Luis Ricardo Guevara Mora (born 2 September 1961) is a Salvadoran 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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Nicknamed ''el Negro'', he became a member of the El Salvador national team and represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Guevara remains one of El Salvador's best goalkeepers. He was known for his outstanding reflexes, leaping ability and acrobatic style of play, as well as his controversial antics off the field, which also earned him another nickname, 'el Loco'. He is the all-time cap leader for El Salvador national team.

Club career

In his early years, Guevara was a baseball and basketball enthusiast despite future national team goalkeeper Raúl Antonio García being one of his friends in school. He was tempted to train with

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by former national team goalkeeper

Raúl Magaña Raúl Alfredo Magaña Monzón (24 February 1940 – 30 September 2009) was a Salvadoran footballer and manager. He is regarded as one of the greats of Salvadoran football. Club career Magaña made his debut aged 18 against Deportivo Saprissa ...

and then joined Platense to make his senior league debut at 16 years. He then played for

Atlético Marte Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

. He played for

Once Lobos Once Lobos Chalchuapa, commonly known as Once Lobos (the Eleven Wolves), is a professional Salvadoran football club based in Chalchuapa, Santa Ana, El Salvador. Created in February 1918, Once Lobos are the oldest club still active in any form ...

and again for Marte but since the fans still blamed him for the 10–1 drubbing by Hungary he left for Guatemala in the end, to play for

Club Xelajú MC Club Social y Deportivo Xelajú Mario Camposeco, commonly known as Xelajú MC or just ''Xela'' and nicknamed ''Superchivos'' is a Guatemalan professional football club competing in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. They are ...

and Aurora F.C. He only returned to his country after five years and spent time again at Atlético Marte before retiring at Alianza in 2000. He then became goalkeeper coach at the national team but returned to Atlético Marte as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

when they were relegated to the Salvadoran Second Division. Finally, he retired again at San Salvador F.C. to become a manager.

International career

At the age of 17, he was called up to play a friendly game against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

in April 1979. He became the youngest goalkeeper in the national team's history. Prior to the 1982 World Cup finals, during the qualification rounds, he only conceded one goal and played in a memorable victory 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 ...

. At the finals tournament in Spain, he became one of the youngest goalkeepers to participate in the World Cup. In the first round, El Salvador lost to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

10–1, and Guevara became the goalkeeper with the most goals scored against in a single match, a record that stands as of 2019. He played 91 times for his national team in which he earned 50 senior caps. He represented his country in 13 World Cup qualification matches. His final international game was a November 1996 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

Personal life

Guevara is married to Flor de María and the couple have three children: Luis Ricardo, Ana Luisa and Gabriel Sebastián.

Honours

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 ...

: 1981, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2003Los campeones
– - El Diario de Hoy * Guatemalan Premier League: 1993

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guevara Mora, Luis Ricardo 1961 births Living people Sportspeople from San Salvador Salvadoran footballers Association football goalkeepers El Salvador international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players C.D. Atlético Marte footballers C.D. Águila footballers Xelajú MC players Aurora F.C. players Alianza F.C. footballers San Salvador F.C. footballers Salvadoran expatriate footballers Salvadoran expatriate sportspeople in Guatemala Expatriate footballers in Guatemala