Porfirio Armando Betancourt

Porfirio Armando Betancourt Cortez, born October 10, 1957 in Lima, Honduras, is a retired Honduran football player.

Youth

Betancourt grew up in a soccer family. His father, Porfirio Betancourt played for Club Deportivo Olimpia and his two uncles played for Club Deportivo Platense. As a youth player, he played for the Honduran Brewery club beginning in 1976. He was called up Honduran national coach Rodolfo Godoy to play for the Honduran U-20 team for the qualification tournament for the 1977 FIFA Youth Cup. Betancourt scored 11 goals while leading Honduras to an undefeated record and a berth in the Cup. The Hondurans went 2-1 in group play, but failed to qualify for the second round. Betancourt graduated from Escuela Internacional Sampedrana. In 1979, he entered Indiana University, in the United States, where he would play men’s college soccer for three seasons (see photo). He scored 20 goals and assisted on 12 more his freshman year, earning first team All American honors. That season, the Hoosiers went to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.

Betancourt joined the Honduran Olympic team for the 1980 Summer Olympics qualification tournament. When Honduras joined the U.S.-led boycott of the games, Betancourt returned to Indiana.

For the 1980 collegiate season, Betancourt saw a drop off in his scoring, bagging 17 goals and assisting on 16 others. However, this was good enough to earn him second team All American honors. While Betancourt saw a personal slump, his team made it to the NCAA championship game where it lost to the powerhouse University of San Francisco team. His third season with the Indiana showed Betancourt at the top of his game. He scored 27 goals, assisted on 9 more. He was showered with accolades, earning first team All America, and winning the Hermann Trophy as the best collegiate player that year. While Betancourt left Indiana University after his junior year in order to play for Honduras in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, he is still considered one of the greatest collegiate players ever. Soccer America Magazine named him the Player of the Decade (1980s) and placed him on its College Team of the Century. In 1992, Indiana University inducted Betancourt into its Hall of Fame.

Professional

On October 27, 1981, the St. Louis Steamers of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) selected Betancourt in the first round (12th overall) in the college draft. Betancourt declined to sign with the Steamers and instead returned to Honduras to make himself eligible for the Honduran national team, then beginning qualification for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. When he returned to Honduras, he joined Real CD España. While Betancourt failed to play any of the Honduran qualification games, national team manager José de la Paz Herrera called up Betancourt to replace the injured Jimmy James Bailey. Betancourt would go on to play every minute of Honduras’ three games (0-2-1 record) during the cup.

After the World Cup, Betancourt moved to France to pursue a professional career with Racing Club Strasbourg, which played in the French First Division at the time. He joined Strasbourg in June 1982 and remained with the team until June 1984. During his time with Strasbourg, he played 38 league games, scoring 5 goals. He played another 7 cup games, but scored no goals in them.

Betancourt returned to the U.S. and signed with the St. Louis Steamers of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for the 1984-1985 season. In 1985, he was on the roster of Spanish club CD Logroñés, then playing in the Spanish First Division.

In 1985, Betancourt was called up to the Honduran national team for its qualification campaign for the 1986 FIFA World Cup. While Betancourt scored 3 times, Honduras failed to make the cup finals. Betancourt returned to the U.S. and played with the Kansas City Comets of MISL during the 1987-1988 pre-season.

He then returned to Honduras where he played for Marathón in 1988. He then moved to Florida where he lived for several years before returning to Honduras to enter politics.

External links

• MISL stats