El Salvador national football team

El Salvador
	Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	La Selecta; Selección Cuscatleca; Cuscatlecos; La Azul;
Association	Federación Salvadoreña; de Fútbol
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Head coach	Carlos de los Cobos
Most caps	Luis Guevara Mora (89)
Top scorer	Jorge "Mágico" González (41)
Home stadium	Estadio Cuscatlán
FIFA code	SLV
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	135
Highest	50 (December 1992)
Lowest	169 (November 2006)
First international
	El Salvador 0 - 7 Costa Rica ; (Guatemala City, Guatemala; Sept 14, 1921)
Biggest win
	El Salvador 9 - 0 Nicaragua ; (El Salvador; May 1, 1929); El Salvador 10 - 1 Nicaragua ; (El Salvador; December 16, 1943)
Biggest defeat
	Hungary 10 - 1 El Salvador ; (Elche, Spain; June 15, 1982)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1970)
Best result	Round 1, 1970 and 1982
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances	5 (first in 1996)
Best result	Quarterfinals, 2002 and 2003

The El Salvador national football team is the national team of El Salvador and is controlled by the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol. ^[1] The team have qualified twice to the FIFA World Cup Finals; firstly in the 1970 and then in 1982. ^[2] ^[3]

History

The beginning of the national team

Although El Salvador played a few games in the early part of the 20th Century, it is seen by many, that it did not become a fully committed national team until 1921. This year is seen by many as being the starting point, to what we now know as "La Selecta". It was this year that many fans began to pay attention to the national football team, and many stars began to shine throught the side, players such as Pablo Huezo, Carlos Escobar Leiva and Santiago Barrachina.

El Salvador's first tournament

In September of 1921, Guatemala organised a football tournament comprising itself, Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador. The tournament was organised in order to celebrate 100 years of Central American independance, and was played in a round-robin format, with Guatemala playing Honduras and El Salvador playing Costa Rica.

Sadly, El Salvador lost their game 3-0 to Costa Rica who would then go on to defeat Guatemala in the final. Despite the loss, this tournament is seen as the starting point for the El Salvador national team.

First win ever

Since the tournament in Guatemala in 1921, El Salvador had only played 2 other international matches, both against Honduras. El Salvador had lost the first encounter 1-0 and drawn the second 0-0.

Three games without a win came to an end on December 7th 1928, when El Salvador recorded its first ever win. A 5-0 thumping of what would later become their traditional rivals, Honduras. The game was played on on a field called Marte de San Salvador. Not only was this El Salvador's first ever win, but also the first time they had scored in an international friendly. It was also a day that few will forget, as it saw Gustavo "Taviche" Marroquin become the first ever player to score 5 goals in one game for the national team.

1970 FIFA World Cup

In the 1970 tournament, El Salvador lost their first game 3-0 to Belgium in Mexico City on June 3. ^[4] On June 7, the team played its second match against the host nation. It proved to be a controversial affair: with the score still at 0-0, the Egyptian referee Hussain Kandil awarded a free-kick to the Salvadorans in their own half. It was immediately taken by Mexico, who scored a couple of seconds later. The Salvadoran players protested vigorously, to the extent of physically jostling Bermudan linesman Keith Dunstan, but the goal was allowed to stand. ^[5] El Salvador were demoralised as a result, and Mexico subsequently won the game 4-0 with ease in Mexico City. ^[6] On June 10, El Salvador lost their final match in the tournament 2-0 to the USSR in Mexico City, to finish bottom of Group A. ^[7]

1982 FIFA World Cup

In 1982, El Salvador took a 20-man squad (two players short of the normal 22, for reasons that remain unclear), coached by Mauricio "Pipo" Rodríguez, to Spain. However, the team's experience was an unhappy one. In their first match on June 15, in Elche, they were defeated 10-1 by Hungary, a scoreline that stands as a World Cup record to this day. ^[8] One crumb of comfort was that Luis Baltazar Ramírez Zapata did score the country's first ever World Cup goal during the game, albeit at a point when the Salvadorans were already down 5-0. ^[9]

