Hugo Ernesto Pérez Granados (born November 8, 1963) is a former professional

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 ...

and current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of the El Salvador national team. Born in El Salvador, he represented the United States national team. During his fourteen-year career, he played professionally in the United States, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and his native El Salvador. Although born in El Salvador, he gained his U.S. citizenship as a youth and earned 73

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

, scoring sixteen goals, with the U.S. national team between 1984 and 1994. He was a member of the U.S. team at both the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

and the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. He was the 1991 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2008.

Early life

Pérez was born in El Salvador, where both his grandfather and father both played professionally for

C.D. FAS Club Deportivo Futbolistas Asociados Santanecos, commonly known as FAS (pronounced "fas"), is a professional Salvadoran football club based in Santa Ana. It competes in Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador, the country's top professiona ...

, the club with which Pérez would finish his career. He migrated with his family to the United States when he was 11 and gained his U.S. citizenship in the mid-1980s. He chose to forego college.

Club career

In 1982, Pérez signed with the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tourn ...

of the NASL. He also spent time with the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

before ending up with the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

. In 1988, he was the championship MVP when the Sockers won the MISL championship. That summer he joined

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

during the team's pre-season. Ajax manager

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

expressed an interest in signing him, but the Sockers refused to release Pérez. In 1989, he played for the

Los Angeles Heat Los Angeles Heat joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League, then folded in 1990. The club played in Torrance, California at West H ...

of the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

. Cruyff then attempted to work a transfer for Pérez to Italian club

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

in 1990, but Parma needed Pérez to play in the World Cup in order to get him a work permit. Pérez was part of the 1990 World Cup Roster, but when U.S. coach Gansler left Pérez off the U.S. team that traveled, due to a question of match fitness due to injury, this nixed the move to Italy. Instead, Pérez moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

where he played with

Red Star Paris Red Star Football Club, also known simply as Red Star (), is a French association football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Bordeaux. In t ...

. From France, Pérez moved to Swedish First Division club

Örgryte IS Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. H ...

then Saudi Arabian First Division club

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

. In 1994, he returned to the United States and played in the 1994 World Cup and after played for the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League. Hugo played with the Salsa while negotiating a contract with C.D FAS. The Salsa folded at the end of the 1994 season and Pérez made his last move, to

Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador The ''Primera División'' of the (''Professional Football League''), more commonly known as ''La Liga Mayor'' or ''La Primera'', is the top professional football league in El Salvador. It was established in 1969, and in 2011 had 10 clubs. Init ...

club

, commonly known as C.D. FAS. In both of Pérez' years with the club, 1994–1995 and 1995–1996, C.D. FAS won the El Salvador championship. He retired in 1996 from professional soccer.

International career

Pérez was a member of the American squad that competed at the

1983 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fourth edition FIFA World Youth Championship tournament, hosted from 2 June to 19 June 1983 in seven venues in Mexico — Guadalajara, Irapuato, León, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca — w ...

and

. He also helped the USA qualify for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which he missed when he tore ligaments in his leg playing for

, a French

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club. He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1991. He played 73 international matches for the US between 1984 and 1994, in which he scored thirteen goals. At the

, Pérez played in the second round game against Brazil.

Retirement

After retiring from playing, Pérez moved to the San Francisco area where he has served as the principal for the Living Hope Christian School. On March 10, 2008, Pérez was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He is the uncle of

UD Ibiza Unión Deportiva Ibiza is a Spanish professional football club based in the town of Ibiza, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded in 2015, it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at '' Estadi Municipal de Can Mis ...

and El Salvador U-23 player, Joshua Pérez.

Coaching career

In August 2002, he joined the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

as an assistant coach to its men's soccer team. On December 7, 2007, the

California Victory The California Victory was a USL First Division professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California. It was an expansion team for the 2007 season, but ceased operation in September of that year after parent club Deportivo Alavés withdre ...

, a

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

expansion franchise, announced that Pérez had joined its staff as an assistant coach.

United States U-15

Pérez was coach of the U15s from August 7, 2012 to August 23, 2014. He resigned afterwards. He stated "Yes, this is my last camp, I don't know hat is next for me that is up to U.S. Soccer. Obviously, I'm employed by them and whatever they do I am open to it. It's been an honor to work with these kids and an honor to get to know them."

El Salvador

After

Albert Roca Albert Roca Pujol (born 20 October 1962) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Granollers, Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca spent most of his career with clubs in his native regi ...

resigned as coach of El Salvador in July 2015, Pérez once again expressed his interest in coaching El Salvador. On August 21, 2015, it was announced that Pérez has been hired as the new assistant coach of El Salvador to Jorge Rodríguez. In April 2021, after having coached the El Salvador under-23 national team, Pérez was named head coach of the senior team, the first American to coach El Salvador after 91 years. Under this tutelage, El Salvador began recruiting players born in the United States to Salvadoran parents, who later made up a quarter of their World Cup qualifying roster in 2021.

Personal life

His nephew Joshua Pérez is a professional soccer player who plays for American side

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pérez goal''.

Honors

San Diego Sockers *

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90 FAS *

: 1994–95, 1995–96 United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Individual * U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year: 1991 * Fútbol de Primera Player of the Year: 1991

References

* (article about Perez's attempts to join Ajax in July 1988, Sockers reaction)

External links

BigSoccer discussion board on Hugo Pérez

USSoccerPlayers bio of Pérez

Photo of Pérez at 1994 World Cup

California Victory Story

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Hugo 1963 births Living people Salvadoran emigrants to the United States People with acquired American citizenship People from Morazán Department American soccer players Association football midfielders Los Angeles Aztecs players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players San Diego Sockers (NASL) players San Diego Sockers (original MISL) players Los Angeles Heat players Red Star F.C. players Örgryte IS players Ittihad FC players Los Angeles Salsa players C.D. FAS footballers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Western Soccer Alliance players American Professional Soccer League players Ligue 2 players Allsvenskan players Ettan Fotboll players Saudi Professional League players Salvadoran Primera División players National Soccer Hall of Fame members United States men's under-20 international soccer players Olympic soccer players of the United States United States men's international soccer players Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1992 King Fahd Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in France American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden American expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Sweden American soccer coaches San Francisco Dons men's soccer coaches El Salvador national football team managers USL First Division coaches 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers American expatriate soccer coaches California Victory