Álex Aguinaga

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Álex Darío Aguinaga Garzón (born June 7, 1969 in Ibarra, Ecuador) is a famous Ecuadorian former soccer midfielder. He is one of the all-time cap leaders for the Ecuador with 109 matches, scoring 23 goals. He is considered one of the best Ecuadorian players of all time, if not the best. Renowned international sports journalists call him "El Maestro" ("The Master").

Álex Aguinaga is the greatest player to ever wear the "Rayos" jersey. He is a symbol of one of the greatest soccer franchises in Mexico during the 90's. Alex, born and raised in Ecuador came to Mexico in 1991 to play in Mexico City with the least popular team of the capital. As soon as he wore the white and red jersey for the first time, all Necaxa fans knew this was a relationship to stay. From there on Alex became the symbol of the team, leading them to 3 championships in the 90's and crowning himself as one of the greatest imported players in Mexico of all time.

Alex was approached by many European Clubs like Inter Milan and one of the most popular soccer teams in the planet Real Madrid. But Alex was the soul of Los Rayados del Necaxa and the executives in the club said that Necaxa can lose it all except for Alex; The player was "NOT FOR SALE" they didn't care how much money the offer was for Álex Aguinaga.

On the club level, Aguinaga has played for Sociedad Deportivo Quito, Club Atlético Guayaquil, Necaxa (where he was known as "El Güero" [The blond one] and where he obtained several championships), and Liga Deportiva Universitaria, where he obtained the 2005 "Torneo Apertura" (opening tournament) championship.

Aguinaga has been a central figure in Ecuador's national team since his first appearance in the late 1980s. During the '90s, he became a national hero and a very well known player after publicly embarrassing Ronaldo by scoring a goal through his legs. He is also recognized as the best player in the Ecuador squad. Aguinaga was also named "Player of the Decade" of the Mexican League for the 1990s.

In a game against Chile, Aguinaga scored one of the most beautiful goals in the national squad's history. He was inside the penalty area facing back against the goal, and in an almost impossible and acrobatic move, he made a bicycle kick and put the ball into the net. This assured his reputation as not just a cerebral type of midfielder, but also an able goalscorer.

Thanks to a perfect pass executed by Aguinaga, Iván Kaviedes (forward) scored with a header, thus taking Ecuador to their first World Cup (Korea-Japan 2002). Aguinaga was part of the squad during that World Cup; in which Ecuador lost to Italy (0-2) and Mexico (1-2), but managed to beat Croatia 1-0. He was injured in both the games that Ecuador lost in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Aguinaga retired from the national team after the 2002 World Cup. He announced his retirement from professional football after completing the 2005 "Torneo Clausura" (closing tournament) with Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito.

He is currently living in Quito, Ecuador. After the end of the contract with Liga, he will return to Mexico City, Mexico, where he is established with his wife and children since the time he played in Necaxa.

	Ecuador squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Cevallos | 2 Porozo | 3 Hurtado | 4 de la Cruz | 5 Obregón | 6 Guerrón | 7 Asencio | 8 L. Gómez | 9 Kaviedes | 10 Aguinaga | 11 Delgado | 12 Ibarra | 13 Fernández | 14 Burbano | 15 M. Ayoví | 16 Chalá | 17 Espinoza | 18 C. Tenorio | 19 Méndez | 20 E. Tenorio | 21 Sánchez | 22 Viteri | 23 W. Ayoví | Coach: H. Gómez