Oscar Enrique Sánchez
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Oscar Enrique Sánchez Rivas (born ?), popularly known as El Conejo (the rabbit) is a Guatemalan football coach and former inside forward, who played the majority of his career for the club CSD Comunicaciones, and represented the Guatemala national football team at the Olympic Games and in four FIFA World Cup qualification processes. He is the second highest goalscorer of all time in the Guatemalan league, and has been catalogued by journalists of the region as one of the best players in the history of the nation's football.[1] In a poll by the IFFHS, he was voted the best Guatemalan footballer of the 20th Century and among the best 20 in CONCACAF.[2]
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[edit] Club career
Sánchez' first top division club was Ases del Minar. In 1974, he debuted with Comunicaciones. In 12 years with Comunicaciones, Sánchez helped the team win five league titles and was the league's top goalscorer in 4 different seasons.[3] He holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season.
In 1977, Sánchez scored six goals in a 9-0 win for Comunicaciones against Antigua GFC, tying the league's all-time record set in 1961. He also scored five goals in two other occasions, one that same year against Tipografía Nacional and the other in 1985 against Xelajú MC.[4][5]
After his departure from Comunicaciones, Sánchez played for the clubs Municipal, Aurora FC, Galcasa, Tipografía Nacional, Cobán, Izabal JC and Deportivo Escuintla. He retired in 1992, after having scored 320 goals in all competitions.[3] From 1974 to 1992, he appeared in 609 league matches and scored 244 goals, what remained the league's all-time highest total until surpassed by Juan Carlos Plata in 2006. Sánchez ranks among the 150 highest top division goalscorers of all-time, according to the IFFHS.[6]
[edit] National team
Sánchez helped the Guatemala national football team qualify to the 1976 Olympic Games, and played two matches at the final tournament in Montreal, where Guatemala was eliminated in the first round group. He played in the FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns for the World Cups of 1978, 1982, 1986, and 1990. He scored seven goals in World Cup qualification matches.[3]
[edit] Coaching
After his retirement from playing, he became a coach, and managed the clubs Comunicaciones and Jalapa, among others, in the top division, and a number of clubs in lower divisions. He went on to coach the Guatemalan national team.
[edit] References
- ^ (Spanish) Castillo, Hugo. En la jugada: No olvidemos al Conejo. Prensa Libre. Retrieved on 2006-12-17. and (Spanish) Lopez, Roberto. Honores al conejo. Siglo Veintiuno. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
- ^ Stokkermans, Karel. IFFHS' Century Elections. RSSSF. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
- ^ a b c (Spanish) Barrios, Luis; Fleischmann, María. "Sánchez: 'Es un día especial en mi vida'". Prensa Libre, Guatemala. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
- ^ (Spanish) López, Roberto. "'Pando' Ramírez se quedó aun gol de igualar la marca". Diario La Hora, Guatemala. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
- ^ (Spanish) Guatemala, 100 años de Fútbol - 1979-1979. Prensa Libre, Guatemala. Retrieved on 2006-12-17.
- ^ Source: "The World's most successful Top Division Goal Scorers of all time" - iffhs.de - IFFHS.
