Iván Zamorano


Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers and one of the greatest strikers of his generation.
He first appeared as a member of the Chile national team in 1987, appearing on the team every year until 2001. During his tenure, he played in the 1998 World Cup, four Copa América tournaments, and the Olympics in 2000 with the u-23 team, where he won a bronze medal and was the top scorer of the tournament. He played for several clubs, notably Spanish clubs Sevilla and Real Madrid; Italian club Inter Milan as well as Liga MX club América. He won the 1994–95 La Liga title and was the season's top scorer with Real Madrid. He also won the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1998, as well as the Liga MX title with America his first season with the club. A powerful and prolific goalscorer, he was particularly renowned for his strength and ability in the air, with many of his goals coming from headers.
In 2004, Zamorano was selected among the FIFA 100, a list of the best living football players in the world compiled by Pelé.
Zamorano was nicknamed Bam Bam and Iván el Terrible.
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Club career

Zamorano started his career in Chile with Cobresal in December 1985. He was loaned out to Chilean Primera Division B club Trasandino for the 1985–86 season. He returned to the club shortly after and won the 1987 Copa Chile with Cobresal. In 1988, he moved to Europe to Swiss team St. Gallen, becoming the league's top scorer in the 1989–90 season, and scoring 37 goals in 61 matches across three seasons. In 1990, Zamorano debuted in the Spanish Primera División with Sevilla, where he would play 63 matches and score 23 goals in all competitions before being sold to Real Madrid for $6 million.
With Real Madrid, between 1992 and 1996, Zamorano won one league, one Copa del Rey and one Spanish Supercup title. In 1995, under manager Jorge Valdano, Zamorano helped Real Madrid win the Spanish League title, as he scored 28 goals – including a hat–trick against Barcelona – and received the Pichichi Trophy as the season's top scorer. That year, he formed a particularly effective attacking partnership with playmaker Michael Laudrup. In the 1992–93 and 1994–95 seasons, he won the EFE Trophy, which is awarded to the best Ibero-American player in La Liga every year by Spanish news agency EFE. In total, Zamorano appeared 173 times for Real Madrid, scoring 101 goals.
After six seasons in the Spanish league, Zamorano played four seasons in Serie A with Inter Milan, from 1996 to 2000, where he was teammates with Youri Djorkaeff, Diego Simeone, Javier Zanetti and Ronaldo, among others. He was initially the club's premier striker, playing with the number nine shirt. However, after Roberto Baggio's arrival at the club, Ronaldo was forced to give up number ten, and wear number nine according to the terms of a Nike sponsorship. Therefore Zamorano had to give up his number and chose number 18, adding a "+" to his shirt to create the equation '1+8', making him mathematically still a number 9 striker. In May 1998, Inter won the UEFA Cup after beating Lazio in the final 3–0, with Zamorano scoring the opening goal. He had also scored in the second leg of the previous year's final, with the game going to penalties. However, Zamorano missed his penalty as Inter lost the shootout to Schalke 04 4–1.
Zamorano would move to Mexico in 2001 to play for América for two seasons, winning the Torneo de Verano in the first season. He concluded his career playing for Colo-Colo in 2003, making a childhood dream come true. He announced his retirement in July of that year after a professional career spanning more than 16 years.

International career

Zamorano made his debut at the age of 20 on 19 June 1987, scoring a goal in a 3–1 friendly win against Peru. He scored five goals on 29 April 1997 in a 1998 World Cup qualifier against Venezuela, which ended in a 6–0 victory. He played all four of Chile's matches at the 1998 World Cup; he was an instrumental part of the Chilean team despite failing to score, setting up Marcelo Salas' goal in a 1–1 draw against Austria. In the 2000 Olympic Games, he won the bronze medal, scoring a brace in a 2–0 victory against United States, and was the top scorer with six goals. His last international match, at age 34, was a farewell friendly between Chile and France on 1 September 2001, which Chile won 2–1. Zamorano was capped 69 times, scoring 34 goals.

Personal life

Zamorano was born in Santiago, Chile and was the only son of Luis Zamorano and Alicia Zamora. The family moved to Maipu three years later. When he was 13, his father whom he inherited a love of football from died of fulminating appendicitis.
He has a long-term close friendship with his former fellow footballer Fabián Estay, which was interrupted from 2001 to 2007 due to the fact that Estay stated that Zamorano didn't support him when he was isolated from the América first team by the club leaders. In addition, Zamorano is the godfather of the Estay's daughter, Renata Ivana.
In 2005, he married María Alberó, an Argentine model. Since 2016, they have lived in Miami.

Outside football

In 2007, Zamorano was the promotional face of the new Santiago transport system, Transantiago, which experienced operational difficulties at launch.
In 2021, Zamorano became brand ambassador for Betsson as part of the Chilean national team choosing the sports betting site as its official betting partner ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
He has worked as a football commentator for media such as Univision and TUDN.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
119 June 1987Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru3–13–1Friendly
26 August 1989Brígido Iriarte Stadium, Caracas, Venezuela3–13–11990 World Cup qualification
330 June 1991Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile2–03–1Friendly
46 July 1991Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile2–02–01991 Copa América
58 July 1991Estadio Municipal de Concepción, Concepción, Chile3–14–21991 Copa América
68 July 1991Estadio Municipal de Concepción, Concepción, Chile3–24–21991 Copa América
714 July 1991Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile2–04–01991 Copa América
817 July 1991Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile1–11–11991 Copa América
922 March 1994Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France1–11–3Friendly
1025 May 1994Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile2–12–1Friendly
1120 March 1995Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States1–02–1Friendly
1223 April 1996Estadio Regional de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile1–03–0Friendly
1323 April 1996Estadio Regional de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile3–03–0Friendly
146 July 1996Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile1–04–11998 World Cup qualification
156 July 1996Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile3–14–11998 World Cup qualification
161 September 1996Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia1–41–41998 World Cup qualification
1712 January 1997Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru1–21–21998 World Cup qualification
1829 April 1997Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile1–06–01998 World Cup qualification
1929 April 1997Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile2–06–01998 World Cup qualification
2029 April 1997Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile3–06–01998 World Cup qualification
2129 April 1997Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile4–06–01998 World Cup qualification
2229 April 1997Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile6–06–01998 World Cup qualification
235 July 1997Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile4–14–11998 World Cup qualification
2420 July 1997Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile1–02–11998 World Cup qualification
2520 July 1997Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile3–02–11998 World Cup qualification
2624 May 1998Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile1–02–2Friendly
2731 May 1998Stade Alexandre Tropenas, Montélimar, France3–23–2Friendly
283 July 1999Estadio Antonio Oddone Sarubbi, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay1–03–01999 Copa América
2911 July 1999Estadio Feliciano Cáceres, Luque, Paraguay3–23–21999 Copa América
3013 July 1999Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay1–11–1 1999 Copa América
313 June 2000Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay1–11–22002 World Cup qualification
3229 June 2000Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile3–13–12002 World Cup qualification
3325 July 2000Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela2–02–02002 World Cup qualification
3415 August 2000Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile2–03–02002 World Cup qualification

Honours

Cobreandino
Cobresal
Real Madrid
Inter Milan
América
Chile
Individual