Renato Fabrizio Tapia Cortijo (born 28 July 1995) is a Peruvian 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 plays 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. ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popu ...

and the Peru national team.

Club career

Youth career

Born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru, Tapia started his football career at

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

's youth team before joining Esther Grande academy at twelve years old, where he quickly established himself as a youth player. While at the Esther Grande academy, he helped the academy win the Copa Federación with the 1995 category, also winning the Best Player in the 'Night of Stars' awards. His progression at Esther Grande academy attracted interest from

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 ...

sides

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 ...

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 ...

. Tapia revealed that he almost joined Liverpool, but was rejected, due to his height.

Twente

In the summer transfer of 2013, Tapia moved to Europe for the first time in his career, signing a four-year contract with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

. Immediately after joining the club, he was sent to the Jong FC Twente, the club's reserves, to develop. Tapia made his Jong FC Twente debut in a 3–3 draw against

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

on 20 September 2013, coming on as a substitute in the second half for Robbert Schilder. Two weeks later, on 4 October 2013, he was an unused substitute in the first team's match against Cambuur Tapia continued to develop at Jong FC Twente and scored his first goal on 22 November 2013, in a 2–1 win over Willem II. He went on to make 19 appearances, scoring once for Twente's reserves in the 2013–14 season. Following a season at Jong FC Twente, Tapia was promoted to the first team at

. He made his first-team debut at Twente in the opening game of the season, a 0–0 draw against Cambuur, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute for Darryl Lachman. A week later he suffered an ankle injury that kept him out for three months. He made his return to the first team as a late substitute in a 2–1 win over

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

on 23 November 2014. In a match against Willem II on 21 December 2014, Tapia was sent-off, just 8 minutes after coming on as a substitute, for a foul on Samuel Armenteros. Following a one match suspension, he scored his first goal for the club on 31 January 2015, in a 2–1 win over Cambuur. He later scored four more goals later in the season against PEC Zwolle,

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

and a brace against

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

. His season ended when he suffered a knee injury and finished the season making 22 appearances and scoring five times in all competitions. Shortly after the end of the 2014–15 season, Tapia underwent surgery on his knee and it was expected that he would be sidelined for the start of the 2015–16 season, costing his place in the Perú squad for the 2015 Copa América. But in mid-July, he made a recovery from a knee injury after training with the first team. He then scored in the opening game of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Groningen. He again suffered a knee injury and was substituted in the second half as a result. Having recovered he appeared in a number of appearance, playing the first five matches of the season, before suffering a knee injury against Ajax on 12 September 2015. He suffered a knee injury in early November and missed one Twente match, but recovered in time for his international duty. By the end of the first half of the season, Tapia had made 14 appearances and scored once in all competitions.

Feyenoord

In December 2015,

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

confirmed their interest in signing Tapia after learning about FC Twente's financial situation and he was reported among three players at Twente to be sold. The transfer was finalised on 27 January 2016, for a reported transfer fee of €2.4 million. After three years at FC Twente, Tapia signed a 4.5-year contract with

. Tapia made his Feyenoord debut in a

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

match against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

on 7 February 2016, starting in a 2–1 loss. His first team opportunities was restricted to three appearances and being an unused substitute. Instead, he played in the reserve for most of the season. He later stated that in order to earn a first team chance, he needed to improve by acting faster and simpler to suit the club's tactics. Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Tapia hoped he could establish himself in the first team. He continued to be in the substitutes. On 22 September 2016, he made his first appearance in the second round of KNVB Cup, playing 7 minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 win over Oss. On 2 October 2016, he scored in his first league appearance of the season, just 13 minutes after coming on as a substitute, in a 2–0 win over Willem II.

Celta de Vigo

On 20 July 2020,

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 ...

side

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

announced the free signing of Tapia under a four-year contract. He scored his first goal against Al Nassar in which it resulted in a victory for Celta Vigo 5-0.

Leganés

On 15 August 2024, Tapia remained in the Spanish top tier after signing a two-year deal with

International career

Tapia was selected by the Peru U17 for the South American Under-17 Football Championship and by the Peru U20 for the

South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American football tournament organized by the CONMEBOL for South American national teams of men under age o ...

. In March 2015, Tapia was called up by the

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

's senior team for the first time. He made his debut on 1 April 2015, in a 2–2 draw against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. He was expected to be in the

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 ...

for the Peru squad, but an injury prevented him from doing so. Despite this, he was included in the

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

and played all of the four matches in the campaign. Tapia scored his first Peru goal on 7 September 2016, in a 2–1 win over

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. In May 2018, he was named in Peru's provisional 24 man

for the

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 ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Personal life

Tapia is of African and Quechua origin and alongside teammate Edison Flores, campaigned to promote and protect the

Quechua people Quechua people (, ; ) , Quichua people or Kichwa people may refer to any of the Indigenous peoples of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are nativ ...

during the

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

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Peru's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tapia goal.''

Honours

Feyenoord *

: 2016–17 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2015–16, 2017–18 * Johan Cruijff Shield:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapia, Renato 1995 births Living people Footballers from Lima Peruvian men's footballers 21st-century Peruvian sportsmen Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football central defenders Eredivisie players La Liga players Jong FC Twente players FC Twente players Feyenoord players Willem II Tilburg players RC Celta de Vigo players CD Leganés players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Peru men's under-20 international footballers Peru men's international footballers Copa América Centenario players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Peruvian people of African descent Peruvian people of Quechua descent Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Spain