Edgar Nicolás Ramírez Ceceña (born February 16, 1974) is a Mexican former

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 ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He started his career playing for

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

in 1993–94.MedioTiempo
"Nicolás Ramírez - Atlas."
Retrieved January 16, 2013. By the Invierno 1996 season, Ramírez had become a starter in a championship-winning squad that also included Benjamín Galindo,

Jared Borgetti Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría (; born 14 August 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who currently works as a commentator for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico. Borgetti earned a reputation as a prolific goal scorer, particu ...

, and

Gabriel Caballero Gabriel Esteban Caballero Schiker (born 5 February 1971) is a professional football manager and former player. Born in Argentina, he played for the Mexico national team. Club career Caballero started playing in his native Argentina's Centra ...

. Though Ramírez retained his place in defensive midfield in the following seasons, Santos experienced declining results and he transferred to

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

in 1999. He eventually represented ten different clubs, playing his final match in the top division with Atlas in 2005. Ramírez also represented

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 ...

, making 19 international appearances. His first match came at the 1997 U.S. Cup against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on January 17, 1997, a 3–1 victory in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Although he appeared in several qualifying matches and played all six games at the 1997 Copa America, he was not called up for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. He will also be remembered for his

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

in a World Cup qualifier against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on April 20, 1997, in Foxboro, Massachusetts, a match that ended in a 2–2 draw. His last international match occurred in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on November 18, 1998, against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. He is the brother of the famous international player Ramón Ramírez.

Honours

Mexico *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

third place:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people Footballers from Tepic, Nayarit Mexico men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga MX players Club América footballers Club León footballers C.F. Pachuca players Club Puebla players Santos Laguna footballers Celaya F.C. footballers Atlas F.C. footballers Toros Neza footballers Atlético Morelia players Mexican men's footballers {{Mexico-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub