Edgar Eladio Estrada Solís (born November 16, 1967), popularly known as "El Gato" (The Cat), is a

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

n footballer who has played goalkeeper for several clubs in Guatemala's top division. He was capped 71 times for the

Guatemala national football team The Guatemala national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Guatemala) represents Guatemala in men's international football and is controlled by the ''Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala''. Founded in 1919, it has been affiliat ...

Club career

"El Gato" started his professional career at Aurora F.C., winning the domestic league title in the 1992-93 season. He remained there until 1996, when he joined CSD Comunicaciones. He helped that club win four consecutive league titles. In 2001, he signed with CSD Municipal, where he won two more titles. He then had a second stint with Comunicaciones. On May 11, 2003, he scored his first career goal via a penalty kick. He repeated such action one year later, against his former club Aurora. After having retired due to a

spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Vertebral column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoolog ...

injury, he surprisingly returned to play in 2005 for Comunicaciones. He then joined

Deportivo Suchitepéquez ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

, of whom he was a member until the end of 2006. As of the 2008 ''Clausura'' tournament, he was playing for Club Petapa, which he joined in 2007. He retired after that season but in June 2008 it was said he would perhaps continue his career at Deportivo Zacapa. Estrada was the leading goalkeeper in terms of goals against average in 11 consecutive league tournaments.

International career

Estrada defended the Guatemala national team between 1995 and 2003, appearing in 80 international matches and becoming the most capped player ever for the country, until

Juan Carlos Plata Juan Carlos Plata (born 1 January 1971) is a Guatemalan soccer coach and retired football striker. He is the highest-scoring player in the history of Guatemala's top division. As of January 2010, Plata has, except for Marc Lloyd-Williams, been th ...

surpassed his mark in 2005. Estrada participated in the qualification processes for the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

World Cups, receiving 25 goals in 20 matches. In January 2001, after allowing 5 goals in a defeat against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, which eliminated Guatemala from the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, he was highly criticised, to the extent of receiving death threats. He would not play any other official international matches that year. He appeared in three more official matches for Guatemala, before retiring from the national team in 2003. Estrada played in three editions of the UNCAF Nations Cup and in five editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. He has represented his country in 20

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.Record at FIFA Tournaments
- FIFA

External links

- by Luis Fernando Passo Alpuin, RSSSF *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estrada, Edgar 1967 births Living people Footballers from Guatemala City Men's association football goalkeepers Guatemalan men's footballers Guatemala men's international footballers Aurora F.C. players Comunicaciones F.C. players C.S.D. Municipal players C.D. Suchitepéquez players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Deportivo Petapa players