Víctor Amaury Núñez Rodríguez (born 15 April 1980) is a retired 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for multiple clubs, including C.S. Herediano,

L.D. Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

, and

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 ...

. He currently serves as assistant coach at C.S. Herediano. He has the all-time record for the number of goals in

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 ...

's first division. Born in the Dominican Republic, Núñez moved to Costa Rica at age 9. He was naturalised there on 31 January 2003, and subsequently opted to play internationally for the Costa Rica national team.

Club career

Nuñez began his career in the minor league system of

where he played his first seasons. He made his professional debut in a league match against Goicoechea on 16 December 1999. Nuñez scored his first goal on 12 October 2000 against

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Al ...

while playing on loan for Limonense. He has led the league in goal-scoring four times (Invierno 2007, Invierno 2008, Invierno 2009 and Verano 2013) and became the top active league goalscorer in March 2009 while becoming the second player to score more than 200 league goals in November 2013. He simultaneously amassed a total of 217 goals in all games, only 30 short of Costa Rican recordholder Juan Ulloa. His nickname, ''El Mambo'', references the traditional rhythm of his home country (

mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

). He never fully earned trust at Saprissa so he was loaned again once he went back to them. After a few bad disappointing seasons with Saprissa but with a high recognition in the country, he was signed by Saprissa's archrival

. He did not have a lot of options during his first year, so he was, again, loaned to Cartaginés and after an amazing campaign he returned to

and finally became an important piece of the team. In July 2010, he joined Herediano from Águilas Guanacastecas. After four years with Herediano, Núñez moved abroad to play for Honduran side

Real España Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, rath ...

. He is a strong and decisive player who has a great ability to dribble rivals and has score amazing goals, he is usually very accurate on his shots. On 23 June 2018, he was signed by Cibao FC in his natal country, Dominican Republic, where he will not occupy a place of foreigners.

International career

Núñez made his debut for

in a February 2006

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

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 ...

and has, as of May 2014, earned a total of 28 caps, scoring 6 goals. He represented his country in 7

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 was part of the Costa Rica squad for

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 ...

held in Germany, making him the first Dominican Republic-born athlete to compete in a

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 ...

.. He also played at the

2009 UNCAF Nations Cup The UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 was the tenth edition of the UNCAF Nations Cup, the biennial football (soccer) tournament for the CONCACAF-affiliated national teams of Central America. The first five places qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The ...

and

2011 Copa Centroamericana The 2011 Copa Centroamericana () was the eleventh edition of Copa Centroamericana (formerly known as the UNCAF Nations Cup), an international association football, football championship for national teams affiliated with the Central American Footb ...

Copa Centroamericana 2011 (UNCAF Nations Cup)
- RSSSF

Career statistics

International goals

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

References

External links

*

- Nación * Goal record

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nunez, Victor 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Santo Domingo Dominican Republic emigrants Immigrants to Costa Rica Naturalized citizens of Costa Rica Men's association football forwards Dominican Republic men's footballers Costa Rican men's footballers 21st-century Costa Rican sportsmen Costa Rica men's international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players Liga FPD players Deportivo Saprissa players Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers C.S. Cartaginés players A.D. Municipal Liberia footballers C.S. Herediano footballers Real C.D. España players Liga Dominicana de Fútbol players Cibao FC players Dominican Republic expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Honduras Costa Rican people of Dominican Republic descent CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen