Luis Baltazar Ramírez Zapata (born 6 January 1954) is a retired

Salvadoran Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

forward, who played for the El Salvador national team for nearly two decades.

Club career

Nicknamed ''El Pelé'', he spent nearly 20 years playing for Salvadoran club Águila. He started with Águila, after being recommended by Brazilian technical director Arnaldo Da Silva, under the legendary Juan Francisco Barraza, before leaving to join other clubs and later in his career make a return to the San Miguel-based club. He also would go on to play for Atlético Marte and Alianza in his homeland

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

and spent time abroad playing for Cartaginés in Costa Rica, scoring 11 goals, and

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

in Mexico. In 1990, he played for the Washington Diplomats of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

International career

Zapata made his international debut aged 17 years, 8 months and 9 days against

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, he also scored on debut, becoming the youngest Salvadorian to score on debut, held the record for 53 years. The record was broken on 31 May, 2025 by Brandon Stanley Ramirez who scored on debut aged 16 years, 8 months and 26 days against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, Ramírez represented El Salvador at the 1975 Pan American Games in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He also represented his country in 24

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches and was a member of the

team at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. During the tournament, he scored their only goal in

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

history. It came in the infamous 10–1 defeat to

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on 15 June 1982, which remains the single biggest loss for a team in the competition's history. Ramírez Zapata scored 16 goals for the El Salvador national team from 1971 to 1989. His final international game was an August 1989

match against Trinidad & Tobago.

International goals

:''Scores and results list El Salvador's goal tally first.''

Managerial career and personal life

His first job as a manager was at Águila, where he replaced Panamanian coach

Gary Stempel Gary Stempel (born 26 January 1957) is a Panamanian Association football, football Coach (sport), manager. Career Prior to his move to Panama, Stempel was a community outreach officer with London club Millwall F.C., Millwall. He enjoyed his gre ...

in 2007. After his own dismissal, he coached Atlético Balboa and Salvadoran second division side ADI F.C., before joining the Department of Culture and Sports of the San Miguel mayorship. He was sacked by the municipal council in October 2011.El “Pelé” Zapata denuncia despido injustificado en PGR
– La Prensa Gráfica

Honours

Club honours

As a player

* Águila ** Primera División (5): 1972, 1975–76, 1976–77,

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, 1987–88 **

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

(1):

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Individual

* Primera División Golden Boot (2): 1975-76, 1976-77

References

External links

Biography
– El Gráfico
Honored by City of San Miguel Article
* – C.D. Atlético Marte {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez Zapata, Luis 1954 births Living people Footballers from San Salvador Men's association football forwards Salvadoran men's footballers El Salvador men's international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1975 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for El Salvador C.D. Águila footballers C.S. Cartaginés players Alianza F.C. (El Salvador) footballers CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players Club Puebla players Platense F.C. players Washington Diplomats (1988–1990) players C.D. Atlético Marte footballers Liga MX players American Professional Soccer League players Salvadoran expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Costa Rica Expatriate men's footballers in Honduras Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Salvadoran expatriate sportspeople in Costa Rica Salvadoran expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Salvadoran expatriate sportspeople in the United States Salvadoran football managers C.D. Águila managers