Pablo Zeballos

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Pablo Daniel Zeballos

| image = Pablo Daniel Zeballos.jpg

| image_size = 200px

| caption = Pablo Zeballos in 2011

| fullname = Pablo Daniel Zeballos Ocampos

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1986|3|4}}

| birth_place = Vallemí, Paraguay

| height = {{height|m=1.80|precision=0}}

| position = Attacking midfielder

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Sol de América

| years1 = 2005–2007 | clubs1 = Sol de América | caps1 = 60 | goals1 = 31

| years2 = 2006 | clubs2 = → Oriente Petrolero (loan) | caps2 = 14 | goals2 = 16

| years3 = 2008–2010 | clubs3 = Cruz Azul | caps3 = 53 | goals3 = 14

| years4 = 2010 | clubs4 = → Cerro Porteño (loan) | caps4 = 44 | goals4 = 24

| years5 = 2011–2012 | clubs5 = Olimpia Asunción | caps5 = 62 | goals5 = 31

| years6 = 2012–2014 | clubs6 = Krylya Sovetov | caps6 = 19 | goals6 = 1

| years7 = 2013 | clubs7 = → Emelec (loan) | caps7 = 12 | goals7 = 1

| years8 = 2014 | clubs8 = Botafogo | caps8 = 30 | goals8 = 6

| years9 = 2015–2016 | clubs9 = Atlético Nacional | caps9 = 9 | goals9 = 3

| years10 = 2015 | clubs10 = → Olimpia Asunción (loan) | caps10 = 16 | goals10 = 8

| years11 = 2016 | clubs11 = → Libertad (loan) | caps11 = 15 | goals11 = 1

| years12 = 2016–2017 | clubs12 = Sportivo Luqueño | caps12 = 23 | goals12 = 7

| years13 = 2016 | clubs13 = → Al-Wakra (loan) | caps13 = 11 | goals13 = 4

| years14 = 2017–2018 | clubs14 = Sol de América | caps14 = 37 | goals14 = 10

| years15 = 2018 | clubs15 = Oriente Petrolero | caps15 = 24 | goals15 = 11

| years16 = 2019 | clubs16 = Royal Pari | caps16 = 13 | goals16 = 2

| years17 = 2020 | clubs17 = 12 de Octubre| caps17 = 29 | goals17 = 13

| years18 = 2021 | clubs18 = River Plate Asunción| caps18 = 20 | goals18 = 5

| years19 = 2022 | clubs19 = Sportivo Ameliano | caps19 = 25 | goals19 = 4

| nationalyears1 = 2008–2012 | nationalteam1 = Paraguay | nationalcaps1= 9 | nationalgoals1 = 1

| pcupdate = 13 November 2022

| ntupdate =

}}

Pablo Daniel Zeballos Ocampos (born 4 March 1986) is a Paraguayan football attacking midfielder.{{Soccerway|22864}} Zeballos represented the Paraguay national team from 2008 to 2012, featuring in the 2011 Copa América where Paraguay finished runners-up. In 2011, he was voted the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year.

Career

=Sol de América=

Zeballos started his career in the youth divisions of Sol de América where he played alongside José Ortigoza. He made his debut in 2005 and helped the team to win the Paraguayan División Intermedia tournament by being the team's top-scorer.[http://www.apf.org.py/jugador_mes.php?id=65 Peligro... de SOL]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{in lang|es}} He is remembered for his goal against Club Cerro Corá at the last minute of the match.

==Loan to Oriente Petrolero==

In 2006, Zeballos was transferred to Bolivian club Oriente Petrolero on a six-month loan period, where he became the top-scorer with 16 goals in 14 league appearances and helped the team reach second position during the 2006 Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano Torneo Clausura.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesb/bol06.html|title=Bolivia 2006|website=RSSSF}}

==Return to Sol de América==

Zeballos returned to Paraguay for the 2007 season and finished as the joint top goal scorer of the Primera Division top-scorer, along with Fabio Ramos of Club Nacional, with 15 goals.{{Cite web|url=https://espndeportes.espn.com/noticias/nota?s=mex&id=636434&type=story|title=Cruz Azul ya espera al goleador Pablo Zeballos|date=11 January 2008|website=ESPNdeportes.com}}

=Cruz Azul=

His good form rewarded him with a transfer to Cruz Azul of Mexico. He debuted against San Luis F.C. in the Jornada 3 of the Clausura 2008, making his first goal in the Primera División de México one minute after being substituted in for Nicolás Vigneri. In the liguilla del futbol Mexicano he brought the team back up to beat Jaguares in quarter-finals and took them all the way to the final where they would lose.

