Juan Carlos Plata
Encyclopedia
Juan Carlos Plata is a Guatemala
n retired football
striker
. He is the highest-scoring player in the history of Guatemala's top division. As of January 2010, Plata has, except for Marc Lloyd-Williams, been the most prolific scorer among all active players in the world in top division leagues, and is among the top 60 goalscorers of all time in the world according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics
.
He is also the second-highest goalscorer in the history of the Guatemala national team
behind Carlos Ruiz.
Plata played all of his professional club career for CSD Municipal
and is also the all-time top goalscorer for that club; he has broken virtually every scoring record associated with professional football in Guatemala. He also has won 15 domestic league titles, 5 domestic cup titles, and 2 international titles playing for Municipal.
and passer. His personal-best 33 goals in one season came at age 35, a testament to his reliance on intelligent play instead of pure athletic ability.
, made his debut in the Liga Mayor (Major League, now Liga Nacional
) with Municipal in the 1990–1991 season, in which he won the national title. He has since been a regular for the club, and has helped them win 14 league titles, 5 domestic cups, and 2 Central American championships.
A consistent goalscorer throughout his career, Plata has scored at least 15 goals in 13 different seasons, with his most prolific season in terms of total goals scored being 2005–2006, when he scored 32 goals in total for both the Torneo de Apertura and the Torneo de Clausura.
On 15 February 2008, Plata played his 500th official match with Municipal against Deportivo Zacapa
for the domestic league.
On 17 May 2009, Plata scored his 400th career goal against Deportivo Petapa
.
to win another title. His latest final was against Xelajú MC in the Clausura 2010 tournament, coming in as a late substitute after being inactive for the majority of the tournament due to a major injury and scoring a header which gave Municipal its third goal in an eventual 3-1 victory. In the second game he again came in as a late substitute and again scored a goal to add a second goal to a 7-1 aggregate victory and his fifteenth league title with Municipal.
He also holds the domestic record of most goals scored in the Guatemalan derby (Municipal vs. Comunicaciones) with 39, all scored with Municipal against Comunicaciones. Further, he holds the record for most goals scored in international club competitions by a Guatemalan with 33.
for Jorge Rodas
in a January 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
match against Mexico
and has scored 35 international goals in 86 international matches. He has not appeared in any World Cup
finals as Guatemala has never qualified for one, but played for the national squad in the World Cup qualification processes of 1998, 2002 and 2006. He scored 7 goals in 27 World Cup qualification matches, including 2 in a 2-1 win against Costa Rica
in 5 September 2004 that helped Guatemala advance to the final stage of the 2006 CONCACAF World Cup qualification.
His most famous goal with the national team, however, might be the one he scored in the dying seconds of the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
match against Brazil
, a header from a corner kick
to equalize the score 1-1, a very surprising result considering Brazil were the reigning world champions at the time and fielded stars like Romario
, Mauro Silva
, Edmundo
, Denilson
and Taffarel
.
He retired from international play in 2006, after playing his final international game in September 2006 against Panama
. He did however earn a final cap in a testimonial match against Belize
on 9 October 2010 in which he came on as a second half substitute.
321: Juan Carlos Plata on 16 February 2006. The 94-minute film makes emphasis on the scoring of goal 321, which gave Plata the record as top goal scorer in the history of professional Guatemalan football. It also covers his ongoing career as well as non-sport related subjects, such as family and business. The premiere took place at the Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias
(national theatre), with over 2000 people in attendance. The documentary and other additional features, are included in a DVD
which includes over 200 of his career goals and was released for sale to the public on the night of the film's premiere.
On 9 January 2011 Juan Carlos Plata received a tribute and played a friendly match between his team CSD Municipal and an informal team composed by former and active players (all of them played at least once with Juan Carlos Plata either in CSD Municipal or Guatemalan national team), named "Estrellas de Plata" (Plata's Stars). Right after the match completion, the number 15, which was used by Juan Carlos Plata during his whole career, was officially retired from CSD Municipal, being the first and only soccer player in Guatemala who is granted with this honour, thus he forms part of the Retired numbers in association football.
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n retired football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
striker
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
. He is the highest-scoring player in the history of Guatemala's top division. As of January 2010, Plata has, except for Marc Lloyd-Williams, been the most prolific scorer among all active players in the world in top division leagues, and is among the top 60 goalscorers of all time in the world according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics
International Federation of Football History & Statistics
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics is an organization that chronicles the history and records of Association football. It was founded on 27 March 1984 at Leipzig by Dr. Alfredo Pöge with the blessings of general secretary of the FIFA at the time, Dr. Helmut Käser...
.
He is also the second-highest goalscorer in the history of the Guatemala national team
Guatemala national football team
The Guatemala national football team is the association football team representing the country of Guatemala and is controlled by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala. Founded in 1919, it affiliated to FIFA in 1946, and it is a member of CONCACAF....
behind Carlos Ruiz.
