He is considered one of the best forwards in the world, having passed Jürgen Klinsmann's record of 15 goals (17) in a single UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League campaign. He also played a key role in guiding his club to a second UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League title, as well as finishing undefeated in the 2010–11 Primeira League season.
Background
Radamel prefers to be called by his middle name, Falcao, though he is sometimes referred to by the nickname El Tigre (The Tiger). Falcao is a dynamic striker noted for his ability to finish with both feet, a strong burst of pace, and a powerful header. Falcao is a second generation footballer: His father, Radamel García, played professionally as a defender in Colombia. Falcao is named after the 1980s Brazilian and A.S. Roma legend Falcão. He is a devout Christian and leader of the Church youth groups "Locos por Jesús" and "Campeones Cristo."
Club career
River Plate (2005-2009)
Early career
As a youth, Falcao began playing at Fair Play, a Colombian football school, before joining the youth system of Bogota's Millonarios club. At the age of 15, Falcao was discovered by River Plate while playing for the Colombian U-17 side and was recruited to join the Argentine side's legendary youth academy and reserve system. Before signing his first professional contract with River Plate, Falcao had begun studies in journalism at the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
At 19, Falcao debuted as a starter under Reinaldo Merlo, scoring two goals in his first start for River Plate. He quickly built a reputation, scoring seven goals in his first seven starts. He would score seven goals in 11 total 2005 appearances (four as a sub under Leo Astrada). He injured ligaments in his right knee while scoring a goal in a match against San Lorenzo. Falcao exacerbated the knee injury when he tore the anterior cruciate ligaments of the same knee during a pre-season practice in January 2006. The ACL injury subsequently caused him to miss an extensive amount of games. Recovering from the long period of inactivity that followed, Falcao struggled to regain fitness throughout 2006 and the spring of 2007, as nagging injuries continually derailed comeback attempts. The recovery period would be the most difficult of Falcao's career, as he would score only three goals in 25 appearances in aggregate over the fall and spring of 2006–07 — 10 of these appearances being late game substitutions.
In the fall of 2007, Falcao returned to River's starting line up, and began to deliver on his early promise scoring a series of crucial game winning goals for his side. On 27 September 2007, Falcao scored a hat-trick for River Plate against Botafogo of Brazil, with the last goal coming in injury time, to guarantee River Plate a place in the quarter-finals of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana — his goals helped overturn a two-goal deficit that River faced with only nine men on the pitch. Falcao subsequently scored a long range goal against Defensor Sporting to qualify River Plate to the semi-finals of the same tournament. He also scored his first goal in the famed Superclásico derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors on 7 October 2007. Concurrently, Falcao became a fixture on the Colombian national team, competing for qualification to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, earning call-ups to all of Colombia's fixtures.
Based on his performances in 2007, Falcao was voted a member of the prestigious "XI of America" in the annual survey of South American sports journalists conducted by El Pais de Montevideo.Falcao came in fifth in overall voting for South American player of the year in the same survey. In the winter transfer market, River Plate would reject a reported €8 million ($12.5 million) offer from Deportivo La Coruña of Spain for the player.
Playing under Diego Simeone, Falcao won his first championship as on 22 June 2008, River Plate finished a top the Argentine Clausura 2008. In Simeone's 4–2–3–1 formation, Falcao adapted from his usual role as center forward to play in the middle of an attacking midfield trio — the switch saw him finding few scoring opportunities in the box but more involved in the overall play of the team. Falcao finished River's top scorer in the spring semester with ten goals (six in the league and four in the Copa Libertadores). He was also River's top scorer in aggregate across the 2007–08 period with 19 goals in 35 starts in all competitions across the fall and spring seasons.
Simeone's second season was to prove the least successful in River's long history with the side finishing last in the table for the first time. During the miserable campaign, Falcao would score only six goals but remain one of River's most consistent players. Under Simeone's replacement, Nestor Gorosito, Falcao would return to form, scoring 10 goals in 21 games in all competitions. In aggregate across the 2008–09 period, he would again be River's top scorer with 16 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions across the fall and spring periods.
