El Salvador national football team

El Salvador

Nickname(s)	La Selecta La Azul La Selección Cuscatleca Los Cuscatlecos
Association	Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol (FESFUT)
Confederation	CONCACAF
Head coach	José Luis Rugamas (Interim Manager)
Captain	Ramón Sánchez
Most caps	Luis Guevara Mora (89)
Top scorer	Jorge "Mágico" González (41)
Home stadium	Estadio Cuscatlán
FIFA code	SLV
FIFA ranking	86
Highest FIFA ranking	50 (December 1992)
Lowest FIFA ranking	169 (November 2006)
Elo ranking	89
Home colours Away colours
First international
El Salvador 0–7 Costa Rica (Guatemala City, Guatemala; Sept 14, 1921)
Biggest win
El Salvador 12–0 Anguilla (San Salvador, El Salvador; February 6, 2008)
Biggest defeat
Hungary 10–1 El Salvador (Elche, Spain; June 15, 1982)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 1970)
Best result	Round 1: 1970, 1982
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Appearances	6 (First in 1996)
Best result	Quarterfinals: 2002, 2003

The El Salvador national football team represents El Salvador in international association football and is controlled by the El Salvador Football Federation.^[1] El Salvador became the first Central American team to qualify to a FIFA World Cup, and also the first to do so twice, by qualifying in 1970 and 1982. El Salvador won the 1943 CCCF Championship as host, and finished second in the 1963 and 1981 CONCACAF Championships.

In the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification, El Salvador was involved in the notable Football War with neighbor Honduras which lasted four days. El Salvador went on to eliminate Honduras and eventually qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

History

The beginning of the national team

Although El Salvador played a few games in the early part of the 20th Century, it did not become a fully committed national team until 1921. This year is seen by many as being the starting point of what is now known as "La Selecta". In September 1921, Guatemala organised a football tournament comprising of itself, Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador. The tournament was organized in order to celebrate 100 years of Central American independence, and was played in a round-robin format, with Guatemala playing Honduras and El Salvador playing Costa Rica.

El Salvador lost their game 7-0 to eventual winners Costa Rica. Despite the loss, this tournament is seen as the starting point for the El Salvador national team.

Best 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 7, 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. ^[2] 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. ^[3] El Salvador were demoralised as a result, and Mexico subsequently won the game 4-0 with ease in Mexico City. ^[4] 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. ^[5]

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. ^[6] 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. ^[7]

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. ^{[8] [9]}

Decline of 2004 to 2006

From April 2004 to November 2006 El Salvador amassed a record of no wins, two draws, and 10 losses.^[1] As a consequence, the team fell in the FIFA World Rankings from 81st in March 2003 to 167th in October 2006.

2010 Suspension of the Salvadoran Football Association

On 11 May 2010, The FIFA Emergency Committee suspended the Salvadoran Football Association (FESFUT) on account of government interference. This decision by FIFA was based on the fact that the statutes ratified by the FESFUT general assembly in August 2009 had not been formally entered in the country’s official register, and that the government had failed to acknowledge the authority of the Normalisation Committee set up to represent FESFUT.

Consequently, FIFA considered that it was not possible for FESFUT to organise the elective general assembly in line with the action plan that had been drawn up and suspended FESFUT. For the suspension to be lifted, Salvadoran authorities needed to recognize the legitimacy of the Normalisation Committee.

On May 28, the suspension was lifted. By FIFA lifting the suspension, El Salvador was allow to participate in international tournaments for both club and national levels. El Salvador's under 21 team qualified for the CAC tournament in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, however, CONCACAF made a decision to suspend football at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games shortly after. Metapan and FAS participated in the CONCACAF Champions League. The Salvadoran referees selected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup were able to participate in the world cup. El Salvador will also be able to participate in the qualifying stages for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Under-23 Olympics .

