Pablo Zabaleta

Pablo Zabaleta

Personal information
Full name	Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod
Date of birth	16 January 1985 (1985-01-16)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Full back / Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	5
Youth career
1995–1997	Obras Sanitarias
1997–2002	San Lorenzo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2005	San Lorenzo	66	(8)
2005–2008	Espanyol	80	(3)
2008–	Manchester City	91	(3)
National team‡
2008–	Argentina U23	9	(0)
2005–	Argentina	14	(0)
Honours Competitor for Argentina Men's Football Gold 2008 Beijing Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:15, 5 February 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:00, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Manchester City.

Zabaleta can operate on both sides of the pitch either as a defender or defensive midfielder, but is predominantly a right sided player. Zabaleta also holds a Spanish passport. He has garnered a reputation for being a tenacious player and his overlapping runs from full back position.

Club career

San Lorenzo

Born in Buenos Aires, Zabaleta was raised in Arrecifes, Argentina. He began his career at Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro in 2002 after progressing through their youth ranks, having been signed at the age of 12 from local club Obras Sanitarias. He started playing as a defensive midfielder but eventually moved to the right side of midfield

Espanyol

Zabaleta was transferred to RCD Espanyol in 2005 for €3 million after being Argentina under-20's captain in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, which Argentina won.

In January 2007, he suffered a shoulder injury that kept him off the pitch for almost 3 months, already having established himself as an undisputed first team choice.

Manchester City

Pablo Zabaleta in 2009

In the summer of 2008, Zabaleta transferred to Premier League club Manchester City where he is among the fans' favourite players rejecting an offer from Juventus and stated upon joining that 'the offer of Manchester City is impossible to reject'. Having passed a medical and agreed personal terms, Zabaleta completed a five year deal with Manchester City on 31 August 2008 for an undisclosed fee, believed to the buy-out clause Zabaleta had attached to his contract of around £6.45 million. Zabaleta joined a month before Manchester City were bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group which was led by Sheikh Mansour which enabled a wealth of investment in the club.

Wearing the number 5 shirt, Zabaleta scored his first goal for City on 17 January 2009, the only goal of the game in a 1–0 league win over Wigan Athletic. Zabaleta has also played for City in the centre of midfield, with the return to fitness of Nedum Onuoha pushing him further forward. This switch has brought an improvement in his performances. He got sent off in City's 1–1 league draw against Wigan Athletic.

On 21 November 2010, Pablo Zabaleta scored the 2nd goal for Manchester City 4–1 win against Fulham. This was his second league goal for the club and he assisted a Carlos Tévez goal, helping his compatriot to earn his 9th goal for the club during the 2010–11 season.

On 1 January 2011, Zabaleta played his 100th game for Manchester City in all competitions, coming off the bench against Blackpool in a 1–0 win at Eastlands. Two weeks later on 15 January, Zabaleta grabbed his second assist of the season in a 4–3 win over Wolves. This win meant that City went first in the league above city rivals Manchester United however their title challenge faded with a loss of form in the February and March months.

In a crucial game against West Ham on 1 May 2011, Zabaleta scored his second goal of the season. This secured a 2–1 win for the Citizens and put them 7 points ahead of Liverpool and Tottenham in the race for fourth place., although this has been given as an own goal on some sites Zabaleta is claiming the goal.

In the summer of 2011 it was reported Roma were keen on signing Zabaleta but were given a hands off warning by the Manchester City hierarchy and Zabaleta agreed a 3 year contract in July 2011.

In November of 2011, along with Adam Johnson, Zabaleta extended his contract with Manchester City until Summer 2015. Zabaleta said "I'm in a very good team, and I try to do my best for the club, the team and the fans. I didn't think twice, I gave a quick answer because I was so happy to sign."

International career

At the age of 14, Zabaleta was called up by Hugo Tocalli to Argentina U-15's. He took part in many youth tournaments, including the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2003 and 2005, winning the latter in the Netherlands. He received over 75 caps to national youth sides, and started representing the senior side in 2005. He was also a member of the Gold Medal winning team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, starting at right back and playing all 6 matches. After the 2010 FIFA World Cup which Zabaleta was not selected to play in, under the new Argentina manager he has established himself as first choice right back.

Personal life

Zabaleta was born in Buenos Aires, and his father Jorge, introduced him to football when he was young. Zabaleta's mother died while he was young at age 15 and Zabaleta has a tattoo on his chest which bears the name of his mother.

Zabaleta is currently in a relationship with long-term girlfriend in Christel Castano. Castano initially disliked Manchester, attributing this to the weather and cuisine, but has grown to 'love Manchester'. In 2011, Zabaleta was given indefinite leave by Manchester City as his father, Jorge, was in intensive care after a motorcycling accident in his native Argentina.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League				Domestic Cups¹				International Cups²				Total
		Apps.	Goals			Apps.	Goals			Apps.	Goals			Apps.	Goals
San Lorenzo	2002–03	11	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	1	0	1	0	12	0	1	0
	2003–04	27	3	5	0	-	-	-	-	3	0	1	0	30	3	6	0
	2004–05	28	5	3	0	-	-	-	-	9	0	3	0	37	5	6	0
	Total	66	8	8	0	0	0	0	0	13	0	5	0	79	8	13	0
Espanyol	2005–06	27	2	7	0	5	0	2	0	7	0	1	0	39	2	10	0
	2006–07	20	0	7	0	3	0	1	0	9	0	5	0	32	0	13	0
	2007–08	32	1	14	1	4	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	36	1	14	1
	Total	79	3	28	1	12	0	3	0	16	0	6	0	107	3	37	1
Manchester City	2008–09	28	1	3	1	2	0	0	0	11	0	2	0	41	1	5	1
	2009–10	27	0	9	1	8	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	35	1	11	1
	2010–11	26	2	9	0	1	0	0	0	11	0	1	0	45	2	10	0
	2011–12	6	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	13	0	3	0
	Total	87	3	20	2	14	0	2	0	19	0	4	0	111	3	26	2
Career total		223	14	56	3	23	0	5	0	48	0	15	0	234	16	76	3
Statistics accurate as of 13:15, 13 June 2011

¹ Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, FA Cup, Football League Cup and FA Community Shield.

² Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Recopa Sudamericana, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Honours

Zabaleta with the FA Cup on Manchester City's victory parade in May 2011

Club

San Lorenzo de Almagro

• Copa Sudamericana: 2002

RCD Espanyol

• Copa del Rey: 2006
  • UEFA Cup runners-up: 2007

Manchester City

• FA Cup: 2010–11

International

Argentina Under-20

• South American Youth Championship: 2003
• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005

Argentina Under 23

• Olympics: 2008

External links

• Pablo Zabaleta career stats at Soccerbase
• NationalFootballTeams stats
• FIFA.com short bio
• Premier League profile