Selvin Valentín Pennant Taylor (born 4 January 1950) is a Guatemalan 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 ...

and one of that country's most prolific goalscorers ever. He played for Deportes Aviación in the Chilean First Division for three years, and was a member of the Guatemala national team from 1969 to 1980, playing in three World Cup qualifying campaigns and at the 1976 Olympic Tournament.

Club career

Pennant, a centre forward with strong aerial game, began his professional career with

Tipografía Nacional Tipografía Nacional is a football club based in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It was one of the most traditional teams in the country in the 20th Century, and it remains the fourth-most successful club in the history of Guatemalan football in term ...

in 1969, where he played along his two brothers, https://web.archive.org/web/20061119225539/http://www.prensalibre.com/especiales/ME/guatefut/16.html before he moved to ''Cementos Novella'', where he was joint top scorer of the 1972 league season, and sole top scorer the following year. https://web.archive.org/web/20061128134913/http://www.prensalibre.com/especiales/ME/guatefut/07.html As Cementos Novella disappeared after the 1973 season due to lack of sponsorship, Pennant joined

Aurora F.C. Aurora Fútbol Club is a Guatemalan professional football club. They are based in Guatemala City and play their home matches in the Estadio Cementos Progreso. Once one of the most powerful teams in the country and a traditional rival of fellow ...

, where he would excel as well as he was top scorer again in the 1975 season with 33 goals, tied with

Municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

's Julio César Anderson, and leading the team to their fourth ever national championship and first since 1968. Aurora went on to win the 1976 Copa Fraternidad by beating some of the best teams in Central America, including defending champions Platense, thanks in good part to the attacking duo Pennant and

René Morales René Morales (born 22 February 1953) is a Guatemalan former footballer. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rig ...

each contributing with a tournament-high seven goals to the successful run. Pennant's domestic and international exploits prompted Chilean Club Deportes Aviación to require his services. Coach

Hernán Carrasco Vivanco Hernán is a Spanish masculine given name, originating from Germanic Hernan in the Visigoth culture in Spain. It is the Latinized version of the compound name ''Fard-nanth'', which seems to mean "gentle traveler" or "spiritual traveler". The House ...

brought Pennant to Aviación for the 1977 season, and in his first year there, the striker scored seven goals in the league and two in the domestic cup. The following season, Pennant scored another seven goals, as Aviación improved to an 8th-place finish. Pennant's best season in Chilean football was his third (1979), when he scored ten league goals – seven of which came in the first seven matches, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

Everton de Viña del Mar Everton de Viña del Mar is a Chilean football club based in the city of Viña del Mar. The club was founded 24 June 1909 after a group of Anglo-Chilean teenagers formed a football club and named it after the English team Everton who had re ...

. Unlike the previous seasons, the 1979 season had an initial group phase to qualify to a final knockout phase, and Aviación, despite having the third best record overall, fell one point short of qualifying as they finished third in a group which included

Colo Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional Association football, football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have List of unrelegated a ...

and

Club Universidad de Chile Club Universidad de Chile () is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile, that plays in the Primera División. Founded on 24 May 1927, Universidad de Chile is one of the most successful and popular football clubs in Chile, havin ...

. He returned to Guatemala in 1980, again playing for Aurora, where he would retire in 1982 after having scored 87 career goals for the club – third-most ever behind

Jorge Roldán Jorge Roldán Popol (16 November 1940 – 8 June 2023), known popularly as ''El Grillo'' ("cricket"), was a Guatemalan football coach and player. A midfielder, Roldán played almost his entire career for the local team Aurora F.C., being perha ...

(111) and Edgar Arriaza (88) – and over 190 goals during his entire career.

National team

Pennant was first selected to the Guatemala national team in 1969, appearing at the IV CONCACAF Championship that year. In 1971, he was a member of the national squad that attempted to qualify to the 1972 Olympic Games, without success. Four years later, however, he helped Guatemala qualify to the 1976 Games in Montreal, where he started against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

(0-0), played the last 15 minutes of a 1–4 loss against

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and the match 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 ...

(1-1). Pennant also played in the 1974, 1978 (where he missed the final round in Mexico in October 1977 having migrated to Chile), and 1982 World Cup qualifying processes. During the latter, on 26 November 1980, Pennant scored in a 3–0 win against Costa Rica which as of 2011 is the last time Guatemala has beaten Costa Rica away. Overall, Pennant scored 5 goals in 11 World Cup qualification matches.

Honours

* Guatemala '' Liga Mayor'' winner: 1975 * Torneo Fraternidad / UNCAF Club Championship winner: 1976 * Guatemala '' Liga Mayor'' top scorer: 1972, 1973, 1975

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pennant, Selvin 1950 births Living people Guatemalan footballers Guatemalan expatriate footballers Guatemala international footballers Olympic footballers of Guatemala Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Aurora F.C. players Tipografía Nacional players Chilean Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Chile Guatemalan expatriate sportspeople in Chile C.D. Aviación footballers Association football forwards