Humberto Salvador Mercado-Luján (born 25 March 1969) is a retired

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played professionally in Mexico and the United States. Mercado began his professional career with Cobras de Ciudad Juárez. His first match was on 10 March 1991. In the summer of 1994, Mercado spent the Mexican off-season with the

El Paso Patriots El Paso Patriots was an American soccer team based in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1989, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of the Southe ...

of the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. In 1994, he moved to Atlético Celaya. In 1995, he went on loan to El Paso which finished runner-up 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 ...

in the

1995 U.S. Open Cup The 1995 United States Open Cup is often considered the start of the modern era of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, although Lamar Hunt's name was not added until the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, 1999 edition. It was the 82nd edition of the soccer tournament t ...

final. In 1996, he again spent the summer with the Patriots. In the winter of 1996, Mercado signed with

C.D. Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divi ...

. He was out for most of the season due to an injury, but played a handful of games as the Chivas won the Torneo Verano. He then transferred to

Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz Club Deportivo Veracruz, commonly known as Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, was a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the city of Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz. ''El Aston'' was founded in 1943, and played in the Liga M ...

. After missing the 1998 summer season with the Patriots, Mercado returned to El Paso in 1999. In 2000, Mercado began the season with Atlético Celaya, but finished it with Ciudad Juarez. In 2001 and 2004, he again spent the summers with the Patriots. In 2001, they played in the USL A-League but by 2004, they were in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

. In 2007, he coached the Patriots.Patriots host New Orleans Saturday

References

Living people 1969 births American soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players C.D. Guadalajara footballers Atlético Celaya footballers El Paso Patriots players Mexican football managers Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican footballers USISL players USL Second Division players USISL Select League players USL League Two players A-League (1995–2004) players Footballers from Mexico City Association football midfielders {{Mexico-footy-midfielder-stub