Hugo Pérez (soccer)

Hugo Ernesto Pérez Granados (born November 8, 1963) is a former soccer midfielder who played for the United States national team and several club teams.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Pérez and the second or maternal family name is Granados.
Hugo Pérez
Personal information
Full name Hugo Ernesto Pérez Granados
Date of birth (1963-11-08) November 8, 1963
Place of birth Morazán, El Salvador
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982 Los Angeles Aztecs 0 (0)
1982–1983 Tampa Bay Rowdies 20 (0)
1983–1984 San Diego Sockers (NASL) 29 (7)
1984–1990 San Diego Sockers (MISL) 125 (107)
1986, 1989 Los Angeles Heat
1990 Red Star Paris
1990–1991 Örgryte IS 2 (0)
1992 Al-Ittihad
1994 Los Angeles Salsa
1994–1996 CD FAS
National team
1984–1994 United States 73 (13)
Teams managed
2002–2005 University of San Francisco (assistant)
2007 California Victory (assistant)
2012–2013 United States U14
2012–2014 United States U15
2015 El Salvador (assistant)
2016 El Salvador (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

During his fourteen-year career, he played professionally in the United States, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and his native El Salvador. Although born in El Salvador, he gained his U.S. citizenship as a youth and earned 73 caps, scoring sixteen goals, with the U.S. national team between 1984 and 1994. He was a member of the U.S. team at both the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He was the 1991 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2008.

Early life

Pérez, born in El Salvador, where both his grandfather and father both played professionally for C.D. FAS, the club with which Pérez would finish his career. He migrated with his family to the United States when he was 11 and gained his U.S. citizenship in the mid-1980s. He chose to forego college.

Soccer career

In 1982, he signed with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the NASL. Pérez also spent time with the Tampa Bay Rowdies before ending up with the San Diego Sockers. In 1988, he was the championship MVP when the Sockers won the MISL championship. That summer he joined Ajax during the team's pre-season. Ajax manager Johan Cruyff expressed an interest in signing him, but the Sockers refused to release Pérez. In 1989, he played for the Los Angeles Heat of the Western Soccer Alliance.[1]

Cruyff then attempted to work a transfer for Pérez to Italian club Parma in 1990, but Parma needed Pérez to play in the World Cup in order to get him a work permit. Pérez was part of the 1990 World Cup Roster, but when U.S. coach Gansler left Pérez off the U.S. team that traveled, due to a question of match fitness due to injury, this nixed the move to Italy. Instead, Pérez moved to France where he played with Red Star Paris. From France, Pérez moved to Swedish First Division club Örgryte IS then Saudi Arabian First Division club Al-Ittihad.

In 1994, he returned to the United States and played in the 1994 World Cup and after played for the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League. Hugo played with the Salsa while negotiating a contract with C.D FAS. The Salsa folded at the end of the 1994 season and Pérez made his last move, to Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador club C.D. FAS, commonly known as C.D. FAS. In both of Pérez' years with the club, 1994–1995 and 1995–1996, C.D. FAS won the El Salvador championship. He retired in 1996 from professional soccer.

Personal life

His nephew Joshua Pérez is a professional soccer player who plays for Italian side Fiorentina's youth setup.[2][3]

U.S. National Team

Pérez was a member of the American squad that competed at the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship and 1984 Summer Olympics.[4] He also helped the USA qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which he missed when he tore ligaments in his leg playing for Red Star Paris, a French Second Division club.[5] He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1991. He played 73 international matches for the US between 1984 and 1994, in which he scored thirteen goals. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Pérez played in the second round game against Brazil.

International Appearances

[6]

National TeamYearAppsStartsGoalsAssists
United States
19845300
19856510
19881010
19892210
19902200
199111912
1992171731
1993121232
1994171633
Total7366138

International Goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1April 4, 1985Portland, Oregon Canada1-11–1Friendly
2August 13, 1988St. Louis, Missouri Jamaica2–15-11990 World Cup qualifying
3September 17, 1989Tegucigalpa, Honduras El Salvador1–01–01990 World Cup qualifying
4July 3, 1991Los Angeles, California Costa Rica2–23–21991 CONCACAF Gold Cup
5March 18, 1992Casablanca, Morocco Morocco1–21–3Friendly
6April 4, 1992Palo Alto, California China PR1–05-0Friendly
75–0
8March 14, 1993Tokyo, Japan Japan1–01–31993 Kirin Cup
9October 16, 1993High Point, North Carolina Ukraine1–01–2Friendly
10December 5, 1993Los Angeles, California El Salvador5–07–0Friendly
11February 20, 1994Miami, Florida Sweden1–31–3Friendly
12March 26, 1994Dallas, Texas Bolivia1–12–2Friendly

Retirement

After retiring from playing, Pérez moved to the San Francisco area where he has served as the principal for the Living Hope Christian School. On March 10, 2008, Pérez was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.[7]

He is the uncle of ACF Fiorentina and United States U-20 player, Joshua Pérez.[2][3]

Coaching

In August 2002, he joined the University of San Francisco as an assistant coach to its men's soccer team.[8] On December 7, 2007, the California Victory, a USL First Division expansion franchise, announced that Pérez had joined its staff as an assistant coach.[9]

United States U-15

Pérez was coach of the U15s from August 7, 2012 to August 23, 2014. He resigned afterwards. He stated "Yes, this is my last camp, I don't know [what is next for me]; that is up to U.S. Soccer. Obviously, I'm employed by them and whatever they do I am open to it. It's been an honor to work with these kids and an honor to get to know them."[10]

El Salvador

After Albert Roca resigned as coach of El Salvador in July 2015, Perez once again expressed his interest in coaching El Salvador.[11][12] On August 21, 2015, it was announced that Perez has been hired as the new assistant coach of El Salvador to Jorge Rodríguez.[13]

Honors

Club
San Diego Sockers
  • North American Soccer League (5): 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90
FAS

International
United States

Individual
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References
  1. 1989 Los Angeles Heat roster Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Joshua Pérez, sobrino de Hugo Pérez, fue suplente con Fiorentina ante Empoli". Archived from the original on 2016-11-30.
  3. "LAFC signs forward Joshua Perez on free transfer from Italian club Fiorentina". Los Angeles Times. 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  4. Hugo Pérez – FIFA competition record
  5. NY Times mention of injury
  6. "Hugo Perez – U.S. Soccer Media Guide". 2013 USMNT Media Guide. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  7. "Pérez and Dorrance elected to Hall of Fame". Fox Sports. 2008-03-10. Archived from the original on 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  8. Soccer America Warning Archived 2005-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  9. www.californiavictorysoccer.com Coming Soon Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  10. August camp ends Hugo Perez stint with U15s
  11. Hugo Perez in El Salvador coach role after missing out as player
  12. Former USMNT great, US U-15s coach Hugo Perez announces desire to coach El Salvador national team
  13. Hugo Pérez se suma al cuerpo técnico


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