum,Los Angeles, United States |  Mexico | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly | [10] |
Zárate has three brothers, all footballers: youngerMauro and olderSergio andAriel, with the first two eventually representing the Argentina national team.[12] Rolando's son,Tobías, also became a professional footballer.[13]
Vélez Sársfield
Individual