El Salvador managed to regain some pride in their subsequent games: displaying much-improved levels of organisation and commitment, they lost 1-0 to Belgium on June 19 in Elche and 2-0 to the then reigning world champions Argentina in Alicante on June 23. ^[10] ^[11]

Tournament records

World Cup Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1934	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1938	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-
1950	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1954	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1958	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1962	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Round 1	3	0	0	3	0	9
1974	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Round 1	3	0	0	3	1	13
1986	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-

CONCACAF Gold Cup Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1991	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1993	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	First Round	2	1	0	1	3	4
1998	First Round	3	0	1	2	0	6
2000	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Quarter-Finals	3	1	0	2	1	5
2003	Quarter-Finals	3	1	0	2	7	3
2005	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2007	First Round	3	1	0	2	2	6

CONCACAF Championships Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1963	Second Place	7	3	3	1	17	7
1965	Fourth Place	5	2	1	2	7	9
1967	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1969	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1971	Withdrew**	-	-	-	-	-	-
1973	First Round*	2	0	0	2	0	2
1977	Third Place*	11	4	4	3	18	16
1981	Second Place*	13	7	4	2	14	5
1985	Second Round*	6	4	1	1	15	2
1989	Fifth Place*	8	2	2	4	8	9

*Results include games played in qualifiers

**El Salvador withdrew from the tournament, as a result of the infamous Football War with Honduras

UNCAF Nations Cup Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1991	Fourth Place	3	0	1	2	2	9
1993	Fourth Place	3	0	1	2	1	5
1995	Third Place	4	2	0	2	5	5
1997	Third Place	5	3	1	1	5	5
1999	Fourth Place	5	1	1	3	3	9
2001	Third Place	6	2	4	0	8	4
2003	Third Place	5	3	0	2	6	4
2005	Group Stage	2	0	0	2	1	3
2007	Fourth Place	5	2	1	2	6	2

CCCF Championship Record

1941 - Second Place
1943 - Champions
1946 - Fourth Place
1948 - Fifth Place
1951 - Did not enter
1953 - Fifth Place
1955 - Fourth Place
1957 - Did not enter
1960 - Withdrew
1961 - Second place

Pan American Games record

1951 - Did not enter
1955 - Did not enter
1959 - Did not enter
1963 - Did not enter
1967 - Did not enter
1971 - Did not enter
1975 - Round 1
1979 - Did not enter
1983 - Did not enter
1987 - Round 1
1991 - Did not enter
1995 - Did not enter
1999 - Did not enter
2003 - Did not enter
2007 - Did not enter

Olympic Games Record

1896 to 1964 - Did not enter
1968 - Round 1
1927 to 1996 - Did not qualify

Other Major Honours

Central American and Caribbean Games Gold Medal: 1954, 2002
Central American Games Gold Medal: 1977

Top Ten Goalscorers

#	Name	Career	Goals
1	Jorge "Mágico" González	1976-1998	41
2	Raúl Díaz Arce	1991-2000	39
3	José María Rivas	1979-1989	39
4	Norberto Huezo Montoya	1973-1987	29
5	Luis Baltazar Ramírez Zapata	1971-1989	27
6	Juan Francisco Barraza	1953-1969	23
7	Miguel "Americano" Cruz	1935-1943	21
8	Rafael "Bazooka" Corado	1943-1955	17
9	Ever Hernández	1976-1985	16
10	Juan Ramón Martínez	1967-1976	16

