Blas Antonio Pérez Ortega (born 13 March 1981) is a Panamanian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for the Dallas Sidekicks in the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

Club career

Pérez began his career in his native Panama with

Panamá Viejo Panamá Viejo (English: "Old Panama"), also known as Panamá la Vieja, is the remaining part of the original Panama City, the former capital of Panama, which was destroyed in 1671 by the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan. It is located in the suburbs ...

. He made his debut with the club in 1998 and went on to score 27 goals in 56 matches. In 2001, he joined Árabe Unido and continued his goal scoring form. In 2002, he joined top Uruguayan side

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. The following season, he left for Colombia signing 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 ...

, scoring a goal on his debut against

Independiente Medellin Independiente may refer to: *the Spanish word for wikt:independent, independent Music *Independiente (record label), a record label formed in 1997 *Independiente (Dragon Ash album), ''Independiente'' (Dragon Ash album), 2007 *Independiente (Ricard ...

in the process. After one season at the club he joined Centauros and went on to score 29 goals in 37 matches, catching the attention of one of Colombia's top clubs

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

. For the 2005 season he signed with Cali and remained at the club for two years in which he continued with his goal scoring form. In 2006 Perez joined

Cúcuta Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the Eastern ...

. With Cúcuta, Perez won the

Copa Mustang Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

in 2006 against

Deportes Tolima Club Deportes Tolima S.A., commonly known as Deportes Tolima, or simply as Tolima, is a Colombian professional football club based in Ibagué, Tolima Department that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. Founded in 1954, the club has wo ...

. In 2007 Cúcuta and Blas Perez made their debut in

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

, in which Blas scored eight goals, including two against Argentina's

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

. The eight goals were the second-most in the tournament. On 29 May 2007 Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

team

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

signed ''Super Ratón'' on a four-year contract in which they acquired 50% of the players rights. It was valued at US$2.7 million, with Blas Perez earning 60 thousand dollars per month. Perez enjoyed a brief stay in Spain in which he scored four goals in 16 matches. On 18 January 2008 he signed with

UANL Tigres Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Found ...

, his seventh club in his career and first in Mexico. He played for

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whic ...

for the 2009 Clausura in a loan deal after

Miguel Sabah Miguel Sabah Rodríguez (born 14 November 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a striker. Throughout his career, he played for Guadalajara, Cruz Azul, Monarcas Morelia, and Club León. Sabah made his debut in the ...

's transfer to

did not work out. He scored eight goals in 15 matches with Pachuca. After his impressive display in the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United States ...

Al Wasl FC Al Wasl Football Club ( ar, نادي الوصل لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Dubai, that competes in the United Arab Emirates Football League. It is a part of the multi-sports club Al Wasl SC. Argen ...

of Dubai was able to secure Blas Pérez services to play in the

UAE League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al O ...

based on Al Wasl's new coach

Alexandre Guimarães Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimarães (born 7 November 1959) is a Costa Rican football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of América de Cali. Born and raised in Brazil, Guimarães played for the Co ...

recommendation. He stayed there only for the first half of the 2009–10 season before moving back to Mexico to play for San Luis. After having played 17 games in the Torneo Bicentenario and 2 in the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

edition of the

and having scored 5 goals in both tournaments, he was released at the end of the season. He was later signed by

Club León Club León Fútbol Club, also known as León, is a Mexican professional football club based in León, Guanajuato, that competes in the Liga MX, the top flight of Mexican football. León has won the Primera División de México/Liga MX title ...

from the

Liga de Ascenso Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

in the 2010 edition of the Mexican draft. he rediscovered his goal scoring form with Club León with 19 goals in 28 matches. For the second half of the 2011 season he was again sent on loan this time to Indios. For the 2012

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

season, he signed with

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

. On 2 December 2015, it was announced that FC Dallas would not be renewing Perez's contract. On 16 February 2016, Perez was traded to

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

for

Mauro Rosales Mauro Damián Rosales (born 24 February 1981) is an Argentine former association football, footballer who last played in Alumni de Villa María, Alumni. A Midfielder#Winger, winger/Forward (association football), forward best known for his pace ...

. At the conclusion of the 2016 season Perez's contract was not renewed. On 31 January 2017, Pérez signed with Panamanian club, C.D. Árabe Unido. On 25 November 2018, Pérez retired from playing professional football. Pérez signed with the Dallas Sidekicks of the

in July 2022. Pérez scored twice in his arena soccer debut against

Chihuahua Savage The Chihuahua Savage, also known as Savage CUU, are a Mexican professional indoor soccer team based in Chihuahua, Chihuahua. Founded in 2019, the team made its debut in the Major Arena Soccer League 2 with the 2019–20 season, which was ended ...

on 10 December 2022.

International career

Pérez 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 a March 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

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 ...

and has, as of 6 June 2016, earned a total of 106 caps, scoring 41 goals. He is Panama's third all-time record cap behind Gabriel Gómez and

Jaime Penedo Jaime Manuel Penedo Cano (born 26 September 1981) is a Panamanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for various teams such as: Osasuna B, CSD Municipal, LA Galaxy, Deportivo Saprissa and Dinamo București, among others ...

and second all-time leading goalscorer after

Luis Tejada Luis Carlos "Matador" Tejada Hansell (born 28 March 1982) is a Panamanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Molinos El Pirata. Club career Tejada's debut in professional soccer was with Tauro in the local league, where he man ...

. He represented his country in 22

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and played for

at the

2007 Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States from ...

, in which they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

He ended up as Panama's top scorer, with three goals and one assist. Blas Perez was also named in the

"Best XI". He also played at the 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 Gold Cups and Copa América Centenario. In May 2018 he was named in Panama's preliminary 35 man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia.

International goals

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

Assault attempt

On 23 July 2009, two cars chased Pérez's

Nissan 350Z : The Nissan 350Z (known as Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33) in Japan) is a two-door, two-seater sports car that was manufactured by Nissan Motor Corporation from 2002 until 2009 and marks the fifth generation of Nissan's Z-car line. The 350Z entered prod ...

early at the morning while he was travelling along the La Chorrera highway. The assaulting cars intercepted him when one of them collided with it forcing it to stop. Pérez managed to escape from the attackers and sustained no injuries but his car was heavily damaged.

Personal life

Pérez holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honours and awards

Deportivo Cali *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Cúcuta Deportivo *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Individual * CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Star Team:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

References

External links

* *
Profile
- FC Dallas * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Blas 1981 births 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup players 2005 UNCAF Nations Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 Copa Centroamericana players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 Copa Centroamericana players 2014 Copa Centroamericana players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Al-Wasl F.C. players Association football forwards C.D. Árabe Unido players C.F. Pachuca players C.S.D. Municipal players Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Centauros Villavicencio footballers Club Blooming players Club León footballers Club Nacional de Football players Copa América Centenario players Cúcuta Deportivo footballers Deportivo Cali footballers Envigado F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Bolivia Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States FC Dallas players FIFA Century Club Hércules CF players Indios de Ciudad Juárez footballers Liga MX players Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala players Liga Panameña de Fútbol players Living people Major League Soccer players Panama international footballers Panamanian expatriate footballers Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Panamanian footballers Panamá Viejo players San Luis F.C. players Segunda División players Sportspeople from Panama City Tigres UANL footballers UAE Pro League players Uruguayan Primera División players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Dallas Sidekicks (2012–present) players Major Arena Soccer League players