Alberto Delgado y Pérez (born March 11, 1978) is a Cuban retired
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
er.
Club career
Before joining the Rapids in 2005, he played for
Ciudad de la Habana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba national team.
Delgado scored a goal and added three assists in his year with Colorado. He wears ''Pérez'' on the back of his jersey to honor his mother. He was released by the Rapids before the 2005 season, signing with Puerto Rico.
In 2008, he was loaned to Sevilla Bayamon in the Puerto Rico Soccer League and decided to stay with them instead of the
Puerto Rico Islanders
The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...
.
International career
He made his international debut for
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
in 1998 and has earned a total of 22 caps, scoring 4 goals. He scored all of his goals in one game against Surinam, making him the only Cuban to score 4 in an official international match. His final international was a January
2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF).
The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Miami and Pasadena. The forma ...
match against
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
.
Defection to the United States
Delgado defected from Cuba during that 2002 Gold Cup, together with cousin and future
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...
teammate
Rey Ángel Martínez
Rey Ángel "Boom-Boom" Martínez (born May 13, 1980) is a Cuban footballer who most recently played for the Syracuse Silver Knights.
Career
Professional
Martínez began his career with Ciudad la Habana in his native Cuba, before defecting to ...
.Cuban soccer defectors starting anew at St. Thomas - Cubanet He and Martínez ran away from their teammates halfway through breakfast, literally running for more than thirty minutes before finding a Spanish-speaking gas station attendant who then called a cab for them. Martínez made his way there shortly after that.
International goals
:''Scores and results list Cuba's goal tally first.''