Current squad

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1GK	Juan Jose Gomez	11 August 1980	Firpo
1GK	Dennis Salinas¹	23 July 1986	C.D. FAS
2DF	Alexander Escobar	4 April 1984	AD Isidro Metapán
2DF	Luis Alonso Anaya	19 May 1981	Chalatenango
2DF	Alfredo Alberto Pacheco	1 December 1982	C.D. FAS
2DF	Manuel Alejandro Salazar Rivas	23 January 1983	Firpo
2DF	Ramiro Carballo	16 March 1978	Alianza
2DF	José Mardoqueo Henríquez	24 May 1987	C.D. FAS
2DF	Jorge Elenilson Sánchez Garay	14 March 1978	Firpo
3MF	José Eduardo Campos¹	30 May 1989	Firpo
3MF	Dennis Jonathan Alas	10 January 1985	Real Maryland F.C.
3MF	Victor Hugo Merino Dubon	18 August 1979	C.D. FAS
3MF	Eliseo Quintanilla	5 February 1983	LD Alajuelense
3MF	Ramón Alfredo Sánchez	25 May 1982	Chalatenango
3MF	Francisco José Medrano¹	14 July 1983	Firpo
4FW	Ronald Cerritos	3 January 1975	Real Maryland F.C.
4FW	Carlos Enrique Calderon¹	18 January 1986	Firpo
4FW	Julio Enrique Martínez	8 July 1985	AD Isidro Metapán

¹ Players that have recently been called up to the Salvadoran squad

Other Recent call-ups

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
3MF	José Manfredi Portillo	15 July 1985	Vista Hermosa
3MF	Josue Odir Flores	13 May 1988	C.D. FAS
2DF	Leonel Arístides Guevara	10 October 1983	Vista Hermosa
3MF	Mark Lester Blanco		Nejapa F.C.

Injury List

National team players that are currently not selected as a result of injury

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	4FW	Jose Orlando Martinez	30 September 1979			Chalatenango
	3MF	Carlos Menjivar	13 April 1981			Free agent

Notable Absentees

List of players who where once regulars for national side, but have recently been omitted.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
2DF	Victor Manuel Velasquez	12 April 1976	Alianza
2DF	Juan Carlos Moscoso	6 May 1982	C.D. FAS
2DF	José Rolando Torres Mendonza	21 December 1982	Águila
2DF	William Antonio Torres	30 May 1981	San Salvador
3MF	Gilberto Alfredo Murgas	22 February 1981	Chalatenango
3MF	Ronald Pimentel	17 April 1985	Chalatenango
4FW	Alex Amílcar Erazo	28 July 1980	Águila
4FW	Juan Alexander Campos Hernandez	8 May 1980	Águila
4FW	Hector Anibal Avalos Tobar	9 April 1978	Once Municipal
4FW	Juan Diaz Rodriguez	11 November 1985	San Salvador

Personnel

Current Staff

Head Coach	Carlos De Los Cobos
Assistant Coach	Jaime Rodríguez
2nd Assistant Coach	Mauricio Alberto Alfaro
GK Coach	Romeo Ulises Lozano
Physical Coordinator	Alvaro Briones
Medical Trainer	Francisco Amaya Cruz
Massage Therapist	José Luis Rodríguez
Trainer	Rodrigo Antonio