Competitive record

World Cup record Year Round GP W D L GF GA 1930 to 1934 Did not enter 1938 Withdrew 1950 to 1966 Did not qualify 1970 Round 1 3 0 0 3 0 9 1974 to 1978 Did not qualify 1982 Round 1 3 0 0 3 1 13 1986 to 2010 Did not qualify Total 2/19 6 0 0 6 1 22

CONCACAF Championships record Year Round GP W D L GS GA 1963 Runner-Up 7 3 3 1 17 7 1965 Fourth Place 5 2 1 2 7 9 1967 to 1969 Did not enter 1971 Withdrew 1973 Did not qualify 1977 Third Place 5 2 1 2 8 9 1981 Runner-Up 5 2 2 1 2 1 1985 Round 1 4 2 1 1 7 2 1989 Fifth Place 6 0 2 4 2 8 1991 to 1993 Did not qualify 1996 Round 1 2 1 0 1 3 4 1998 Round 1 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 Round 1 3 1 0 2 2 6 2009 Round 1 3 1 0 2 2 3 Total 12/20 49 16 11 22 58 63

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 4 5 2009 Fourth Place 5 1 1 3 5 6 Total 10/10 43 14 10 19 40 55 Pan American Games record 1951 to 1971 - Did not enter 1975 - Round 1 1979 to 1983 - Did not enter 1987 - Round 1 1991 to 2007 - Did not enter

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 Olympic Games record 1896 to 1964 - Did not enter 1968 - Round 1 1972 to 1996 - Did not qualify 2000 - Did not enter 2004 to 2008 - Did not qualify Central American and Caribbean Games 1954 - Gold Medal 2002 - Gold Medal

Kit

El Salvador and Mitre had announced a new partnership that will see them supply the Central America national football team with home and away kits, training, and bench wear until August 2010. Mitre, and their Panamanian partner, The Harari Group, have designed the kit that El Salvador will use. The kit was showcased by the team on Wednesday, February 11th as they started their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against Trinidad & Tobago in the CONCACAF (Central-American Football Union) Hexagonal Cup. The contract was renewed on August of this year.

Players

Current squad

The following 20 man squad was named for the friendly matches against Honduras on September 4, 2010 and Guatemala on September 7, 2010. In addition, Alan Rovira and Efrain Burgos Jr. were invited by coach Rugamas for the friendlies. Caps and goals correct as of September 7, 2010.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Dagoberto Portillo November 16, 1979 (1979-11-16) (age 31) 3 0 Once Municipal 18 GK Benji Villalobos July 15, 1988 (1988-07-15) (age 22) 1 0 Águila 3 DF Marvin González April 17, 1982 (1982-04-17) (age 28) 70 1 Águila 15 DF Manuel Salazar January 23, 1986 (1986-01-23) (age 25) 48 0 FAS 13 DF Deris Umanzor January 7, 1980 (1980-01-07) (age 31) 35 1 Chicago Fire 4 DF Mardoqueo Henríquez May 24, 1987 (1987-05-24) (age 23) 22 0 FAS 2 DF Víctor Turcios April 13, 1988 (1988-04-13) (age 22) 8 0 Luis Ángel Firpo 19 DF Reynaldo Hernández November 11, 1984 (1984-11-11) (age 26) 1 0 Vista Hermosa 7 MF Ramón Sánchez (captain) May 25, 1982 (1982-05-25) (age 28) 61 2 Águila 14 MF Dennis Alas January 10, 1985 (1985-01-10) (age 26) 48 2 Luis Ángel Firpo 10 MF Eliseo Quintanilla February 5, 1983 (1983-02-05) (age 28) 47 13 Luis Ángel Firpo 8 MF Osael Romero April 18, 1986 (1986-04-18) (age 24) 41 8 Chivas USA 12 MF Cristian Castillo July 27, 1984 (1984-07-27) (age 26) 35 3 Alianza 5 MF Shawn Martin February 15, 1987 (1987-02-15) (age 23) 26 4 Águila 6 MF Julio Martínez July 8, 1985 (1985-07-08) (age 25) 12 2 Alianza 21 MF Juan Moscoso May 6, 1982 (1982-05-06) (age 28) 9 1 FAS 16 MF Arturo Alvarez 1 June 28, 1985 (1985-06-28) (age 25) 8 0 San Jose Earthquakes 17 MF Alan Rovira February 10, 1992 (1992-02-10) (age 19) 0 0 LA Galaxy Youth Academy 23 MF Efrain Burgos, Jr. August 14, 1988 (1988-08-14) (age 22) 0 0 Cal Poly Mustangs 9 FW Rudis Corrales November 6, 1979 (1979-11-06) (age 31) 71 16 Águila 11 FW Rodolfo Zelaya July 3, 1988 (1988-07-03) (age 22) 24 6 Alianza 20 FW Andrés Flores August 31, 1990 (1990-08-31) (age 20) 4 0 Isidro Metapan

