Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (; born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

right 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 ...

. Zabaleta could operate on both sides of the pitch as a full-back and was known for his tenacious style of play, and has captained his club on numerous occasions. With

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, Zabaleta won all of English football's major honours: the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

(

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

), the Premier League (

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

), the League Cup (

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

) and the Community Shield (

). Moreover, Zabaleta is often considered to be a cult hero at Manchester City owing to his determination and passion for the club. Before joining Manchester City, Zabaleta played for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, where he won the

2005–06 Copa del Rey The 2005–06 Copa del Rey was the 104th staging of the Copa del Rey. Preliminary round Bye: Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Coun ...

. He made 333 appearances over nine seasons for Manchester City before signing for London-based club West Ham United in the summer of 2017. A full international since 2005, Zabaleta represented Argentina at the

and

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, and was part of their team which finished as runners-up in the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. He was also in their team which won gold at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

. Since January 2023, Zabaleta serves as assistant manager of Albania's national football team, under head coach

Sylvinho Sylvio Mendes Campos Júnior (born 12 April 1974), commonly known as Sylvinho (sometimes alternatively spelled Silvinho), is a Brazilian football manager and former player, who coaches the Albania national football team. Formerly a left-back, ...

Club career

San Lorenzo

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Zabaleta was raised in

Arrecifes Arrecifes is a town in Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the ...

. He began his career at

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

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 In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, but eventually moved to the right side of midfield.

Espanyol

Zabaleta was transferred to

in 2005 for €3 million after being Argentina under-20s

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

, which Argentina won. During the 2005–06 season, Zabaleta helped Espanyol to win the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in the 4–1 victory over

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

in the final. In January 2007, Zabaleta suffered a

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder m ...

injury that kept him off the pitch for almost three months, already having established himself as an undisputed first team choice. Later in the season, he featured in the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th edition of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club association football, football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC, Sevilla won their second consecu ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, where Espanyol lost on penalties to fellow Spanish side

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

Manchester City

2008–2012

In the summer of 2008, Zabaleta transferred to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

after rejecting an offer from

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. He stated upon joining: "The offer is impossible to reject and not just because of the money ... Juventus also wanted me but I wanted to come to England, and to Manchester." Having passed a medical and agreed personal terms, Zabaleta completed a five-year deal with City on 31 August 2008 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be the buy-out clause Zabaleta had attached to his contract of around £6.45 million. Zabaleta joined a day before Manchester City was bought by the

Abu Dhabi United Group The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG; ) is a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based private equity company. It is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family and Vice President of the UA ...

, led by

Sheikh Mansour Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (; born 20 November 1970), often referred to as Sheikh Mansour, is an Emirati royal and politician who is the current vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, as well a ...

, which enabled a wealth of investment in the club. On 13 September 2008, Zabaleta made his debut for Manchester City in a 3–1 defeat to Chelsea at the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

. On 5 October, he received his first

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

in English football when he was sent off in a 3–2 loss to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in his fourth Premier League appearance. He 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 Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. On 21 November 2010, Zabaleta scored his second Premier League goal in Manchester City's 4–1 win against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. In the same match, he assisted a

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; né Martínez; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A dynamic forward (association football), forward in his prime, Tevez ...

goal, helping his compatriot to earn his ninth goal for the club during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. On 1 January 2011, Zabaleta played his 100th game for Manchester City in all competitions, coming off the bench against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in a 1–0 win at Eastlands. Two weeks later, on 15 January, Zabaleta made his second assist of the season in a 4–3 win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. This win meant that City went top of

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

above local rivals

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. However, City's title challenge faded with a loss of form in February and March 2011. On 1 May 2011, Zabaleta scored his second goal of the season in a Premier League match against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. This secured a 2–1 win for the Citizens and put them seven points ahead of

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the race for fourth place. On 14 May 2011, Zabaleta appeared as an 88th-minute substitute for Carlos Tevez in the 2011 FA Cup Final as Manchester City beat

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

1–0. In the summer of 2011, it was reported that Italian club

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

were keen on signing Zabaleta, but Manchester City insisted the player was not for sale and Zabaleta agreed a three-year contract in July 2011. On 1 October 2011, Zabaleta started and played the full 90 minutes at right-back in a 4–0 win over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

in the Premier League, as regular starter

Micah Richards Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a right-back. Richards began his senior career with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and made 245 a ...

was not available. On 23 October, he was an unused substitute in the convincing 6–1 win over rivals Manchester United at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, with Richards starting at right-back. In November 2011, Zabaleta extended his contract with City until the summer of 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." In his first three and a half years at the club, Zabaleta emerged as a cult hero amongst the Manchester City fans, who admire his never-say-die attitude and commitment to the club. On 30 April 2012, he started and played the full 90 minutes in the right-back slot in a 1–0 victory over rivals Manchester United thanks to a first-half stoppage time header by

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...

from a corner at the City of Manchester Stadium. Zabaleta broke the deadlock by scoring the first goal in City's dramatic 3–2 win over

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

on the last day of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, a scoreline which won the club its first league title since 1968. On 9 December 2012, Zabaleta scored a late equalising goal in a 3–2 defeat to Manchester United.

