Ronald Osvaldo Cerritos Flores (born January 3, 1975, in

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

) is a Salvadoran 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 le ...

who played as a striker. Cerritos is the all-time leader in assists of the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team, the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

, with 47.

Club career

Cerritos has spent the bulk of his career playing in MLS, being signed by the league on March 21, 1997, and allocated to the San Jose Clash. While with San Jose he achieved great success, being named in the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

in his first year with the club. In the offseason after 2001, however, Cerritos was traded to the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

for Ariel Graziani. He never was able to settle in Dallas, having trouble earning a starting spot, and struggling with injuries. After a year and a half at Dallas, during which he scored seven goals, Cerritos was traded to

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

for

Ali Curtis Ali Curtis (born December 18, 1978) is a sports executive and former American soccer player. He was the 1999 Hermann Trophy and 2000 MAC Award winner before playing in Major League Soccer from 2001 to 2004. Curtis became the first African Americ ...

and a first-round pick in the

2004 MLS SuperDraft The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the youngest athletes in Am ...

. Cerritos again was largely unproductive in D.C. and was cut midway through the 2004 season because his performances were not justifying his large salary, and returned to play for Alianza in his native El Salvador. After the season with Alianza he returned to MLS and his original team, with San Jose acquiring him from DC for a draft pick. During his returning season, Cerritos scored an additional 6 goals. He is 2nd on San Jose's all-time scoring list, with 61 goals and also has the honor of having the most assists, with 47. Shortly after his return to the Earthquakes, however, Cerritos was moved to Houston for the 2006 season along with his teammates. Despite his success with San Jose his resulting stint with the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

was short-lived, as he was released in August 2006. He was later signed by San Salvador F.C. on a two-year deal and became an outstanding performer week in and week out, soon being recalled to the El Salvador national team to participate in the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States from ...

in the United States. In November 2007, Cerritos signed a two-year contract with expansion

Real Maryland FC Real Maryland F.C., commonly known as the Real Maryland Monarchs, was an American Association football, soccer team based in Rockville, Maryland, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the four ...

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ( ...

. He played fifteen games, scoring two goals, but was released by the team after their 6–0 loss to the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

, a game in which he did not play. On July 31, 2008, Cerritos signed with the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

of the

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 b ...

. He finished the season with the RailHawks, but was not signed by the team for the 2009 season. At half time of the match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Chicago Fire on September 29, 2010, Cerritos became the second player inducted into the San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Fame.

International career

Cerritos has been a mainstay in the El Salvador national team, having made over 60 appearances. He made his debut for the national team against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on 5 December 1993 and scored his first goal for El Salvador in a 3–2 victory over

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

on January 10, 1996, in a

1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament returned to the United States and California; the games were hosted by Los ...

match. On March 5, 2000, in a

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

match against

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, Cerritos scored El Salvador's 400th goal in all senior international matches.

International goals

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

Personal life

Cerritos is Married to Brenda Cerritos, Cerritos son,

Alexis Cerritos Ronald Alexis Cerritos Castañeda (born 2 October 2000), better known as Alexis Cerritos, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Central Valley Fuego. Born in the United States, he represents the El Salvador national team. P ...

, is also a professional footballer who plays for the

El Salvador national football team The El Salvador national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de El Salvador) represents El Salvador in international football, and is governed by the Salvadoran Football Federation (FESFUT). In 1899, two teams from Santa Ana and San Sa ...

. In his spare time, Cerritos enjoys playing cards and playing basketball with his friends. He enjoys spending time with his two sons. He currently lives Maryland. He now has his own Soccer Club named Cerritos Soccer Academy, youth kids from 5-19 years old.

Honors

San Jose Earthquakes *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Individual *

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 t ...

* Inducted to San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Fame: 2010

References

External links

*
MLS Career Statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerritos, Ronald 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from San Salvador Association football forwards Salvadoran footballers El Salvador international footballers 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players San Jose Earthquakes players FC Dallas players D.C. United players Alianza F.C. footballers Houston Dynamo FC players San Salvador F.C. footballers Real Maryland F.C. players North Carolina FC players USL First Division players USL Second Division players Salvadoran expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Salvadoran expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars D.C. United non-playing staff