¹ unavailable for the game against Honduras

Recent Callups

The following players have been called up to the El Salvador squad in the past 12 months.

Name	DOB (Age)	Club	Caps	Goals	Most Recent Call up
Goalkeepers
Miguel Montes	February 12, 1980 (1980-02-12) (age 31)	Águila	36	0	v.  Guatemala; March 3, 2010
Javier Gómez	August 4, 1987 (1987-08-04) (age 23)	Atlético Marte	0	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Defenders
Ramón Flores	August 21, 1982 (1982-08-21) (age 28)	Once Municipal	14	0	v.  United States; February 24, 2010
Alfredo Pacheco	December 1, 1982 (1982-12-01) (age 28)	Águila	72	6	v.  Guatemala; March 3, 2010
Alexander Escobar	April 4, 1984 (1984-04-04) (age 26)	Isidro Metapán	34	0	v. DC United Preliminary squad; May 28, 2010
Luis Hernández	February 9, 1985 (1985-02-09) (age 26)	Águila	20	0	v. DC United Preliminary squad; May 28, 2010
Henry Escobar	May 25, 1990 (1990-05-25) (age 20)	Luis Ángel Firpo	0	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Moises García	June 26, 1990 (1990-06-26) (age 20)	Luis Ángel Firpo	0	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Milton Molina	February 2, 1989 (1989-02-02) (age 22)	Isidro Metapán	0	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Midfielders
Salvador Coreas	September 29, 1984 (1984-09-29) (age 26)	Municipal Limeño	35	0	v.  Mexico; October 10, 2009
Edgar Alvarez	September 14, 1986 (1986-09-14) (age 24)	San Jacinto College	0	0	v.  Guatemala; March 3, 2010
Carlos Monteagudo	April 29, 1985 (1985-04-29) (age 25)	Luis Ángel Firpo	9	1	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Jaime Alas	July 30, 1989 (1989-07-30) (age 21)	Luis Ángel Firpo	0	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Diego Chavarría	February 28, 1990 (1990-02-28) (age 20)	Once Municipal	0	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Josué Flores	May 13, 1988 (1988-05-13) (age 22)	Isidro Metapán	2	0	v.  Honduras; September 4, 2010 (replaced due to injury)
Forwards
Williams Reyes	October 30, 1976 (1976-10-30) (age 34)	FAS	18	0	v.  Honduras; October 14, 2009
Isidro Gutiérrez	October 21, 1989 (1989-10-21) (age 21)	Municipal Limeño	0	0	v. DC United Preliminary squad; May 28, 2010
Moisés Hernández	April 23, 1985 (1985-04-23) (age 25)	Vista Hermosa	0	0	v. DC United Preliminary squad; May 28, 2010
Léster Blanco	January 17, 1989 (1989-01-17) (age 22)	Isidro Metapán	2	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010
Danny Torres	November 7, 1987 (1987-11-07) (age 23)	Atlético Marte	0	0	v. DC United June 19, 2010

Previous Squads

FIFA World Cup squads

• 1982 FIFA World Cup squad
• 1970 FIFA World Cup squad

Current staff

Head Coach	José Luis Rugamas (Interim)
Assistant Coach	Guillermo Rivera
2nd Assistant Coach	TBA
GK Coach	Carlos Felipe Can`adas
Physical Coordinator	Esteban Copia
Medical Trainer	Francisco Amaya Cruz
Massage Therapist	José Luis Rodríguez
Trainer	Rodrigo Antonio

