Abel Aguilar

Abel Enrique Aguilar Tapias (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈβel aɣiˈlar]; born 6 January 1985) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for Deportivo Cali as a central or defensive midfielder.

Italy

Aguilar was born in Bogotá. Serie A club Udinese Calcio bought his rights in the summer of 2005, from local Deportivo Cali, and loaned him immediately to fellow league team Ascoli Calcio 1898 due to the excess of foreign players in the roster; however, after some problems in the arrival of the transfer, the player missed pre-season training, only joining it a month into the season.

Aguilar returned to Udinese in January 2006, after having never played for Ascoli, but received few playing opportunities in the following months (two league matches and the UEFA Cup 0–1 loss at RC Lens, all incomplete).

Spain

For the following three years, Aguilar was also loaned, always in the Spanish second division. He started out in January 2007 at Xerez CD, where he remained until the end of the 2007–08 campaign, always as first-choice.

In 2008–09, Aguilar represented Hércules CF, being a permanent fixture as the Alicante side fell three points short of a return to La Liga. On 24 July 2009 he was again loaned, now to Real Zaragoza, which in turn promoted to the top flight; he made his debut in the competition on 29 August, starting and playing 71 minutes in a 1–0 home win against CD Tenerife, and scored all his four league goals during the first two months of competition.

Aguilar was released by Udinese in July 2010, immediately signing a four-year contract with former club Hércules, returned to the top division after an absence of 13 years. He appeared in 34 scoreless games during the season, which ended in relegation.

Aguilar returned to the Spanish top tier in the 2012–13 campaign, being loaned to Deportivo de La Coruña. He netted twice in just his second league appearance to help to a 3–3 draw at Valencia CF, but his team was again eventually relegated.

Toulouse

On 22 August 2013, Aguilar agreed to a three-year deal with Toulouse FC. His maiden appearance in Ligue 1 occurred nine days later, putting on an average performance and being booked in a 1–2 away loss to SC Bastia.

Aguilar spent his third year in France on the sidelines, nursing a serious ankle injury. In the very last moments of the 2016 January transfer window, he joined C.F. Os Belenenses from Portugal.

Return home

On 12 June 2016, after 11 years playing in Europe, Aguilar returned to his country and Deportivo Cali, signing a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for the team on 29 July, in the 2–1 victory against América de Cali for the Copa Colombia.

Aguilar was the captain of the Colombian national team at under-17 and under-20 levels. He rose to stardom as leader of the latter side that finished third at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Aguilar was then promoted to the senior squad for the 2004 Copa América held in Peru. There, he scored two goals, helping his country to the semifinals.

Subsequently, Aguilar returned to the under-20 (again as captain), helping them to a first-place finish at the 2005 South American Youth Cup with the consequent qualification for the World Championship of the category in the Netherlands. After helping the national team to three group stage wins, he could not prevent a round-of-16 1–2 ousting at the ends of Argentina.

Aguilar was selected by José Pekerman for his 2014 FIFA World Cup squad. He played his first-ever game in the tournament on 14 June, starting in a 3–0 group stage win against Greece which was also his 50th cap.

International goals

Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	12 July 2004	Estadio Mansiche, Trujillo, Peru	Peru	2–1	2–2	2004 Copa América
2.	17 July 2004		Costa Rica	1–0	2–0
3.	12 July 2005	Orange Bowl, Miami, United States	Trinidad and Tobago	2–1	2–1	2005 Gold Cup
4.	17 July 2005	Reliant Stadium, Houston, United States	Mexico	2–1	2–1
5.	6 February 2013	Sun Life, Miami Gardens, United States	Guatemala	3–0	4–1	Friendly
6.	30 March 2015	Mohammed Bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Kuwait	1–0	3–1	Friendly
7.	11 October 2016	Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia	Uruguay	1–0	2–2	2018 World Cup qualification