El Salvador

Nickname(s)	La Selecta Selección Cuscatleca Cuscatlecos La Azul
Association	Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Head coach	Carlos de los Cobos
Captain	Alfredo Pacheco
Most caps	Luis Guevara Mora (89)
Top scorer	Jorge "Mágico" González (41)
Home stadium	Estadio Cuscatlán
FIFA code	SLV
FIFA ranking	120
Highest FIFA ranking	50 (December 1992)
Lowest FIFA ranking	169 (November 2006)
Elo ranking	90
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 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 through the side, players such as Pablo Huezo, Carlos Escobar Leiva and Santiago Barrachina.

El Salvador's first tournament

In September 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 independence, 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

Current squad

List of players selected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification games against Haiti on October 11, 2008 and Suriname on October 15, 2008. Both caps and goals are current, as of October 3, 2008.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Juan José Gomez August 11, 1980 54 0 C.D. Luis Angel Firpo GK Miguel Montes February 12, 1980 15 0 Nejapa F.C. DF Luis Miguel Hernández February 9, 1985 9 0 C.D. Atlético Balboa DF Marvin Rene Gonzalez April 17, 1982 FAS DF Luis Alonso Anaya May 19, 1981 23 2 Alianza F.C. DF Manuel Alejandro Salazar Rivas January 23, 1986 28 0 C.D. Luis Angel Firpo DF Alfredo Alberto Pacheco December 1, 1982 FAS DF Alexander Escobar April 4, 1984 12 0 Isidro Metapán DF Mario Aguilar Posada June 31, 1984 1 0 Isidro Metapán DF Ramón Ulises Flores August 21, 1982 8 0 FAS MF Ramón Alfredo Sánchez May 25, 1982 Alianza F.C. MF Carlos Romeo Monteagudo April 29, 1985 5 1 C.D. Luis Angel Firpo MF Oscar Armando Jimenez April 18, 1979 16 0 Alianza F.C. MF William Torres Alegria October 27, 1976 C.D. Aguila MF Eliseo Quintanilla February 5, 1982 27 9 C.D. Aguila MF Shawn Hasani Martin February 15, 1987 16 4 C.D. Aguila MF William Osael Romero April 18, 1986 15 0 C.D. Vista Hermosa MF Christian Castillo July 27, 1984 11 1 Alianza F.C. FW Salvador Arturo Coreas September 29, 1984 15 0 C.D. Vista Hermosa FW William Enrique Reyes December 30, 1976 7 0 Isidro Metapán FW Rodolfo Zelaya 3 July 1988 8 3 Alianza F.C. FW Cesar Larios April 21, 1988 6 1 FAS FW Emerson Umaña November 12, 1981 9 1 FAS FW Rudis Alberto Corrales Rivera November 6, 1979 C.D. Aguila

Personnel

Current staff

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

Previous squads

• 1982 FIFA World Cup - Spain
• 1970 FIFA World Cup - Mexico

Former players of note

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Former managers of note

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
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	El Salvador	1-3	Trinidad and Tobago	August 14, 2008	RFK Stadium, Washington DC	Trinidad: Cornell Glen 19', 79' Anthony Wolfe 75' El Salvador: Christian Castillo 31'
WCQ	Costa Rica	1-0	El Salvador	August 20, 2008	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica	Costa Rica: Álvaro Saborío 48'
WCQ	El Salvador	5-0	Haiti	September 6, 2008	Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador	El Salvador: Rodolfo Zelaya 8', 24', 53' Cesar Larios 58' William Torres Alegria 79'
WCQ	Suriname	0-2	El Salvador	September 10, 2008	André Kamperveen Stadion, Paramaribo	El Salvador: Shawn Hasani Martin 2' Marlon Felter 12' (o.g.)
WCQ	Haiti	0-0	El Salvador	October 11, 2008	Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince

Upcoming games

Date	Location	Opponent	Competition
15 October	Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador	Suriname	WCQ
19 November	Estadio Cuscatlan, San Salvador	Costa Rica	WCQ