Álvaro Murillo Rojas (24 November 1930 - 28 June 1985) was a

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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 lea ...

. He was one of the top goal scorers in the history of the

Primera División de Costa Rica The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Liga de Fútbol de Primera División (Liga FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Uni ...

, and was considered to be one of the best forwards in Costa Rica during the 1950s. In 1979, he was voted best Costa Rican football player of all-time by fans, journalists, former players and officials.

Club career

Murillo came through the Herediano youth system and started his senior career with Orión in 1945.Un jugador inigualable (Bio)
- Nación He then played almost his entire career with

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, Costa Rica, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aym ...

, winning three league titles and holding the club record for most goals scored until it was broken in the 1970s by Edgar Marín. Murillo was part of the Saprissa team that went on a World Tour in 1959, becoming the first Latin American football squad to ever undertake such a trip. He was also the Tour's top goal scorer, which led to offers from European clubs such as

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

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Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

, as well as teams from

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. However, Murillo preferred to stay with Saprissa in Costa Rica because he was going to school during that period of time.

International career

With Costa Rica's national team, Murillo was part of the ''Chaparritos de Oro'' squad that won a silver medal in the

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

held in

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during the 1950s.El retrato del talento•Álvaro Murillo, símbolo morado en los famosos Chaparritos de Oro
- Nación He earned a total of 36 caps, scoring 9 goals
- RSSSF and represented his country in 6

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches.

Retirement

After retiring as a players, Murillo was member of the board of Saprissa.

Personal life and death

Rojas was born to Carlos Murillo and Carmen Rojas and had a brother and sister. He was married to Julieta Jenkins and they had 5 children themselves. He died in 1985 in Heredia, aged 54.

References

1930 births 1985 deaths People from Poás (canton) Footballers from Alajuela Province Men's association football forwards Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Deportivo Saprissa players {{CostaRica-footy-bio-stub