Mauricio J. Ramos Méndez (born March 9, 1969 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra) is a retired Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

n football midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

. He played 35 international matches and scored 1 goal for the Bolivia national team

Bolivia national football team

The Bolivia national football team is the national team of Bolivia and is controlled by the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol. After playing in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, they qualified just once—in 1994...

, including an appearance in the 1994 FIFA World Cup

1994 FIFA World Cup

The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...

.

Club career

Nicknamed "Tapera", Ramos initiated his career in 1988 playing for Bolivian club Destroyers

Club Destroyers

Club Destroyers is a football club from Santa Cruz, Bolivia currently playing in both the Nacional B second division and in Santa Cruz Primera A, one of the third division regional leagues....

 alongside future stars Marco Etcheverry

Marco Etcheverry

Marco Antonio Etcheverry Vargas is a retired Bolivian footballer, considered one of the greatest Bolivian players of all time.-Career:...

 and Erwin Sánchez

Erwin Sánchez

Erwin Sánchez Freking is a retired Bolivian footballer.Dubbed Platini, he played as an attacking midfielder, with scoring range...

 as teammates. They quickly established themselves as the "Golden Trio" because of their impressive ability and the perfect blend they created on the field. In 1994, Ramos transferred to club Guabirá

Guabirá

Club Deportivo Guabirá is a Bolivian football club from Montero that currently plays in the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano. Their home ground is the Estadio Gilberto Parada....

, where he excelled and became the best player in the league. In 1995, he went abroad and signed for Brazilian team Cruzeiro

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube is a Brazilian football team, from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and are one of the only five clubs to have never been relegated, along with Santos, São Paulo, Flamengo and Internacional. Founded on January 2, 1921, they are only one of three clubs to have participated in...

. While playing in Brazil, Ramos suffered a serious knee injury that kept him away from the sport for nearly 14 months. After his recovery in 1997, he returned to first division football in great shape with club The Strongest

The Strongest

The Strongest is a Bolivian football club based in La Paz founded on April 8, 1908. Their team colours are yellow and black. Although they have a home ground, the Rafael Mendoza Castellón , they play most of their games at the Estadio Hernando Siles, Bolivia's national ground...

 before joining the Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

, where he played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny

Tampa Bay Mutiny

The Tampa Bay Mutiny was a charter franchise of Major League Soccer active from 1996 - 2001. They initially played in Tampa Stadium and were immediately successful, winning the first MLS Supporters' Shield behind MLS MVP Carlos Valderrama and high-scoring forward Roy Lassiter, whose 27 goals in...

 (1998-99) and the New England Revolution

New England Revolution

The New England Revolution is an American professional association football club based in Foxborough, Massachusetts which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...

 (2000). After leaving the MLS, he played for Bolivian teams Oriente Petrolero

Oriente Petrolero

Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero is a Bolivian football club based in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Founded on November 5, 1955 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia by workers of the Bolivian oil company . They play at the 38,000-capacity Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera. Oriente have been Bolivian champions four times, Copa...

, Unión Central

Club Unión Central

Unión Tarija is a Bolivian football team playing at Tarija Primera A, the 2nd division regional league. It is based in Tarija. Their home stadium is Estadio IV Centenário. The team played in the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano between 1999 and 2006....

 and Club San José

Club San José

Club Deportivo San José is a football club from Oruro, Bolivia.Founded in 1942, they won the 1st division in 1955 , 1995 and Clausura 2007...

, where his career came to an end in 2003.

External links

• Mauricio Ramos Méndez Futbolistas bolivianos