Carlos Alvarado Villalobos (born 19 December 1927) was a Costa Rican

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 played as a goalkeeper. He also represented Costa Rica at international level.

Club career

Known as "Aguilucho", he was born in Santa Bárbara, Heredia, Alvarado played as a goalkeeper. He began his career with

L.D. Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

, making his Costa Rican Primera División debut in 1945. Alvarado spent most of his career with Alajuelense, winning six Primera División titles in the process. There, he earned the nickname "Aguilucho" (hawk) for the aggressive manner in which he attacked opponents trying to score. He would play 159 league games for ''Liga''. Alvarado began playing professional football with Mexican Primera División side

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

in 1947. He returned to Alajuelense after one season, and would spend three months in Colombia with

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

during 1950. In a 1951 match against the

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 ...

, Alvarado blocked a critical penalty shot in the 90th minute. Costa Rican president Otilio Ulate Blanco gave Alvarado his watch, which he stopped at the moment Alvarado blocked the shot. During his career, Alvarado turned down offers to play for Italy's

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as Genoa (), is a professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, that competes in , the second division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

and Argentina's

International career

Alvarado made 25 appearances for the Costa Rica national football team, making his debut in 1946. He helped Costa Rica win the

CCCF Championship The CCCF Championship was an association football (soccer) tournament made for teams in the area of Central America and the Caribbean between the years of 1941 and 1961. It was founded in 1938 and the precursor of the CONCACAF, that was formed wh ...

three times (1953, 1955 and 1960).

References

External links

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Profile
at LDA.cr 1927 births Living people People from Santa Bárbara (canton) Sportspeople from Heredia Province Men's association football goalkeepers Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers Club América footballers América de Cali footballers Liga FPD players Categoría Primera A players Liga MX players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Colombia {{CostaRica-footy-bio-stub