2013–2017

On 1 January 2013, he scored the opening goal in a 3–0 win at the City of Manchester Stadium over Stoke City, doubling his goal tally from the previous season. On 25 January 2013, Zabaleta scored his third goal of the season and the only goal of the match in a 1–0 win away against Stoke City in the

, fourth round. His goal took Manchester City through to the fifth round. Zabaleta was voted Manchester City's Player of the Month for both December 2012 and January 2013, and was stand-in captain for the club during

's injury absence between January and March 2013. He was the only City player to be named in the 2012–13 Premier League

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

. After a superb season, Zabaleta was voted 2012–13 Manchester City Player of the Year. Zabaleta was sent off in the

2013 FA Cup Final The 2013 FA Cup final was an association football match between Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, organised by the Football Association (FA). It m ...

against Wigan Athletic for a second

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative co ...

after a clear foul on

Callum McManaman Callum Henry McManaman (born 25 April 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for side Wigan Athletic. Born in Huyton, Merseyside, but lived and brought up in Rainhill, Merseyside. McManaman began his youth career at ...

84 minutes into the match. Wigan went on to win 1–0 through a Ben Watson goal in stoppage time. He was the third player to be sent off in an FA Cup final and first for the losing side. On 2 March 2014, Zabaleta played the full 90 minutes as Manchester City beat

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

3–1 in the 2014 League Cup Final to complete a full set of major honours in English football. On 21 April, he scored his first goal of the season in a 3–1 defeat of West Bromwich Albion at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 11 May, Zabaleta was part of the victory against West Ham that won Manchester City the Premier League, his second in three seasons. On 21 September 2014, Zabaleta was sent off for a second

due to a challenge on Chelsea's

Diego Costa Diego da Silva Costa (, ; born 7 October 1988) is a professional Association football, footballer who most recently played as a Striker (association football), striker for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio FBPA, Grêmio. Costa be ...

. Both players received a yellow card, Zabaleta for the initial challenge and Costa for his reaction. On 21 August 2015, it was announced that Zabaleta was out for a month with knee injury. On 17 January 2016, Zabaleta reached 200 appearances for Manchester City in the club's 4–0 victory over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. Zabaleta made 32 appearances in all competitions in the 2016–17 season scoring two goals; against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in the Premier League and against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in the FA Cup. His final appearance for Manchester City came on 16 May 2017, a 3–1 home win against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. After the game he was praised by the City manager,

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

, as a "legend". Zabaleta was given a lifetime season ticket for Manchester City and a shirt that read "Zabaleta 333", to mark the number of City appearances he made.

West Ham United

On 26 May 2017, Zabaleta signed for

club

on a free transfer, agreeing to a two-year contract. He was given number five as his squad number. On 22 May 2018,

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

was confirmed as manager of

, reuniting him with his former manager at

. In May 2019, Zabaleta extended his contract with West Ham Until the summer of 2020. On 5 January 2020, Zabaleta scored his only goal for West Ham, in a 2–0 win against Gillingham in the FA Cup third round. On 10 January 2020, in a match against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, Zabaleta became the first Argentine, and only the third South American, to record 300 Premier League appearances. In June 2020, West Ham confirmed his departure from the club at the end of the month. Zabaleta played 80 times for West Ham over three seasons, scoring one goal.

International career

At the age of 14, Zabaleta was called up by

Hugo Tocalli Hugo Daniel Tocalli (born 21 January 1948) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current youth coordinator of Independiente. Tocalli played over 400 games as a goalkeeper, and went on to coach a number of clu ...

to the Argentina under-15 squad. He took part in many youth tournaments, including the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, winning the latter in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. 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 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, starting at right-back and playing all six matches. After 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. ...

, for which Zabaleta was not selected by head coach

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 ...

, under the new Argentina manager he has established himself as first-choice right-back. On 1 June 2011, Zabaleta captained Argentina for the first time in a friendly against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. In June 2014, Zabaleta was named in Argentina's squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. He made his

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

debut in Argentina's 2–1 win over

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

at the Estádio do Maracanã, playing the full match in defence. At the

in Chile, Zabaleta sent in the cross from which his Manchester City teammate

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

headed the only goal of the game as Argentina defeated holders

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in their second

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

match.

Post-retirement career

In June 2018, he worked as a pundit for the BBC's ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

coverage from Russia. Zabaleta again worked as a pundit for the BBC and ''Match of the Day'' during their coverage of the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. After announcing his retirement from professional football on 16 October 2020, Pablo Zabaleta transitioned into a coaching role. In January 2023, he was appointed as an assistant coach of the Albania national football team, joining the coaching staff under head coach Sylvinho. He now works for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

on their

coverage.

Personal life

Zabaleta is of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

descent. He has a tattoo on his chest which bears the name of his mother.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Espanyol *

: 2005–06 Manchester City *

: 2011–12, 2013–14 *

; runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 2013–14, 2015–16 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

Argentina Youth *

Argentina U23 *

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

runner-up:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual *

2012–13 Premier League The 2012–13 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the Premier League, the English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 114 ...

* Manchester City Player of the Year:

Player of the Month:

January 2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joh ...

, December 2012, January 2013 *

FIFPro World XI The FIFPRO World 11 are the best association football men's and women's teams of the year. FIFPRO invites all professional men's and women's footballers to compose the teams. Initially known as the FIFPRO World 11, the award began in 2005 and c ...

5th team: 2013, 2014

References

External links

*
Manchester City profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabaleta, Pablo 1985 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Expatriate men's footballers in England San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Manchester City F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players La Liga players Premier League players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Argentina Olympic gold medalists for Argentina 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Olympic medalists in football Argentine people of Basque descent Naturalised citizens of Spain Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Association football commentators Argentine football coaches 21st-century Argentine sportsmen