Falcao is a Colombia legend – but the 32-year-old has never before graced a World Cup finals. We chart his rise, fall and recent return to form at Monaco.
Radamel Falcao Garcia Zarate was born in the port City of Santa Marta in 1986, during the height of the Colombian conflict – one year after rebel groups sieged the Palace of Justice, 1,000km south in Bogota.Falcao’s father, Radamel Garcia, who had played as a centre-back for Santa Fe, moved the family to Venezuela in 1990 to prolong his playing career, before returning the family to their homeland five years later.
At just 13, Falcao signed a professional contract at the Primera B club, now known as Patriotas Boyaca, and became the youngest player to make an appearance in Colombian football at that level.
After a brief spell with Millonarios in Bogota, Falcao moved to Argentina to join River Plate for £300,000 in 2000, where he earned the nickname ‘El tigre’ [The tiger] – coined by team-mate Gonzalo Luduena for his attacking potency.He made his senior debut for the club four years later, after undertaking a journalism degree in Buenos Aires, and became a first-team regular in 2005.An anterior cruciate ligament injury kept him sidelined for a year, but he returned in a similar vein of form – scoring seven goals in as many appearances – making his Colombia debut in 2007.
In 2009, the then-23-year-old joined Porto for £3m, after Aston Villa had failed to prise him to the Midlands, and he rapidly became recognised internationally with 72 goals in 87 games over three seasons. That form sealed a blockbuster £35m move to Atletico Madrid in 2011, where he maintained that incredible goal ratio with 70 goals in 91 appearances.
Real Madrid were reportedly circling for his signature in mid-2013, but he joined newly-promoted Ligue 1 side Monaco for £50m – a move that was widely considered to be against the player’s wishes.His career in France failed to ignite as it had in Colombia, Argentina, Portugal and Spain, scoring only nine league goals before suffering another ACL injury in January 2014.
The injury put his World Cup dream in jeopardy, but he remained optimistic of making the finals, amid worldwide support under the social media movement ‘Fuerza Tigre’ [Stay strong Tiger] – but he failed to make the final squad.Having recovered for the start of 2014/15, Falcao came off the bench in Monaco’s first two league games, scoring during a 2-1 defeat against Lorient – before starting and scoring in 1-0 win at Nantes.
Rumours over the Colombian’s future began to circle again, and he was omitted from the squad one week later – watching the game from the stands beside club owner Vadim Vasilyev.Two days later, Manchester United announced they had signed Falcao on loan – with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season, which the Colombian confirmed was his intention.
His career in France failed to ignite as it had in Colombia, Argentina, Portugal and Spain, scoring only nine league goals before suffering another ACL injury in January 2014.The injury put his World Cup dream in jeopardy, but he remained optimistic of making the finals, amid worldwide support under the social media movement ‘Fuerza Tigre’ [Stay strong Tiger] – but he failed to make the final squad.
Having recovered for the start of 2014/15, Falcao came off the bench in Monaco’s first two league games, scoring during a 2-1 defeat against Lorient – before starting and scoring in 1-0 win at Nantes.Rumours over the Colombian’s future began to circle again, and he was omitted from the squad one week later – watching the game from the stands beside club owner Vadim Vasilyev.
Two days later, Manchester United announced they had signed Falcao on loan – with an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season, which the Colombian confirmed was his intention.However, Falcao struggled to settle once again, playing a bit-part role in United’s campaign, with the Colombian controversially demoted to the U21 squad in March, 2015 under Louis van Gaal.United declined to exercise their option to sign him permanently at the end of 2014/15, after scoring just four goals from 29 appearances.
With his illustrious career on the wane, Jose Mourinho elected to sign the Colombian on loan at reigning Premier League champions Chelsea, with an option to make the move permanent.Falcao made only one start in nine league appearances during a torrid run of results, which culminated with Mourinho leaving the club in December.But Falcao had already suffered another injury – a groin strain that kept him sidelined until February 2016. Upon his return, he would make one more league appearance for the club under interim boss Guus Hiddink.
Monaco striker Falcao stroked home his 30th international goal, making him the first player from Colombia to reach such a milestone, midway through the second half of a cagey encounter in Kazan, where defeat for either side would have meant elimination from the competition.