Fixtures and results

Date	Home Team	Result	Away Team	Location	Competition	El Salvador Scorers
February 24, 2010	United States	2–1	El Salvador	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa	Friendly	Corrales  59'
March 3, 2010	El Salvador	1–2	Guatemala	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles	Friendly	Quintanilla  89'
June 19, 2010	DC United	1–01	El Salvador	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Friendly
September 4, 2010	El Salvador	2–2 (3–4 Pso.)	Honduras	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles	Friendly	Zelaya  42'  90+1'
September 7, 2010	El Salvador	0–2	Guatemala	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Friendly
January 14, 2011	El Salvador	–	Nicaragua	Estadio Rommel Fernandez, Panama City	CAC
January 16, 2011	Belize	–	El Salvador	Estadio Rommel Fernandez, Panama City	CAC
January 18, 2011	Panama	–	El Salvador	Estadio Rommel Fernandez, Panama City	CAC

¹Unoffical game.

Key

      Win       Draw       Loss

Key

• F = Friendly
• CAC = 2011 Central American Cup

Manager history

Name Years Marck Scott Thompson 1930–1935 Pablo Ferre Elías 1935–1938 Maximo Garay 1940–1941 Slade 1941–1943 Amaricano Gonzalez 1943–1948 Rodolfo Orlandini 1949–1951 Marcelo Estrada 1953 Carbilio Tomasino 1954–1959 Milo Guardado 1959–1960 Conrado Miranda 1961 Luis Comitante 1962–1963 Hernán Vivanco 1965–1967 Rigoberto Guzmán 1968 Gregorio Bundio 1968–1970 Hernán Vivanco 1970 Conrado Miranda 1971 Hector D'Angelo 1972 Jorge Tupinambá 1973

Name Years Pipo Rodríguez 1973–1974 Conrado Miranda 1975 Marcelo Estrada 1975–1976 Raúl Magaña 1976 Aurelio Pinto Beltrao 1976 Porta 1977 Julio Contreras Cardona 1977 Ricardo Tomasino 1978 Raúl Magaña 1979 Pipo Rodríguez 1979–1982 Armando Contreras 1983 Raúl Magaña 1984 Juan Quarterone 1984–1985 Paulo Roberto Cabrera 1986 Raúl Magaña 1987 Milovan Đorić 1988 Miroslav Vukašinović 1988–1989 Conrado Miranda 1989

Name Years Kiril Dojcinovski 1989 Oscar Emigdio Benítez 1991 Jorge Aude 1991–1992 Aníbal Ruiz 1992 Jorge Vieira 1993–1994 José Omar Pastoriza 1995–1996 Armando Contreras 1996–1997 Milovan Đorić 1997–1998 Kiril Dojcinovski 1998 Marinho Peres 1998 Oscar Emigdio Benítez 1999–2000 Carlos Recinos 2000–2002 Juan Ramon Paredes 2002–2004 Armando Contreras 2004 Carlos Cavagnaro 2005 Miguel Aguilar 2005–2006 Carlos de los Cobos 2006–2009 José Luis Rugamas 2010–

Honours

• CONCACAF Championship / CONCACAF Gold Cup

• Runner-up (2): 1963, 1981
• Third place (1): 1977

• UNCAF Nations Cup

• Third place (4): 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003

• Central American and Caribbean Games

• Gold Medal (2): 1954, 2002
• Third place (1): 1935

• CCCF Championship

• Winner (1): 1943
• Runner-up (2): 1941, 1961

Trivia

• First Central American team to qualify for a FIFA World Cup (1970) and first Central American team to qualify twice (1982).
• First Central American team to beat Mexico in Mexico's home turf.

