Francisco "Pinula" López Contreras (born 17 September 1934) is a Guatemalan former
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 ...
player and coach. He played the majority of his playing career at
C.S.D. Comunicaciones
Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, is a professional football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. One of the most popular a ...
of Guatemala City and was also a member of the
Guatemala national team, playing in two
World Cup qualifying campaigns.
Club career
Born in
, source of his nickname, López played as an
Outside right
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...
and made his domestic league debut with
Comunicaciones
Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, is a professional association football, football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala, Liga Nacional, th ...
in 1955, and would go on to play 14 seasons at that club, winning four league titles, one domestic cup, and four ''Campeón de Campeones'' (Guatemala
Super Cup
A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...
).
[Source: http://digital.nuestrodiario.com/Olive/ODE/NuestroDiario/LandingPage/LandingPage.aspx?href=R05ELzIwMDkvMDgvMTQ.&pageno=NTU.&entity=QXIwNTUwMA..&view=ZW50aXR5 ] In 1956 he helped Comunicaciones win their first ever league title by scoring the championship-winning goal against arch-rivals
CSD Municipal
Club Social y Deportivo Municipal, also known as Municipal or ''Los Rojos'' (the Reds), are a Guatemalan professional football club based in Guatemala City.
They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football, and play their h ...
. Two seasons later he would score again in the decisive match against
Xelajú M.C. at the
Estadio Mario Camposeco
The Estadio Mario Camposeco is a football stadium located in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. It is the home to Liga Nacional club Xelajú (''Los Chivos''). It has a capacity of 11,220.
Location
The Mario Camposeco stadium is located at 14th Avenue ...
in a 3-0 win that gave the title to Comunicaciones.
[Source: http://www.camerinocrema.com/portal/modules/wfchannel/index.php?wfc_cid=6 ]
On 18 January 1959 Comunicaciones played a friendly match against
Santos FC
Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...
, with
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
's legend
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
in its squad, at the
Estadio Mateo Flores
The Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores is a multi-use national stadium in Guatemala City, the largest venue in Guatemala. It was built in 1948, to host the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1950, and was renamed after long-distance run ...
. Santos took a 2-0 lead with goals by Pelé and
Pepe
Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish and Portuguese name José (Joseph). It is also a surname.
*
People Mononyms
*Pepe (footballer, born 1935), Brazilian footballer José Macia
*Pepe (footballer, born 1983), Brazilian-born Portuguese footballer ...
, and nine minutes before the match ended, "Pinula" scored the 2-1.
Facing Municipal again in the title match of the 1959-60 season, Comunicaciones won 2-1 with the 1-1 equalizer netted by "Pinula".
The title allowed Comunicaciones to compete in the first
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 ...
in 1962, with "Pinula" scoring against
C.D. Águila in the first round, and helping the team reach the final of the tournament against
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
.
He was also part of the Comunicaciones squad that played an exhibition match against
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
giants
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...
on 20 August 1960.
[http://www.carreteranews.com/ediciones_pdf/edicion63.pdf]
National team
"Pinula" was part of the
Guatemala national team which entered
World Cup qualification for the first time during the
1958 World Cup qualifiers, and continued to represent the team four years later for the
1962 process. During the first stage of the latter, in a 4-4 draw against
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 ...
, "Pinula" scored three goals
Source
/ref> becoming the only Guatemalan player to score a hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
against Costa Rica in a World Cup qualification match.1963 CONCACAF Championship
The 1963 CONCACAF Championship was the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Championship, the top continental football tournament organized by CONCACAF for senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament w ...
.
Coaching career
López Contreras has been a coach in the youth divisions of Comunicaciones, as well as of the senior team. He has also managed a number of teams in lower divisions, including Coatepeque, Nueva Santa Rosa, Santa Catarina Pinula, Mixco, Fraijanes, Villa Canales, and Boca del Monte.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Contreras, Pinula
1934 births
Living people
People from Guatemala Department
Guatemalan men's footballers
Guatemala men's international footballers
Comunicaciones F.C. players
Men's association football forwards
20th-century Guatemalan sportsmen