Name Rodolfo Zelaya Career start 2006 2001 CD Alacran Weight 70 kg | Number 22 Height 1.74 m Playing position Role Footballer Children Larissa Valeska Zelaya | |
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Full name Rodolfo Antonio Zelaya Garcia Date of birth (1988-07-03) July 3, 1988 (age 27) Current team El Salvador national football team (Forward) Similar People Eliseo Quintanilla, Arturo Alvarez, Jaime Alas, Alexander Larin | ||
Place of birth Usulutan, El Salvador | ||
Rodolfo Zelaya hace una jugada de ‘crack’ para adelantar al Alianza sobre el Olimpia
Rodolfo Antonio Zelaya García (born July 3, 1988 in Usulután) also nicknamed "Fito Zelaya" is a Salvadoran footballer who plays for Alianza and El Salvador national team.
Contents
- Rodolfo Zelaya hace una jugada de crack para adelantar al Alianza sobre el Olimpia
- Mnt vs el salvador rodolfo zelaya goal july 21 2013
- Club career
- Mexico
- Russia
- International career
- Club
- International
- International goals
- Individual
- References
In October 2013, Zelaya was given a one-year ban from football for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal with the El Salvador national football team.
Mnt vs el salvador rodolfo zelaya goal july 21 2013
Club career
Zelaya started his career playing for San Rafael in 2004, where he played for one year. The following season, he moved to Atlético La Merced.
In July 2006, both Zelaya and Rúsvel Saravia were offered contracts to play for one of El Salvadors biggest clubs, Águila. Unfortunately for both Zelaya and Saravia, they could not come to terms with the club over their proposed salaries, and as a result, the transfer fell through.
Zelaya then moved on to play in Segunda División de Fútbol Salvadoreño with Intipucá. After 2 years with the club, Zelaya caught the attention of Chalatenango coach Vladan Vićević.
After meeting with Vićević, Zelaya was offered, and accepted a contract to play with his first Primera División club Chalatenango. Zelaya went on to impress in his first season with the club and grew a fan base with both spectators and reporters for being one of El Salvador's most promising young strikers.
In 2008, Zelaya moved to Alianza after former Chalatenango president Lisandro Pohl switched clubs. This switch lead to Pohl taking various players with him to Alianza whose rights he supposedly owned due to them being bought when he was president at Chalatenango.
Mexico
On June 15, 2009, Zelaya was one of the three Salvadoran footballers signed to Mexican club León on a loan deal, the other two were Cristian Castillo and Julio Enrique Martínez. On 3 December 2009, it was announced that Club León had permanently signed Zelaya along with the other two Salvadorans with a three-year contract.
On 12 December 2009, it was confirmed by Alianza's own president, Lisandro Pohl, that Zelaya would return to Alianza on a loan deal. Zelaya later played without a loan deal and participated at the Clausura 2011, where he was top goalscorer with 13 goals to his part.
He also had the opportunity to reign champion and score 2 goals at the final to give his team the championship.
Russia
On 19 July 2011, Zelaya signed with Russian First Division club Alania Vladikavkaz on a loan transfer for six months. Alania may be able to redeem his transfer by January 2012.
On August 9, 2011, Zelaya debuted at the Russian league championship in a match against Torpedo Vladimir as a starter. On November 4, he scored two goals against Mordovia Saransk, but also received a knee injury that would rule him out for 7 months. During the summer of 2012, Alania decided not to keep him and sent him back to Alianza.
On January 26, 2013, he once again signed a six-month loan to rejoin Alania Vladikavkaz, who had been promoted to the Russian Premiere League.
He was sent back to Alianza in June after his contract expired.
International career
Zelaya officially received his first cap on April 23, 2008 in a friendly match against China.
He scored his first goal with the national team on September 6, 2008 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Haiti. This game also saw him score his first hat-trick which lead El Salvador to a 5–0 win against the then Caribbean Nations Cup champions.
At the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Zelaya received two trophies for the best player in the matches against Cuba and Panama. Overall, Zelaya scored 4 goals being the second top goalscorer of the tournament.
Zelaya was noted by Goal.com as being one of the Best XI of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup — alongside Javier Hernández as forwards. CONCACAF also noted "Fito" scoring the fifth best goal of the tournament, a decent feat considering 80 goals scored in the tournament.
According to IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics) Rodolfo Zelaya was one of the most skilled and popular Central American players of 2012. After being out of action for almost a year due to injury Zelaya, was selected to represent El Salvador for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup scoring all four goals for the team leading them to the Quarter-finals, as well as being named one of the best players of the tournament.
Scoring two goals versus Trinidad & Tobago, one goal versus Haiti, and United States, several critics said that Zelaya was the only player that makes a big difference in the field, due to his dribbling skills, and ability to score.
In September 2013, Zelaya was handed a one-year ban from international football for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal with the El Salvador national football team. This ban was extended to world-wide in October of the same year.
Club
As of match played 4 September 2016International
Statistics accurate as of match played 21 July 2013