Notes and references

See also

• El Salvador national beach soccer team
• El Salvador national under-17 football team
• El Salvador national under-20 football team
• El Salvador national under-21 football team
• El Salvador national under-23 football team
• Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol
• List of football clubs in El Salvador
• Primera División de Fútbol Profesional

References

External links

• A Picture of the Team
• Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol Official Site (Spanish)
• El Salvador national football team (Non-Official Site) (Spanish)
• El Salvador - Details of World Cup Qualifiers

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

International association football FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup · Olympics · Asian Games · All-Africa Games · Pan American Games · Minor tournaments · World Rankings · Player of the Year · FIFA Ballon d'Or  · Teams · Debuts · Competitions · Federations · Codes Asia AFC – Asian Cup Africa CAF – Africa Cup of Nations North, Central America and Caribbean CONCACAF – Gold Cup South America CONMEBOL – Copa América Oceania OFC – Nations Cup Europe UEFA – European Championship Non-FIFA N.F.-Board – Viva World Cup– Europeada

El Salvador World Cup squads El Salvador squad – 1970 FIFA World Cup 1 Magaña • 2 Rivas • 3 Mariona • 4 Cortés • 5 Osorio • 6 Quintanilla • 7 Rodríguez • 8 Vásquez • 9 Martínez • 10 Cabezas • 11 Aparicio • 12 Monge • 13 Pineda • 14 Manzano • 15 Cabrera • 16 Sarmeno • 17 Portillo • 18 Castro • 19 Méndez • 20 Fernández • 21 Acevedo • 22 Villalta • Coach: Carrasco El Salvador squad – 1982 FIFA World Cup 1 Guevara • 2 Castillo • 3 Jovel • 4 Recinos • 5 Fagoaga • 6 Ventura • 7 Aquino • 8 Rugamas • 9 Ever Hernández • 10 Huezo • 11 González • 12 Osorto • 13 Rivas • 14 Ramírez • 15 J. Rodríguez • 16 Alfaro • 17 Ragazzone • 18 Díaz • 19 Eduardo Hernández • 20 Munguía • Coach: M. Rodríguez

El Salvador CONCACAF Gold Cup squads El Salvador squad – 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Alfaro • 2 Hernández • 3 Cárcamo • 4 Rojas • 5 de la Cruz • 6 Vicevic • 7 Renderos • 8 C. Castro • 9 I. Castro • 10 González • 11 Cerritos • 12 Cienfuegos • 14 Amaya • 16 Argueta • 17 Rodríguez • 18 Guerra • 19 Díaz Arce • 20 Iraheta • 21 G. Rivera • 22 S. Rivera • Coach: Dojčinovski El Salvador squad – 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Rivera • 2 Osorio • 3 — • 4 Benítez • 5 Velásquez • 6 Cubías • 7 Canjura • 8 Cabrera • 9 Galdámez • 10 — • 11 Cerritos • 13 Umanzor • 14 Corrales • 16 A. Martínez • 17 Rodríguez • 18 Navarro • 19 E. Martínez • 20 García • Coach: Recinos El Salvador squad – 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Hernández • 2 W.A. Torres • 3 González • 4 Castro • 5 Velásquez • 6 Navarro • 7 Sánchez • 8 Cabrera • 9 Mejia • 10 — • 11 W.J. Torres • 12 Campos • 14 Corrales • 15 Ochoa • 17 Menjívar • 18 Murgas • 19 Pacheco • 21 Quintanilla • 22 Gómez • Coach: Paredes El Salvador squad – 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Gómez • 2 Guevara • 3 Anaya • 4 Mendoza • 5 Henríquez • 6 J.O. Martínez • 7 Merino • 8 Menjívar • 9 Campos • 10 Melgar • 11 Cerritos • 12 Carballo • 13 J.E. Martínez • 14 Sánchez • 15 Salazar • 16 Larios • 17 Alas • 18 Escobar • 19 Pacheco • 20 Álvarez • 21 Quintanilla • 22 Portillo • 23 Montes • Coach: de los Cobos El Salvador squad – 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Montes • 2 Escobar • 3 González • 4 Henríquez • 5 Hernández • 6 Martínez • 7 Sánchez • 8 Osael • 9 Corrales • 10 Quintanilla • 11 Zelaya • 12 Salazar • 13 Umanzor • 14 Alas • 15 Pacheco • 16 Jiménez • 17 Castillo • 18 Coreas • 19 Reyes • 20 Turcios • 21 Torres • 22 Villalobos • 23 Barrera • Coach: de los Cobos