José Francisco Jovel Cruz (born 26 May 1951 in

Usulután Usulután () is the fifth largest city in El Salvador, and capital of the Usulután Department in the south-east of El Salvador. As of 2006, it is estimated to have population of 71,636 people. Usulután rests in a rich agricultural valley and ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de 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 b ...

) is a former professional

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 ...

player from

, who represented his country at the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national foo ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Club career

''Paco'' Jovel started playing football with the ''Calaveras'' football team in the Salvadoran Second Division when only 14 years old and joined hometown Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador side Luis Ángel Firpo in 1972. He formed a formidable partnership with Brazilian Luis Nelson De Moraes but won his only league title during a couple of seasons with Águila, before finishing his career back at Luis Ángel Firpo after spending 15 years at the highest level. He was nicknamed ''el Káiser'' because his playing style resembling that of West Germany legend

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

International career

Jovel made his senior debut for

in 1976 and played for his country in 22

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 ...

matches and all three matches at the 1982 World Cup Finals. In total, he played 110 matches for the ''Cuscatlecos'' in all (including unofficial) matches. Jovel also played for El Salvador at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...

Retirement and personal life

Jovel works as a social worker in San Miguel. He is married and has three children. His son Carlos Francisco Jovel Navas played for Luis Ángel Firpo.

Honours

* Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador: 1 :: 1983

References

External links

Palabra de “el Kaiser”
- El Gráfico 1951 births Living people People from Usulután Department Association football central defenders Salvadoran footballers El Salvador international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players Pan American Games competitors for El Salvador Footballers at the 1975 Pan American Games C.D. Águila footballers C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo footballers {{ElSalvador-footy-bio-stub