Alex Sanchez Cruz
Encyclopedia
Alex Sanchez Cruz, nicknamed El Nene (The Kid), is a former Costa Rica
n soccer player. His charismatic and humble demeanor made him a beloved sports figure across the country. He earned his nickname by consistently ordering a glass of milk at every restaurant he visited. He is still recognized by soccer fans throughout the country.
. Alex started his soccer career at the early age of 14 playing in the Minor League for the Deportivo Saprissa. He started by training twice a day with the club and soon advanced to playing full-time. In 1945 he started in the first ever National Youth Championship where he won a national title for the first time in his career.
By 1946 Saprissa had ascended to the Juvenile Division and Alex had become the starting goalkeeper. Saprissa won the Championship in the new division by beating the Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in a best-of-three series. The Championship allowed the Deportivo Saprissa, the Minor League branch of a Major League team named Orion F.C., to ascend to the Major Division. The team was renamed Orion F.C. and Alex's strong frame and ability to accuretely kick the ball with both legs prompted the coach to move him into the position of left wingback. He would remain in this position until his retirement. However, he would still train as a goalkeeper and would serve as a back-up in every team he ever played with, including the Costa Rica
National Team.
In 1947 Alex played in the Third Division for the newly-renamed Orion F.C. and again was part of the team that won the Championship. This continued success prompted Ricardo Saprissa
, the team's co-founder and namesake, to register the team in the Third Division of the Major League. That same year the Orion F.C. won the Championship, thus advancing to the Second Division, where the team was renamed back to the Deportivo Saprissa.
The next season, the Deportivo Saprissa advanced one last time to the Primera Division
, Costa Rica
's top soccer league, where they still play to this date. Alex Sanchez was part of the team that won the first 3 National Championship in Costa Rica
's top league in 1952, 1953 and 1957.
National Team. His debut was in the VI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe played in Guatemala. In 1951 he was called once again to play for the National Team at the 1951 Pan American Games
in Argentina
where they finished second place.
During Alex's 14 years playing with the National Team, he only missed playing once, in 1953. His wedding ceremony was to be held one month before the tournament and the coach excused him from playing for the team.
Alex was back in 1955 starting for the National Team in Honduras where the team would go to finished the tournament undefeated.
In 1955 Alex returned to play and start at the 1955 Pan American Games
held in Mexico. By this time, his skills had grown considerably and during just one game he would play in three different positions: Left wingback, Right wingback, and Centre back. His versatility earned him the Most Valuable Player trophy.
In 1958 Alex would participate in the qualifying matches for the 1958 FIFA World Cup
held in Sweden
. Costa Rica
lost a best-of-two series against Mexico
, and would miss the chance to go on to participate in the FIFA World Cup
.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
n soccer player. His charismatic and humble demeanor made him a beloved sports figure across the country. He earned his nickname by consistently ordering a glass of milk at every restaurant he visited. He is still recognized by soccer fans throughout the country.
Biography
He was born in Naranjo in Costa Rica's, Alajuela provinceAlajuela Province
Alajuela is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the north-central part of the country, bordering Nicaragua to the north, and clockwise the provinces Heredia, San José, Puntarenas and Guanacaste...
. Alex started his soccer career at the early age of 14 playing in the Minor League for the Deportivo Saprissa. He started by training twice a day with the club and soon advanced to playing full-time. In 1945 he started in the first ever National Youth Championship where he won a national title for the first time in his career.
By 1946 Saprissa had ascended to the Juvenile Division and Alex had become the starting goalkeeper. Saprissa won the Championship in the new division by beating the Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in a best-of-three series. The Championship allowed the Deportivo Saprissa, the Minor League branch of a Major League team named Orion F.C., to ascend to the Major Division. The team was renamed Orion F.C. and Alex's strong frame and ability to accuretely kick the ball with both legs prompted the coach to move him into the position of left wingback. He would remain in this position until his retirement. However, he would still train as a goalkeeper and would serve as a back-up in every team he ever played with, including the Costa Rica
Costa Rica national football team
The Costa Rica national football team, nicknamed La Sele, is the national team of Costa Rica and is controlled by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol. Costa Rica is the third most successful team in CONCACAF after Mexico and the United States...
