Joel Sánchez Ramos (born 17 August 1974) is a Mexican former professional football defender who last played for

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. He is nicknamed "El Tiburón" Sánchez. He was on the Mexico squad that won the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. A strong

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, Sanchez made his debut with Guadalajara during the 1991–92 season. He is best known for his time at Chivas, where he won 1997 Verano championship. At Guadalajara, he formed a powerful defensive core alongside

Claudio Suárez Claudio Suárez Sánchez (; born 17 December 1968) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Nicknamed ''El Emperador'' (The Emperor). Club career Born in Texcoco, State of Mexico and nicknamed ''El Emperador' ...

, with whom he played at both club and international level. After spending a year at rival Club América, he returned to Chivas in 2000. In later years, he played for Veracruz, Dorados, Querétaro, and Tecos. He was a member of the Primera División at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, playing in the first-round games against Belgium and the Netherlands. In addition, Sanchez represented Mexico at the Copa América tournaments (

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

) and (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

), helping the team to third-place finishes on both occasions.

Career statistics

International goals

, - , 1. , , 18 November 1998 , , Los Angeles, United States , , , , 2–2 , , Draw , , Friendly , - , 2. , , 11 March 1999 , , Los Angeles, USA , , , , 2–1 , , Win , , 1999 Nike U.S. Cup , - , 3. , , 11 March 1999 , , Los Angeles, USA , , , , 2–1 , , Win , , 1999 Nike U.S. Cup

Honours

Mexico * FIFA Confederations Cup:

External links

* * 1974 births Living people Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican footballers Liga MX players C.D. Guadalajara footballers Club América footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers Dorados de Sinaloa footballers Querétaro F.C. footballers Tecos F.C. footballers Mineros de Zacatecas managers 1997 Copa América players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Mexico under-20 international footballers Mexico international footballers Association football defenders Mexican football managers {{Mexico-footy-defender-stub