On 15 November 2008, Zeballos scored his first "hat-trick" with Cruz Azul against Jaguares.

== Loan to Cerro Porteño ==

In January 2010, Zeballos was loaned to Primera División Paraguaya club Cerro Porteño until 31 December 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://www.paraguay.com/deportes/en-bolivia-vuelven-a-buscar-a-pablo-zeballos-57533/pagina/3|title=En Bolivia vuelven a buscar a Pablo Zeballos - Paraguay.com|website=www.paraguay.com}} With Cerro Porteño he won two second places and was top scorer of the Torneo Apertura with 16 goals along with Rodrigo Teixeira, and ended up being top scorer of the year with 24. On 12 December 2010, it was reported that former club Oriente Petrolero and various clubs from Bolivia's Liga de Fútbol Profesional had shown there interest in Zeballos.

=Olimpia=

At the end of that year, Zeballos signed a contract with rival of Cerro Porteno, Olimpia. Olimpia came up second during the Torneo Apertura 2011 with him as top scorer having scored 13 goals. On the next tournament of the year, Zeballos managed to win the Torneo Clausura with Olimpia, being the team's top scorer with 12 goals, one behind the tournament's top scorer Fredy Bareiro. With this record, Zeballos was top scorer of the 2011 season in Paraguay with a total of 25 goals, attracted on themselves the attention of Genoa and Cagliari.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fastweb.it/portale/canali/sport/calcio/contenuti/notizia/?id=_431665|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422085623/http://www.fastweb.it/portale/canali/sport/calcio/contenuti/notizia/?id=_431665|url-status=dead|title=Transfer Serie A|archivedate=22 April 2012}}

=Krylya Sovetov Samara=

In the summer of 2012, Zeballos joined Russian Premier League side Krylia Sovetov Samara on a three-year contract.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kc-camapa.ru/cgi-bin/newsprn.cgi?7594|title=Пабло Себальос стал игроком "Крыльев Советов"|website=www.KC-CAMAPA.ru}} Zeballos made his debut for Krylya Sovetov in the 2012–13 Russian Premier League season in a 1–1 home draw against Terek Grozny on 22 July.{{Cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2012/07/22/russia/premier-league/pfk-kryliya-sovetov-samara/terek-groznyi/1286879/|title=Krylya Sovetov vs. Akhmat Grozny - 22 July 2012 - Soccerway|website=int.soccerway.com}}

After 1 goal in 15 appearances in the first half of the season for Krylia Sovetov, Zeballos joined Ecuadorian side Emelec on a six-month loan deal till 30 June 2013, with the option of a permanent move.{{Cite web|url=http://www.elcomercio.com/deportes/futbol/pablo-zeballos-presentado-oficialmente-emelec.html|title=Pablo Zeballos fue presentado oficialmente en Emelec|website=El Comercio}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.goal.com/es-ar/news/4457/mercado-de-pases/2013/05/20/3993430/pablo-zeballos-no-seguir%C3%ADa-en-emelec|title=Pablo Zeballos no seguiría en Emelec | Goal.com|website=www.goal.com}}

=Club Sport Emelec=

He arrived to the Emelec, where he was loaned for a great sum of money, but only managed one goal during his time, for which he was criticized by the fans and the media that he wasn't worth the amount paid for. He left Emelec after just appearing in 17 games. Zeballos left Emelec to join Kyrlia again but this time with no success after long and exhausting negotiations during summer 2014 Zeballos returned to Club Olimpia, but by judicial problems he couldn't sign a contract and then started negotiations with Botafogo.

=Botafogo=

After a lot of negotiation Zeballos arrived at Rio de Janeiro to sign with Botafogo. He scored his first goal, of penalty, in a match of the Cariocão 2014 against Boavista.

=Libertad=

During December 2015, it had already been reported that Zeballos had a %99 chance of departing Olimpia.{{cite web |url=https://d10.ultimahora.com/pablo-zeballos-en-un-99-no-sigo-olimpia-n2379362.html |title=Pablo Zeballos: "En un 99% no sigo en Olimpia" |website=d10.ultimahora.com |language=Spanish |date=16 December 2015 }} By 7 January 2016, it was announced that Zeballos had joined Club Libertad{{Cite web|url=https://archivo.entornointeligente.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi?items=7664356[L]|title=Account Suspended|website=archivo.entornointeligente.com}} and the following day he had travelled to the city of Minga Guazú to join the club in their pre-season training.{{cite web |url=https://d10.ultimahora.com/pablo-zeballos-ya-entrena-el-gumarelo-el-este-n2379706.html |title=Pablo Zeballos ya entrena con el Gumarelo en el Este |website=d10.ultimahora.com |language=Spanish |date=8 December 2016 }}