National Team.
In 1947 Alex played in the Third Division for the newly-renamed Orion F.C. and again was part of the team that won the Championship. This continued success prompted Ricardo Saprissa
Ricardo Saprissa
Ricardo Saprissa Aymá was a lifelong athlete, coach, and promoter of sports. He spent many years in Costa Rica, playing and coaching football]/[soccer...
, the team's co-founder and namesake, to register the team in the Third Division of the Major League. That same year the Orion F.C. won the Championship, thus advancing to the Second Division, where the team was renamed back to the Deportivo Saprissa.
The next season, the Deportivo Saprissa advanced one last time to the Primera Division
Primera División de Costa Rica
Primera División de Costa Rica is a professional league for association football clubs in Costa Rica. At the top of the Costa Rican league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 12 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Segunda División...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
's top soccer league, where they still play to this date. Alex Sanchez was part of the team that won the first 3 National Championship in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
's top league in 1952, 1953 and 1957.
The National Team
By 1950 Alex had earned a spot on the Costa RicaCosta Rica national football team
The Costa Rica national football team, nicknamed La Sele, is the national team of Costa Rica and is controlled by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol. Costa Rica is the third most successful team in CONCACAF after Mexico and the United States...
National Team. His debut was in the VI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe played in Guatemala. In 1951 he was called once again to play for the National Team at the 1951 Pan American Games
1951 Pan American Games
The 1951 Pan American Games were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina between 25 February-9 March 1951. The Pan American Games' origins were at the Games of the X Olympiad in Los Angeles, United States, where officials representing the National Olympic Committees of the Americas discussed the staging...
in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
where they finished second place.
During Alex's 14 years playing with the National Team, he only missed playing once, in 1953. His wedding ceremony was to be held one month before the tournament and the coach excused him from playing for the team.
Alex was back in 1955 starting for the National Team in Honduras where the team would go to finished the tournament undefeated.
In 1955 Alex returned to play and start at the 1955 Pan American Games
1955 Pan American Games
The 2nd Pan American Games opened on March 12, 1955 in the University Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators....
held in Mexico. By this time, his skills had grown considerably and during just one game he would play in three different positions: Left wingback, Right wingback, and Centre back. His versatility earned him the Most Valuable Player trophy.
In 1958 Alex would participate in the qualifying matches for the 1958 FIFA World Cup
1958 FIFA World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...
held in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
lost a best-of-two series against Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and would miss the chance to go on to participate in the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
.
Highlights
- Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
National Championship in 1952, 1953, and 1957 with the Deportivo Saprissa.
- Champion at the Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe in 1955, 1959 and 1963 with the Costa RicaCosta Rica national football teamThe Costa Rica national football team, nicknamed La Sele, is the national team of Costa Rica and is controlled by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol. Costa Rica is the third most successful team in CONCACAF after Mexico and the United States...
National Team.
- Second Place at the Pan American GamesPan American GamesThe Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
in 1951 and 1955 with the Costa RicaCosta Rica national football teamThe Costa Rica national football team, nicknamed La Sele, is the national team of Costa Rica and is controlled by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol. Costa Rica is the third most successful team in CONCACAF after Mexico and the United States...
National Team.
- World Soccer Tour in 1959 with the Deportivo Saprissa visiting CuraçaoCuraçaoCuraçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, ArubaArubaAruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
, VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Holland, AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, FijiFijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The tour totaled 22 games and the Deportivo Saprissa finished the tour with and impressive 14-1-7 record.
- Part of the Chaparritos de Oro. The nickname was coined by the Mexican press.
- Married Sara Arroyo in March 1953. The couple had 4 children and 10 grandchildren.
- Currently resides in San JoséSan José, Costa RicaSan José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. Located in the Central Valley, San José is the seat of national government, the focal point of political and economic activity, and the major transportation hub of this Central American nation.Founded in 1738 by order of Cabildo de León, San...
, Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
.
External links
- http://www.saprissa.co.cr
- http://www.saprissa.com