Emilio José Palacios Luna (born 8 October 1982) is a Nicaraguan former

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 ...

who played for Diriangén in the

Primera División de Nicaragua The Liga Primera de Nicaragua is the top division of football in Nicaragua, organized by the Federación Nicaragüense de Fútbol, it was created in 1933. It is played in two parts, Torneo de Apertura from August through November and Torneo de ...

. Palacios is Nicaragua's all-time national team record goalscorer with 11 goals.

Club career

Palacios started his professional career at Diriangén and had a short spell with Parmalat. He moved abroad to join Salvadoran outfit Independiente in 2007, only to return to Nicaragua to play for Walter Ferretti, then Xilotepelt whom he helped promote to the top tier in June 2012. He returned to Diriangén in summer 2012. He was the top scorer of the Nicaraguan League in the championships Apertura 2002 (scoring 15 goals for Parmalat), Apertura 2003 (17 goals for Diriangén) and Apertura 2004 (14 goals for Diriangén).

International career

Palacios made his debut for

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

in an April 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

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

and has earned a total of 26 caps, scoring 11 goals. He has represented his country in 3 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at the 2001, 2003, 2007, and

2009 UNCAF Nations Cup The UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 was the tenth edition of the UNCAF Nations Cup, the biennial football (soccer) tournament for the CONCACAF-affiliated national teams of Central America. The first five places qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Th ...

s.UNCAF (Qualifying Tournament for Gold Cup) 2009 - Details
- RSSSF He was the first Nicaraguan to score a hat-trick in an international competition, in February 2007, when Nicaragua won 4-2 against

, during the IX UNCAF Copa de Naciones. After a good performance in this event, he was contacted by Salvadoran side Independiente, and left Diriangen FC for the Salvadoran side. His final international was a January

match against Guatemala.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Honduras' goal tally first.''

References

External links

1982 births Living people People from Carazo Department Men's association football forwards Nicaraguan men's footballers Nicaragua men's international footballers Diriangén FC players C.D. Walter Ferretti players Nicaraguan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in El Salvador {{Nicaragua-footy-bio-stub