Benjamín Mayorga Mora (born 15 October 1966), otherwise known as ''El Indio'' (The Indian) or simply as ''Mincho'', is a retired Costa Rican

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player from the 1980s and 1990s. He played most of his career at

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 ...

. "Mincho" became the most recognizable representative for the Native American race in Costa Rica, due to his

Bribri The Bribri (also Abicetava) are an Indigenous people in eastern Costa Rica and northern Panama. Today, most Bribri people speak the Bribri language or Spanish. There are varying estimates from government officials of the group's population. E ...

origin.

Club career

Born in an Indian reservation in Talamanca, Mayorga came to San José with his sister to study in 1980 and soon joined the Saprissa youth team set-up.Figuras del ayer: Benjamín Mayorga
- Nación He made his senior league debut for Saprissa on 14 October 1984 against Ramonense, scored his first goal on 21 September 1986 against Sagrada Familia and won five national championships, as well as two

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

titles with Saprissa. He was sent-off 12 times during his time with Saprissa. In January 1997 he joined Herediano and in 1998 he moved abroad to play for Guatemalan side USAC alongside compatriots

Try Bennett Try Anthony Bennett Grant (born 5 August 1975) is a Costa Rican former footballer. Club career Bennett made his professional debut for Saprissa on 3 October 1993 against Puntarenas and played the majority of his career for Saprissa. He had b ...

and Luis Marín

International career

Mayorga made his debut for

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 ...

in a June 1991

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and earned a total of 21 caps, scoring 1 goal. He represented his country in 8

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 and played at the

1997 UNCAF Nations Cup This page details the 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup, played in Guatemala. Squads :For a complete list of all participating squads see ''UNCAF Nations Cup 1997 squads'' Preliminary round Participating teams 6 Central American Football Union, UNCA ...

, becoming the only 100% pure Indian-blooded international player in the world during that period of time. His final international was a

match against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

on 11 May 1997, retiring from international football because of injury problems.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.''

Managerial career

After his retirement in 1999, Mincho has pursued a coaching career with several teams in Costa Rica, and has continued to carry with much pride his Indian representation in Costa Rica's society, even in the political arena. He was in charge of Belén and Municipal Turrialba.

Personal life

Mayorga is married and has three children. He lives between Coronado and an operations center in Chiroles de Talamanca.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayorga, Benjamin 1966 births Living people Footballers from Limón Province Indigenous sportspeople of the Americas Men's association football midfielders Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Deportivo Saprissa players C.S. Herediano footballers Universidad SC players A.D. Carmelita footballers Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Guatemala Costa Rican football managers