Claudio Suárez
Encyclopedia
Luis Claudio Suárez Sánchez (born December 17, 1968 in Texcoco) is a retired Mexican
footballer. He last played for Chivas USA
in Major League Soccer
.
He has the record for most caps with the Mexico national team
, as well as the world record for the most capped outfield player with 178 caps and joint world record for most caps of any player, which he shares with Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Deayea and Egyptian midfielder Ahmed Hassan
.
, where he played from 1988 to 1996 where he became champion in 1991. He moved to Guadalajara as an important piece for the 1996 Apertura, and remained there for 3 years, through the 1999 Clausura where he became champion in the Verano 1997 tournament, and was called to the 1998 FIFA World Cup
. After being in the All Mexican Team, as an important and solid defender he was transferred to Tigres.
Suárez then moved on to UANL Tigres, where he played from 1999 to the end of 2005. He led the team's defense during that time, and was league runner-up twice, in 2001 and 2003. His last game with Tigres, and in the Mexican league, was a semi-final Clásico Regiomontano
in which he was sent off in a controversial referee decision. Previous to this incident, he already had disagreements with the team's management. Tigre's directive organization had asked Suarez to retire for years and join the management, but Suarez had refused. Other differences in defensive style where also cause for conflict with the teams management. The semi-final was the last excuse for separation.
In 2006, he moved to Major League Soccer
to play for Chivas USA.
On March 8, 2009 after negotiations with his contract fell, Suarez announced his retirement. However, on March 20, 2009, he decided to return to professional soccer for another year. He was the last active soccer player left from Mexico's 1994 FIFA World Cup
squad until he announced his retirement on March 26, 2010.
On September 5, 2010, Suárez came out of retirement to play for the Carolina Railhawks in an exhibition game with the Pumas Morelos
.
in the United States as well as the 1998 FIFA World Cup
in France. Claudio was picked to go to the 2006 FIFA World Cup
in Germany with the Mexican National Team. This FIFA World Cup meant his third World Cup in his career. Despite being picked for the squad he saw no action, but he did wear his legendary number 2 jersey.
Claudio captained the Mexican National Team for many years and represented Mexico 178 times making him the player with the most caps in history for the Mexican Natioanl Team as well as giving him the FIFA world record for most caps by a field player and a North American Record.
On March 25, 2007, Suárez along with former national team and Chivas USA teammate Ramón Ramírez
were honored in a friendly against Paraguay
at the Estadio Azteca
.
with his wife and three children.
|1988–89
||rowspan="8"|UNAM
||rowspan="18"|Primera División
||5||0||||||||||5||0
|-
|1989–90
||17||0||||||||||17||0
|-
|1990–91
|||40||3||||||||||40||3
|-
|1991–92
|||40||0||||||||||40||0
|-
|1992–93
|||13||4||||||||||13||4
|-
|1993–94
|||20||3||||||||||20||3
|-
|1994–95
|||37||4||||||||||37||4
|-
|1995–96
|||32||5||||||||||32||5
|-
|1996–97||rowspan="4"|Guadalajara
||39||6||||||||||39||6
|-
|1997–98||32||1||||||||||32||1
|-
|1998–99||39||1||||||||||39||1
|-
|1999–00|||34||2||||||||||34||2
|-
|2000–01||rowspan="6"|UANL||29||3||||||||||29||3
|-
|2001–02||33||5||||||||||33||5
|-
|2002–03||18||3||||||||||18||3
|-
|2003–04||37||1||||||||||37||1
|-
|2004–05||20||3||||||||||20||3
|-
|2005–06||6||0||||||||||6||0
|-
|2006||rowspan="4"|Chivas USA
||rowspan="4"|Major League
Soccer
||20||6||||||||||20||6
|-
|2007
||25||3||||||||||25||3
|-
|2008
||14||0||||||||||14||0
|-
|2009
||5||0||||||||||5||0
491||44||||||||||491||44
64||9||||||||||64||9
555||53||||||||||555||53
|-
|1. ||November 8, 1992 ||Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown
, Saint Vincent
|| ||align=center|2–0 ||align=center|4–0 ||1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification
|-
|2. ||November 22, 1992 ||Estadio Azteca
, Mexico City
, Mexico
|| ||align=center|2–0 ||align=center|4–0 ||1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification
|-
|3. ||December 14, 1994 ||Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico || ||align=center|3–1 ||align=center|5–1 ||Friendly
|-
|4. ||October 11, 1995 ||Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
, Los Angeles
, United States
|| ||align=center|1–1 ||align=center|2–1 ||Friendly
|-
|5. ||January 31, 2001 ||Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States || ||align=center|1–0 ||align=center|2–3 ||Friendly
|-
|6. ||May 1, 2001 ||Estadio Jalisco
, Guadalajara, Mexico || ||align=center|1–0 ||align=center|3–3 ||Friendly
|}
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...
footballer. He last played for Chivas USA
C.D. Chivas USA
Club Deportivo Chivas USA is an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California that competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada....
in 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...
.
He has the record for most caps with the Mexico national team
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...
, as well as the world record for the most capped outfield player with 178 caps and joint world record for most caps of any player, which he shares with Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Deayea and Egyptian midfielder Ahmed Hassan
Ahmed Hassan
Ahmed Hassan is an Egyptian footballer. He currently plays as an attacking midfielder or on the right wing for the Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek SC and the Egyptian national team...
.
Career
Nicknamed El Emperador ("The Emperor"), Suárez began his club career with UNAM PumasClub Universidad Nacional
Club Universidad Nacional A.C., more commonly known as Pumas de la UNAM, or just Pumas, is a Mexican professional football club based in Mexico City...