Famous Players

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000's to date

Selected Famous Managers

Name	Period	country
Marck Scott Thompson	1930-1935
Pablo Ferre Elias	1935-1938
Maximo Garay	1940-1941
Amaricano Gonzalez	1943-1948
Orlandini	1949-1951
Marcelo Estrada	1953
Carbilio Tomasino	1954-1959	*
Milo Guardado	1959-1960
Gregorio Bundio	1960-1961
Conrado Miranda	1961
Luis Comitante	1962-1963
Hernán Carrasco Vivanco	1965-1967
Rigoberto Guzman	1968
Gregorio Bundio	1968-1970
Hernán Carrasco Vivanco	1970
Conrado Miranda	1971
Hector D'Angelo	1972
Jorge Tupinamba	1973
Mauricio "Pipo" Rodríguez	1973-1974
Conrado Miranda	1975
Marcelo Estrada	1975-1976
Raúl Magaña	1976
Aurelio Pinto Beltrao	1976
Ricardo Facio Porta	1977
Julio Contreras Cardona	1977
Ricardo Tomasino	1977
Raúl Magaña	1979
Mauricio "Pipo" Rodríguez	1979-1982
Armando Contreras Palma	1983
Raúl Magaña	1984
Juan Quarterone	1984-85
Paulo Roberto Cabrera	1986
Raúl Magaña	1987
Milovan Djoric	1988
Miroslav Vukasinovic	1988-89
Conrado Miranda	1988
Kiril Dojcinovski	1989
Oscar Emigdio Benitez	1991
Jorge Aude	1991-1992
Aníbal Ruiz	1992
Jorge Vieira	1993-1994
José Omar Pastoriza	1995-1996
Armando Contreras Palma	1996-1997
Milovan Djoric	1997-1998
Kiril Dojcinovski	1998
Marinho Peres	1998
Oscar Emigdio Benitez	1999-2000
Carlos Recinos	2001-02
Carlos Recinos	2003
Juan Ramon Paredes	2004	*
Armando Contreras Palma	2004
Carlos Cavagnaro	2005
Carlos De Los Cobos	2006-

Schedule and Recent Results

Last Five Match Results

Category	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Date	Venue	Scorers
Friendly	Ecuador	5-1	El Salvador	September 8, 2007	Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador	El Salvador: Quintanilla 36' Ecuador: Lara 13', Benítez 25' & 49', Caicedo 45', Urrutia 53' (pen)
Friendly	El Salvador	2-2	Costa Rica	October 13, 2007	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	El Salvador: Quintanilla 60', Martin 87' Costa Rica: Núñez 25', Castro 37'
Friendly	El Salvador	0-0	Trinidad and Tobago	October 17, 2007	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
Friendly	Belize	0-1	El Salvador	January 22, 2008	Norman Broaster Stadium, San Ignacio, Belize	El Salvador: Alfredo Pacheco 21'
Friendly	Haiti	0-0	El Salvador	January 26, 2008	Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Upcoming Games

Date	Location	Opponent	Competition
26 January	Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti	Haiti	Friendly
29 January	Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti	Haiti	Friendly
6 February	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	Anguilla	WCQ
26 March	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Anguilla	WCQ

Trivia

First Central American team to qualify for a FIFA World Cup (1970) and first Central American team to qualify twice (1982).

El Salvador was the first Central American team to defeat Mexico at Estadio Azteca

For the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Mexico did not qualify because they were eliminated by El Salvador in the qualifying hexagonal tournament. ^[12]

Notes and references

^ FIFA.com Association page at FIFA.com. Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ 1970 FIFA World Cup History Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ 1982 FIFA World Cup History Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ FIFA Match Report for Belgium-El Salvador on June 3, 1970 Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ Number 4 in the top dodgiest goals of the World Cup History Gürkan topsun olm Accessed 20 September 2007
^ FIFA Match Report for Mexico-El Salvador on June 7, 1970 Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ FIFA Match Report for Soviet Union-El Salvador on June 10, 1970 Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ Did You Know? table Stating that Hungary broke the record for most lopsided victory against El Salvador. Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ FIFA Match Report for Hungary-El Salvador on June 15, 1982 Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ FIFA Match Report for Belgium-El Salvador on June 19, 1982 Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ FIFA Match Report for Argentina-El Salvador on June 23, 1982 Accessed 12 April 2006.
^ 1982 FIFA World Cup Preliminary History Overview which mentions that Mexico was eliminated by El Salvador and Honduras during the final qualifying stage. Accessed 21 July 2006.

External links

Preceded by 1941 Costa Rica	CCCF Champions 1943 (First title)	Succeeded by 1946 Costa Rica
Preceded by 1950 Curaçao	Central American and Caribbean Games Champions 1954 (Second title)	Succeeded by 1959 Mexico
Preceded by 1998 Venezuela	Central American and Caribbean Games Champions 2002 (Third title)	Succeeded by 2006 Colombia

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