Plata played all of his professional club career for CSD Municipal
CSD Municipal
Club Social y Deportivo Municipal, also known as Municipal or Los Rojos , are a Guatemalan professional football club based in Guatemala City...
and is also the all-time top goalscorer for that club; he has broken virtually every scoring record associated with professional football in Guatemala. He also has won 15 domestic league titles, 5 domestic cup titles, and 2 international titles playing for Municipal.
Playing style
Plata was not a very physically gifted player, but he was a technical player with a good sense of positioning and playing without the ball. He was not only a good finisher but he could also be a creative playmakerPlaymaker
In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's offensive play, and is often involved in passing moves which lead to goals....
and passer. His personal-best 33 goals in one season came at age 35, a testament to his reliance on intelligent play instead of pure athletic ability.
Club career
Plata, born in Guatemala CityGuatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
, made his debut in the Liga Mayor (Major League, now Liga Nacional
Liga Nacional de Guatemala
Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala , formerly known as Liga Mayor "A" is a professional football division in Guatemala, the highest one in the country. It is sanctioned by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala...
) with Municipal in the 1990–1991 season, in which he won the national title. He has since been a regular for the club, and has helped them win 14 league titles, 5 domestic cups, and 2 Central American championships.
A consistent goalscorer throughout his career, Plata has scored at least 15 goals in 13 different seasons, with his most prolific season in terms of total goals scored being 2005–2006, when he scored 32 goals in total for both the Torneo de Apertura and the Torneo de Clausura.
On 15 February 2008, Plata played his 500th official match with Municipal against Deportivo Zacapa
Deportivo Zacapa
Club Deportivo Zacapa is a Guatemalan football club from Zacapa, nicknamed "Los Gallos" .The team plays its home games at the Estadio David Ordoñez Bardales, the local stadium.-Current squad:...
for the domestic league.
On 17 May 2009, Plata scored his 400th career goal against Deportivo Petapa
Deportivo Petapa
Deportivo Petapa is a Guatemalan football team playing in the Primera División de Ascenso, after being relegated in 2009.It is based in San Miguel Petapa.Deportivo Petapa has won their promotion back to the top league after defeating La Gomera 2-1, with Sandro Zamboni scoring both goals.Petapa...
.
Notable goals
Plata holds the domestic record for most goals scored in finals. Some of his most memorable performances include scoring 4 goals in a 9-2 beatdown over rival team CSD Comunicaciones in the Apertura 2004 final. He also scored 2 late goals in the Apertura 2005 championship over Comunicaciones to win the title. In the Clausura 2005 final, he scored a record 4 goals in one game against CD SuchitepequezCD Suchitepéquez
Club Deportivo Suchitepéquez are a Guatemalan professional football club that competes in the Liga Nacional, the top division in the nation. They are based in Mazatenango, Department of Suchitepéquez, and their home stadium is the Estadio Carlos Salazar Hijo...
to win another title. His latest final was against Xelajú MC in the Clausura 2010 tournament, coming in as a late substitute after being inactive for the majority of the tournament due to a major injury and scoring a header which gave Municipal its third goal in an eventual 3-1 victory. In the second game he again came in as a late substitute and again scored a goal to add a second goal to a 7-1 aggregate victory and his fifteenth league title with Municipal.
He also holds the domestic record of most goals scored in the Guatemalan derby (Municipal vs. Comunicaciones) with 39, all scored with Municipal against Comunicaciones. Further, he holds the record for most goals scored in international club competitions by a Guatemalan with 33.
International career
He made his debut for Guatemala as a second half substituteSubstitute (football)
In association football, a substitute is a player who is brought on to the pitch during a match in exchange for an existing player. Substitutions are generally made to replace a player who has become tired or injured, or who is not performing well; there may also be tactical reasons such as...
for Jorge Rodas
Jorge Rodas
Jorge Alexander Rodas Hurtarte is a retired Guatemalan professional football midfielder. He last played for Aurora FC in the Guatemalan Primera División as of the end of the 2007-08 season....
in a January 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ....
match against Mexico
Mexico national football team
The Mexican national football team represents Mexico in association football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation , the governing body for football in Mexico. Mexico's home stadium is the Estadio Azteca and their head coach is José Manuel de la Torre...
and has scored 35 international goals in 86 international matches. He has not appeared in any 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...
finals as Guatemala has never qualified for one, but played for the national squad in the World Cup qualification processes of 1998, 2002 and 2006. He scored 7 goals in 27 World Cup qualification matches, including 2 in a 2-1 win against 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...
in 5 September 2004 that helped Guatemala advance to the final stage of the 2006 CONCACAF World Cup qualification.