FC Porto (2009-present)
2009–10
Falcao finally made it to Europe when he joined the Portuguese giants FC Porto on 15 July 2009,after Porto sold Lisandro López to Olympique Lyonnais. In the transaction, Porto also sold Mario Bolatti to a third party owner, Natland Financieringsmaatschappij B.V., in exchange for residual rights of Falcao. This move greatly angered Porto's greatest rivals, Benfica, because of the heavy negotiation they went on to sign him only to see Falcao trading them at the last second for their rivals. He made his debut against Paços de Ferreira on the opening day of the season, and scored an important goal to earn the team a draw. He went on to score three goals in as many games, making him one of the very few to score four goals in the first four matchdays in the Portuguese league.
On 15 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 1–0 away defeat against Chelsea. Falcao would later score a brilliant header to defeat rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal on the sixth matchday, giving his team a 1–0 home victory. Four days later, on 30 September, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a group stage win over Atlético Madrid.On 2 February 2010, Falcao scored twice in a Portuguese Cup quarter-finals victory against rivals Sporting CP. In the same month, he scored the victory goal against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League round of 16 match, being his fourth goal in the tournament. On 3 April, Falcao scored a brace against Marítimo, and turned into the highest goalscorer of the Portuguese League with 20 goals, but he would finish the season as the second-highest league scorer with 25 goals, behind only Benfica's Óscar Cardozo, who had 26. He scored another goal in his last game of the season, the Portuguese Cup final, where Porto won 2–1 against Grupo Desportivo Chaves. He wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 34 goals in all competitions.
2010–11
Falcao made an impressive start to the 2010–11 season, scoring a goal in the 2010 Portuguese SuperCup 2–0 victory over Benfica. He scored his first two league goals on the second match day of the season against Beira-Mar on 22 August 2010. On 7 November, he scored twice (one of them an impressive backheel goal) in a 5–0 victory against the defending champions Benfica, and later, on 2 December, Falcao scored his first hat trick for Porto against Rapid Wien during a UEFA Europa League clash, becoming the top goal scorer of the competition with seventeen goals. On 7 April 2011, Falcao scored another hat trick in the quarter-final of the Europa League against Russian side Spartak Moscow, which was won by the Portuguese team by a score of 5–1, to bring his goal tally in the tournament to 10.
In the 2010–11 season, Porto won the league title in round 25 of the league against rivals and defending champions Benfica at the Estádio da Luz. He played a key role in that match, winning his team a penalty when the match was tied at 1–1; the penalty was scored by teammate Hulk. In the match against Spartak Moscow in the Europa League, Falcao scored a hat-trick and provided an assist in a 5–1 win. In the second leg, he scored another goal and provided another assist that took Porto to the tournament's semi-final stage. He further added to his position as top scorer in the competition by scoring four goals in the semi-final first leg against Villarreal CF, a game which finished 5–1 in favour of Porto.
In the UEFA Europa League final, Falcao scored the only goal of the game with a header after a cross from Fredy Guarín, giving the title to Porto. He set a new goalscoring record of 17 goals in 14 games during the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, surpassing Jürgen Klinsmann's previous record of 15 goals.
International Career
Falcao has represented Colombia at the under-17, under-20 and senior levels.
He was called up to the Colombia squad for the 2011 Copa América because of his impressive form at Porto. Falcao proved his worth in their third group game against Bolivia, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win that secured passage into the quarter-finals. This being the first time Falcao has ever scored more than one goal in a game at international level. He missed a penalty kick in the 2nd half of regulation when the match was 0-0 in a loss against Peru, in the extra time, two mistakes of the colombian goalkeeper making colombia lose 2-0, besides the elimination of the tournament, Colombia is showing a good football and giving high expectations for the eliminations of the 2014 World Cup.
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