Oswaldo Javier Sánchez Ibarra (; born 21 September 1973) is a Mexican former professional

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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

and a sports analyst for

TUDN TUDN (pronounced tu-de-ene; formerly called Univision Deportes Network) is a Mexican Spanish language sports channel. Owned by TelevisaUnivision, it is an extension of the company's sports division of the same name, with TUDN the acronym of Tel ...

. He is highly regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Mexican footballing history. At the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

, despite finishing in fourth place, Sánchez won the Golden Glove.

Club career

Early career

Oswaldo Sánchez debuted as a substitute when the starting keeper was injured with

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

at the age of 20 on October 30, 1993, against

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

where the teams tied the game at 1–1. Two years after his debut, he was a starter on the team and led

to the Quarterfinals where they were eliminated by C.D. Veracruz. In the summer of 1996, Sánchez was transferred to

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

. The following season, Sánchez was benched and replaced as goalkeeper by Hugo Pineda. Sánchez played three out of 19 games, including the quarterfinals where América was eliminated by Monarcas Morelia. The following season, Sánchez went back into the starting line-up and led América. In the summer of 1999, Sánchez left América for rival Chivas de Guadalajara.

Guadalajara

At Guadalajara, Sánchez became the team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Sánchez became a key player to Chivas along with other players. This was during the time when Guadalajara were at their best. Sánchez's extraordinary goalkeeping skills and leadership helped Guadalajara reach the finals of the Clausura 2004 season, but Chivas ultimately lost to UNAM via penalty-shootout. Eventually, Sánchez captured his long-awaited league title with Guadalajara during the Apertura 2006 season. After his 2006 championship with Chivas, Sanchez left the club after not being able to reach an agreement on his contract. He decided that the club directors did not want him there anymore and chose to play with Santos Laguna over

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

. Sánchez scored a goal in the 2000

Copa Merconorte The Copa Merconorte () was an international football competition organized by CONMEBOL from 1998 to 2001 by clubs from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela and starting in 2000 clubs from the CONCACAF confederation were invited includin ...

match against Club Deportivo El Nacional of Ecuador, a header from a set piece in injury time to make the final score 3-3.

Santos Laguna

In 2007, he signed a contract onto Santos Laguna and he has played against his ex-team and ex-team members Chivas de Guadalajara in a 3–2 loss. In the first season with Santos, Sanchez along with his teammates saved the team from relegation. He led them to the Quarterfinals of the Clausura 2007 tournament after coming back from an injury earlier that season. He also led his team to 2nd place in both the Apertura and the Clausura in 2010. Sánchez led the team to win the Clausura 2008 championship and Clausura 2012. After 21 years, Sánchez retired after the Apertura 2014 season winning the

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

in his final season.

International career

Sánchez was called up by Juan de Dios Castillo to participate at the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made his debut for the senior national team in 1996, against Bolivia. He has been part of three

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s, in France 1998, 2002 and 2006. Coach Ricardo La Volpe called up Sánchez once again on April 2, 2006, to be the starting goalkeeper for Mexico in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

in Germany. During preparation for the 2006 World Cup, Sánchez' father died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on June 7, age 56. Sánchez flew home to Guadalajara, but he returned to Germany in time for the team's first game against Iran, which they won by a score of 3–1. In 2007, he was called up by coach

Hugo Sánchez Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who played as a Forward (association football), forward. A prolific goalscorer known for ...

to play in the Gold Cup and 2007 Copa América. Sánchez was selected to represent Mexico in friendlies against Ghana national team and China national team, his first callup since the 2007 Copa América. Sanchez is known in some circles for his blatant cheap shot on the USMNT's Eddie Johnson after giving up the goal that sealed Mexico's loss. Like a child throwing a tantrum, Sanchez slid into Johnson's ankle after Landon Donovan dribbled around Sanchez and scored in extra time to seal a 2-0 win for the USMNT. Sánchez was not called up to the World Cup 2010 and did not play a single match for the Mexico national team in 2010. He played his 99th and last international match for Mexico on October 11, 2011, in a 2–1 loss to

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 ...

. He was substituted by Alfredo Talavera in the 88th minute, marking his official national football retirement.

Personal life

Sánchez appeared on the front cover of the North American edition of the '' FIFA Football 2005'' video game alongside

Fernando Morientes Fernando Morientes Sánchez (; born 5 April 1976) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He played for a number of clubs during his career, including Real Madri ...

and

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest Striker (association football), strik ...

. In 2016, Santos Laguna erected a statue of Sánchez.

Honours

América * Selectivo Pre Pre-Libertadores: 1999 * Pre-Libertadores Tournament: 1998, 1999 Guadalajara *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

: Apertura 2006 * InterLiga:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Santos Laguna *

: Clausura 2008, Clausura 2012 *

: Apertura 2014 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 ...

runner-up:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

; third place:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

* Pan American Games Silver Medal:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

* CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament:

Individual *

Golden Glove: 1995–96, 2000 Invierno, 2002 Apertura,

– 04,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

– 05, 2005 Apertura *

Golden Ball:

– 04, 2005 Apertura *

Golden Glove:

Best XI:

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

Golden Glove:

* South American Player of the Year Nomination: 2006 *

CONCACAF Champions League 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, ...

Golden Glove: 2012–2013 Records *Goalkeeper with most penalty shots saved in the

: 25

References

External links

* * * * *
Oswaldo Sánchez at FootballDatabase.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Oswaldo 1973 births Living people Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Atlas F.C. footballers C.D. Guadalajara footballers Club América footballers Santos Laguna footballers Liga MX players Olympic footballers for Mexico Mexico men's under-20 international footballers Mexico men's international footballers 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Pan American Games silver medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games