Anel Alejandro Canales Madrid (born March 15, 1978) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

forward who most recently played for

Luis Ángel Firpo Luis Ángel Firpo (October 11, 1894 – August 7, 1960) was an Argentine boxer. Born in Junín, Argentina, he was nicknamed ''The Wild Bull of the Pampas''. Boxing career In 1917, Firpo began his professional boxing career by beating Frank Hag ...

of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

Club career

A much travelled winger or striker, Canales had spells at several Panamanian sides, most notably with Chorrillo and Tauro. Nicknamed ''Anelca'', he played in El Salvador for Once Municipal, Alianza, Chalatenango, Isidro Metapán, whom he joined in January 2009, returning for a second spell in May 2010 and

. In December 2007, he was deemed not eligible to play for Chalatenango after the FEDEFUT disciplinary committee confirmed he played for three different teams in the 2007–2008 season, which is prohibited by FIFA. He played over 200 league games in El Salvador and scored over 100 goals. He also spent time in Colombia with

Envigado Envigado () is a town southeast of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta to the south, El Retiro and Caldas to ...

alongside compatriots Joel Solanilla and Luis Moreno and in Ecuador with Técnico Universitario for whom he made his debut in August 2007. A tall striker, Canales was part of a tenth-title winning Salvadoran side

in 2013, but eventually was relegated with the club in May 2014, the club went down after 32 years of top flight football. He then announced he would return to Panama.

International career

He made his debut for

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

in June 2001

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and has earned a total of 15 caps, scoring 2 goals. He represented his country at the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and

2007 UNCAF Nations Cup The 2007 UNCAF Nations Cup was the ninth version of the biennial football tournament for the CONCACAF national teams of Central America. The event took place in San Salvador, El Salvador from February 8 to February 18, 2007. It was the second time ...

s.UNCAF (Qualifying Tournament for Gold Cup) 2007 - Details
- RSSSF His final international was a June 2009

against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Panama's goal tally first.''

Honors

Club

Liga Panameña de Fútbol The Liga Panameña de Fútbol (LPF) ( en, Panamanian Football League) is the top division football league in Panama. Until 2009, the league was named ''Asociación Nacional Pro Fútbol (ANAPROF)''. Competition format The league's season is divide ...

(1): ** 2001-02 *

Salvadoran Primera División Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvad ...

(2): ** 2009 (C), 2010 (A)

Individual

Top Scorer (2): ** 2002 (C), 2003 (A)

References

External links

Profile at El Grafico
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Canales, Anel 1978 births Living people Footballers from Panama City Men's association football forwards Panamanian men's footballers Panama men's international footballers Club Deportivo Universitario players Panamá Viejo F.C. players Tauro F.C. players San Francisco F.C. players C.D. Once Municipal footballers Envigado F.C. players Alianza F.C. footballers C.D. Técnico Universitario footballers A.D. Chalatenango footballers C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo footballers A.D. Isidro Metapán footballers Categoría Primera A players Panamanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in El Salvador Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Liga Panameña de Fútbol players