Emiliano Ramiro Papa (born 19 April 1982) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Papa made his debut for

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

in 2002, going on to play over 100 games for the club. In 2006, he moved to Vélez Sársfield. However, after a single season with Vélez he returned to Rosario Central on loan, re-establishing himself in the starting lineup and captaining the team on several occasions. After the season-long loan in Rosario Central ended, Papa returned to Vélez Sársfield and became the team's starter at left-back, relegating

Pablo Lima Pablo Martín Lima Olid (born 26 March 1981) is a Uruguayan former football left-back. Club career Danubio Lima made his professional debut in 2001 for Danubio FC. He was an integral part of the Danubio squad that won two league championships ...

. With Vélez, he won the 2009 Clausura, starting in all the 19 games of the tournament. In May 2010 he extended his contract with Vélez until June 2013. Papa was also a regular starter in Vélez's 2011 Clausura and 2012 Inicial league titles. He also started for Vélez in the 2012–13 Superfinal and

2013 Supercopa Argentina The 2013 Supercopa Argentina Final was the 2nd edition of the Supercopa Argentina, an annual football match contested by the winners of the Primera División and Copa Argentina competitions. Vélez Sarsfield beat Arsenal An arsenal is a ...

titles. In 2014, the defender played his 300th game for the club (counting both domestic and international competitions), becoming one of the 10 players with most appearances in Vélez' history. In January 2015, Vélez and Papa terminated the defender's contract, by mutual agreement, and he signed a two-year contract with Independiente.

International career

Papa was called up to the Argentina national team for a friendly match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 19 November 2008, which was

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

's first game and victory as Argentina's manager (1–0).Argentina v. Scotland
. TyC Sports. Retrieved 2010-5-14 Papa was also a starter in Maradona's first defeat coaching Argentina, against

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

(1–6). He played 6 times during Maradona's era, but was left out of the final squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. Under Alejandro Sabella's coaching, Papa was a starter with Argentina national team in both legs of the first annual

Superclásico de las Américas The Superclassic of the Americas (, ), was an annual Exhibition game, friendly association football, football match between the national teams of Argentina national football team, Argentina and Brazil national football team, Brazil. Established ...

, in Córdoba on 14 September 2011 and in Brazil on 28 September 2011.

International appearances

Honours

;Vélez Sársfield *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

(4): 2009 Clausura, 2011 Clausura, 2012 Inicial, 2012–13 Superfinal *

Supercopa Argentina The Supercopa Argentina (English: Argentine Super Cup) is an official national association football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The annual football match was played for the first time in 2012, being con ...

(1):

References

External links

* * * * at Fútbol XXI {{DEFAULTSORT:Papa, Emiliano 1982 births Living people People from Rosario Department Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentina men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers Argentine Primera División players Rosario Central footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Atlético Tigre footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Footballers from Santa Fe Province 21st-century Argentine sportsmen