Evaristo Coronado Salas (born 13 September 1960) is considered the best Costa Rican football striker during the 1980s.

Club career

Born in Ciudad Cortés, Coronado is one of the most recognized sports figures in his country. He played his entire career of 14 seasons for

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

, where he holds the team record for most appearances made and goals scored ever. He made his debut on 3 May 1981 against

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

and scored his first goal on 24 May 1981 against San Carlos. He scored a total of 148 league goals in 537 games dressed as a ''Morado'' (purple), the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of the Saprissa players. Coronado helped Saprissa win five national titles during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as two

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Americ ...

s, in 1993 and 1995. Coronado topped the league's goalscoring charts twice in 1981 and 1988El buzón de Rodrigo:¿En qué año, a qué edad se retiró Evaristo Coronado del futbol y en qué años fue campeón goleador nacional?
- Nación and after his retirement, briefly coached the club. He retired on 27 August 1995 after a friendly game against Guatemalan side

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, are a football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. The most popular and successful footba ...

. He was known as ''El Caballero del Futbol'' (The Soccer Gentleman), because of his style of playing the game, always very fair and respectful of his adversaries and referees, even before FIFA's Fair Game philosophy was enumerated. He was well known for never having received a red-card. Because of his goalscoring talents, mostly with his head, he was also referred to as ''Evagol''.

International career

He played with ''the Ticos'' as well, making his debut in 1983 and scored in the 1984 Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He was Costa Rica's top scorer in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but was dropped by coach Bora Milutinovic from the team that played in the World Cup, despite a national cry for his inclusion. He totalled 52 caps, scoring 10 goals, and played his final international in a FIFA World Cup qualification game against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on November 22, 1992.

Personal life

He is married to Patricia Hernández and they have two children, Carla and Alexander.Siempre Eva
- Nación

References

External links

*
EX JUGADORES (Saprissa profile)
- Saprissa {{DEFAULTSORT:Coronado, Evaristo 1960 births Living people People from Puntarenas Province Association football forwards Costa Rican footballers Costa Rica international footballers Olympic footballers of Costa Rica Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Deportivo Saprissa players Costa Rican football managers Deportivo Saprissa managers Deportivo Saprissa non-playing staff CONCACAF Championship-winning players