His most famous goal with the national team, however, might be the one he scored in the dying seconds of the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ....
match against Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
, a header from a corner kick
Corner kick
A corner kick is a method of restarting play in a game of association football. It was first devised in Sheffield under the Sheffield Rules 1867...
to equalize the score 1-1, a very surprising result considering Brazil were the reigning world champions at the time and fielded stars like Romario
Romário
Romário de Souza Faria , better known simply as Romário , is a former footballer who played striker,manager and current politician where is currently running for a mayor like position in his hometown...
, Mauro Silva
Mauro Silva
Mauro da Silva Gomes , simply Silva, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a defensive midfielder....
, Edmundo
Edmundo
Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto , better known simply as Edmundo, is a retired Brazilian footballer.Edmundo played for Brazil at the 1998 World Cup. For Palmeiras, he won the Campeonato Brasileiro in the beginning of the Nineties. For Vasco da Gama he won 1997's Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, scoring...
, Denilson
Denílson de Oliveira Araújo
Denílson de Oliveira Araújo , commonly known as Denílson, is a Brazilian former footballer, who played mostly as a left winger...
and Taffarel
Cláudio Taffarel
Cláudio André Mergen Taffarel is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is of German and Italian descent....
.
He retired from international play in 2006, after playing his final international game in September 2006 against Panama
Panama national football team
The Panama national football team is the national team of Panama and is controlled by the Panamanian Football Federation. Panama reached the 2006 World Cup CONCACAF Final Round in the qualifiers and finished as runners-up at the final game of the 2005 Gold Cup...
. He did however earn a final cap in a testimonial match against Belize
Belize national football team
The Belize national football team is the national team of Belize and is controlled by the Football Federation of Belize. It is affiliated to the Central American Football Union of CONCACAF...
on 9 October 2010 in which he came on as a second half substitute.
Club level, with Municipal
- Liga Nacional de GuatemalaLiga Nacional de GuatemalaLiga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala , formerly known as Liga Mayor "A" is a professional football division in Guatemala, the highest one in the country. It is sanctioned by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala...
: 15
-
- 1992, 1994, 2000 Apertura, 2000 Clausura, 2001, 2002 Clausura, 2003 Apertura, 2004 Apertura, 2005 Clausura, 2005 Apertura, 2006 Clausura, 2006 Apertura, 2008 Clausura, 2009 Apertura, 2010 Clausura
- Domestic Cup: 5
-
- 1994, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2004
- Copa Interclubes UNCAFCopa Interclubes UNCAFThe UNCAF Club Tournament was an annual international football competition held in the UNCAF region . The competition was open to the leading domestic club teams in the region. The winners of each national league qualified automatically. It also provided qualification places for the CONCACAF...
: 2
-
- 2001, 2004
- Liga Nacional de Guatemala Top Goalscorer: 2
-
- 1996, 2005
Biography on film
Juan Carlos Plata's career received a tribute with the release in Guatemala of his biographic documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
321: Juan Carlos Plata on 16 February 2006. The 94-minute film makes emphasis on the scoring of goal 321, which gave Plata the record as top goal scorer in the history of professional Guatemalan football. It also covers his ongoing career as well as non-sport related subjects, such as family and business. The premiere took place at the Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias
Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias
The Centro Cultural Miguel Ángel Asturias, commonly named Teatro Nacional, is a cultural center in Guatemala City, Guatemala. It is located in the Centro Cívico of the city and was built in the same place of the old Fuerte de San José. Its form, which emulates a seated jaguar, stands out from the...
(national theatre), with over 2000 people in attendance. The documentary and other additional features, are included in a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
which includes over 200 of his career goals and was released for sale to the public on the night of the film's premiere.
Retirement from active career and number retirement
On 19 December 2010 Juan Carlos Plata played his last official game as a professional player in Guatemala, as a substitute in the final match for Apertura 2011, a series defining the national championship between CSD Municipal and Comunicaciones. The match ended in a draw 2-2 (being 3-3 the global score), so there was the need to define the championship on penalty series. At that time he scored a goal, however his team lost dramatically the penalty series (3-4) and he retired being a national Second Place.On 9 January 2011 Juan Carlos Plata received a tribute and played a friendly match between his team CSD Municipal and an informal team composed by former and active players (all of them played at least once with Juan Carlos Plata either in CSD Municipal or Guatemalan national team), named "Estrellas de Plata" (Plata's Stars). Right after the match completion, the number 15, which was used by Juan Carlos Plata during his whole career, was officially retired from CSD Municipal, being the first and only soccer player in Guatemala who is granted with this honour, thus he forms part of the Retired numbers in association football.
External links
- Dedicated web site Player profile - CSD Municipal Player profile - Terra.com Player profile - deGuate.com
- Career stats - National Football Teams
- Todos los goles del Pin Plata - LaRed Deportiva (All goals of Juan Carlos Plata)