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

Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvad ...

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 ...

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 Juan Francisco Barraza Flores (March 12, 1935 – December 17, 1997) was a Salvadoran football player and manager. He is widely regarded one of the best Salvadoran footballers of all time. Career Born in the district of San Miguel as the ...

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 Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

and Alianza in his homeland El Salvador and spent time abroad playing for Cartaginés in Costa Rica, scoring 11 goals, and Puebla in Mexico. In 1990, he played for the

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor soccer, indoor home matches at the neigh ...

of the American Professional Soccer League.

International career

Ramírez represented 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 se ...

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 ...

. He also represented his country in 24 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and was a member of the El Salvador team at the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial 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, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

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 concept i ...

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

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

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 football team from 1971 to 1989. His final international game was an August 1989 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

Trinidad & 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 Gr ...

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 football manager. Career Prior to his move to Panama, Stempel was a community outreach officer with London club Millwall. He enjoyed his greatest success as at club level in a four-year spell ...

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

* Águila ** Primera División (5): 1972, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1983, 1987–88 ** CONCACAF Champions' Cup (1):

1976 Events January * January 3 – 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 11 – The 1976 ...

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 Sportspeople from San Salvador Association football forwards Salvadoran footballers El Salvador 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. footballers 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 footballers Expatriate footballers in Costa Rica Expatriate footballers in Honduras Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate 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