=River Plate Asunción=

On 30 December 2020, it was confirmed that Zeballos signed with River Plate for the 2021 season, when the club would play in the Copa Sudamericana. Zaballos signed a two year agreement.{{Cite web|url=https://versus.lanacion.com.py/versus/2020/12/30/oficial-pablo-zeballos-jugara-en-river-plate/|title = Oficial: Pablo Zeballos jugará en River Plate|date = 30 December 2020}}

International career

On 29 February 2008, Zeballos was called up to the Paraguay national football team the first time for a friendly against Honduras. In June 2008, Zeballos was again called up to the national team for two 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Brazil and Bolivia.{{Cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2008/06/18/south-america/wc-qualifying-south-america/bolivia/paraguay/524392/|title=Bolivia vs. Paraguay - 18 June 2008 - Soccerway|website=int.soccerway.com}} On 25 May 2011, Zeballos scored his first goal for Paraguay in a 4–2 away loss in a friendly against Argentina.{{Cite web|url=https://www.afa.com.ar/|title=Sitio Oficial de la Asociación del Fútbol Argentino|website=Sitio Oficial de la Asociación del Fútbol Argentino}}{{Cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2011/05/25/world/friendlies/argentina/paraguay/1104756/|title=Argentina vs. Paraguay - 25 May 2011 - Soccerway|website=int.soccerway.com}}

Career statistics

=Club=

colspan=3 \| Club performance ! colspan=2 \| League ! colspan=2 \| Play-off ! colspan=2 \| Cup ! colspan=2 \| Continental ! colspan=2 \| Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
Season ! Club ! League ! Apps	Goals ! Apps	Goals ! Apps	Goals ! Apps	Goals ! Apps	Goals
colspan=3 \| Mexico ! colspan=2 \| League ! colspan=2 \| Play-off ! colspan=2 \| Copa MX ! colspan=2 \| CONCACAF ! colspan=2 \| Total
2008-09	rowspan="2"\|Cruz Azul	rowspan="2"\|Liga MX	37	10	colspan="2"
\|		0	0	37	10
2009-10	8	1	colspan="2"
\|		8	5	16	6
colspan=3 \| Paraguay ! colspan=2 \| League ! colspan=2 \| Play-off ! colspan=2 \| Cup ! colspan=2 \| CONMEBOL ! colspan=2 \| Total
2010	Cerro Porteño (Loan)	rowspan="3"\|División Profesional	44	24	colspan="2"
\|colspan="2"
\|6	0	50	24
2011	rowspan="2"\|Olimpia	43	25	colspan="2"
\|colspan="2"
\|6	3	49	31
2012	19	6	colspan="2"
\|colspan="2"
\|5	3	24	9
colspan=3 \| Russia ! colspan=2 \| League ! colspan=2 \| Play-off ! colspan=2 \| Russian Cup ! colspan=2 \| Europe ! colspan=2 \| Total
2012–13	Krylya Sovetov	Russian Premier League	15	1	0	0	1	0	colspan="2"
\|16	1
colspan=3 \| Ecuador ! colspan=2 \| League ! colspan=2 \| Play-off ! colspan=2 \| Cup ! colspan=2 \| CONMEBOL ! colspan=2 \| Total
2013	Emelec (Loan)	Primera Categoría Serie A	15	1	colspan="2"
\|colspan="2"
\|7	0	16	1
colspan=3 \| Russia ! colspan=2 \| League ! colspan=2 \| Play-off ! colspan=2 \| Russian Cup ! colspan=2 \| Europe ! colspan=2 \| Total
2013–14	Krylya Sovetov	Russian Premier League	0	0	colspan="2"
\|0	0	colspan="2"
\|0	0
rowspan=4 \| Total ! colspan=2 \| Mexico !45\|\|11\|\|colspan="2"
\|		8	5	83	19
colspan=2 \| Paraguay !62\|\|31\|\|colspan="2"
\|colspan="2"
\|12	6	74	37
colspan=2 \| Russia !15\|\|1\|\|0\|\|0\|\|1\|\|0\|\|colspan="2"
\|16	1
colspan=2 \| Ecuador !12\|\|1\|\|colspan="2"
\|colspan="2"
\|7	0	19	1
colspan=3 \| Career total !178\|\|68\|\|colspan="2"
\|1	0	27	11	235	82