Pablo Zabaleta plays as defensive midfielder

Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod is an Argentine footballer who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 16, 1985. He is known for playing in the position of full back or defensive midfielder for club Manchester City. Zabaleta was raised in Arrecifes, Argentina and began his career in football Club Atletico San Lorenzo de Almagro in 2002 through the junior ranks. Zabaleta moved to Espanyol in 2005 with a value of € 3 million after he became captain of the Argentine national team U-20 in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. In January 2007 he suffered a shoulder injury and forced him to rest for 3 months. Zabaleta started in 2007 in the 2007 UEFA Cup final and lost to Espanyol through penalty shoot-out. In the summer of 2008, Zabaleta transferred to one of the clubs in the Premier League with Manchester City with a contract for five years, exactly on 31 August 2008 with a contract value estimated at £ 6,450,000. Zabaleta scored the first goal for Manchester City on January 17, 2009 against Wigan. Furthermore, on 21 November 2010, he scored two goals as Manchester City against Fulham. On January 1, 2011, Zabaleta played his 100th game for Manchester City in all competitions. On May 1, 2011, Zabaleta scored the second goal this season and helped Manchester City are fourth Premier League. In November 2011, Zabaleta extend the contract with Manchester City until 2015. Zabaleta's football career began with the Argentine national team since age 14 when he called coach Hugo Tocalli to strengthen Argentina U-15, including for the U-20 World Cup in 2003 and 2005 and won second in the Netherlands. Zabaleta received many awards at the junior level and he began to represent a senior level in 2005. Zabaleta became one Argentine player who won the Gold Medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a player right-back in all matches. But in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he was not elected in the national team squad. [read more]