, where he played from 1988 to 1996 where he became champion in 1991. He moved to Guadalajara as an important piece for the 1996 Apertura, and remained there for 3 years, through the 1999 Clausura where he became champion in the Verano 1997 tournament, and was called to the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
. After being in the All Mexican Team, as an important and solid defender he was transferred to Tigres.
Suárez then moved on to UANL Tigres, where he played from 1999 to the end of 2005. He led the team's defense during that time, and was league runner-up twice, in 2001 and 2003. His last game with Tigres, and in the Mexican league, was a semi-final Clásico Regiomontano
Clásico Regiomontano
Clásico Regiomontano is a football derby in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, between crosstown rival teams Monterrey and UANL.Since the first Clásico in 1974, the two teams have competed 91 times for bragging rights and city honour...
in which he was sent off in a controversial referee decision. Previous to this incident, he already had disagreements with the team's management. Tigre's directive organization had asked Suarez to retire for years and join the management, but Suarez had refused. Other differences in defensive style where also cause for conflict with the teams management. The semi-final was the last excuse for separation.
In 2006, he moved to 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...
to play for Chivas USA.
On March 8, 2009 after negotiations with his contract fell, Suarez announced his retirement. However, on March 20, 2009, he decided to return to professional soccer for another year. He was the last active soccer player left from Mexico's 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...
squad until he announced his retirement on March 26, 2010.
On September 5, 2010, Suárez came out of retirement to play for the Carolina Railhawks in an exhibition game with the Pumas Morelos
Pumas Morelos
Pumas Morelos is a Mexican football club which plays in Coyoacán, Mexico City. They compete in the Liga de Ascenso division, and are the satellite team to Club Universidad Nacional.-Stadium:...
.
International career
Claudio was a member and starter for Mexico in the 1994 FIFA World Cup1994 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...
in the United States as well as the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
in France. Claudio was picked to go to the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
in Germany with the Mexican National Team. This FIFA World Cup meant his third World Cup in his career. Despite being picked for the squad he saw no action, but he did wear his legendary number 2 jersey.
Claudio captained the Mexican National Team for many years and represented Mexico 178 times making him the player with the most caps in history for the Mexican Natioanl Team as well as giving him the FIFA world record for most caps by a field player and a North American Record.
On March 25, 2007, Suárez along with former national team and Chivas USA teammate Ramón Ramírez
Ramón Ramírez
Jesús Ramón Ramírez Ceceña is a retiredMexican footballer. He is one of the all-time most capped players for the Mexican national football team, and last played as a midfielder for Chivas USA in the Major League Soccer .Ramirez was meant to be one of the best Mexican players since Hugo Sánchez,...
were honored in a friendly against Paraguay
Paraguay national football team
The Paraguay national football team is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association and represents Paraguay in men's international football competitions. The team has reached the second round of the World Cup on four occasions . The 2010 trip also featured their first appearance in the...
at the Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca is a stadium in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team and the Mexican team Club América.The stadium was the venue for football soccer in the 1968 Summer Olympics....
.
Personal life
Suárez currently resides in Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
with his wife and three children.
Career statistics
|-|1988–89
Primera División de México 1988–89
-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Group 1:-Group 2:-Final:*Cruz Azul 2-3 ; 2-2 AméricaAmérica won the championship.-References:*...
||rowspan="8"|UNAM
Club Universidad Nacional
Club Universidad Nacional A.C., more commonly known as Pumas de la UNAM, or just Pumas, is a Mexican professional football club based in Mexico City...
||rowspan="18"|Primera División
Primera División de México
The Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
||5||0||||||||||5||0
|-
|1989–90
Primera División de México 1989–90
-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Quarterfinal:*Toluca 1-1 ; 0-3 América*Necaxa 0-0 ; 1-3 U.N.A.M.*U.A.T. 3-1 ; 1-3 Puebla*U.A.N.L...
||17||0||||||||||17||0
|-
|1990–91
Primera División de México 1990–91
-Overview:It was contested by 20 teams, and U.N.A.M. won the championship.-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Quarterfinal:*Morelia 0-1 ; 1-5 U.N.A.M.*Puebla 4-0 ; 0-1 Monterrey*Guadalajara 5-2 ; 3-0 Cruz Azul...
|||40||3||||||||||40||3
|-
|1991–92
Primera División de México 1991–92
-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Repechaje round:*América 2-0 ; 0-4 Cruz Azul*U.A.T. 2-1 ; 1-4 Veracruz-Quarterfinal:*Cruz Azul 1-3 ; 4-2 Atlante*Veracruz 2-2 ; 0-4 Necaxa*Puebla 3-1 ; 1-2 Guadalajara*U.N.A.M...
|||40||0||||||||||40||0
|-
|1992–93
Primera División de México 1992–93
-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Repechaje round:*Veracruz 1-1 ; 0-1 U.A.G.*U.A.N.L. 3-0 ; 1-4 U.N.A.M.-Quarterfinal:*Monterrey 1-1 ; 3-1 U.A.G.*Cruz Azul 0-3 ; 4-3 América*U.A.N.L...
|||13||4||||||||||13||4
|-
|1993–94
Primera División de México 1993–94
-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Repechaje round:*Necaxa 0-2 ; 2-2 América*Morelia 2-2 ; 3-2 Guadalajara-Quarterfinal:*Morelia 0-3 ; 0-3 U.A.G.*América 1-1 ; 2-1 Cruz Azul*Atlante 1-1 ; 2-3 Toluca...
|||20||3||||||||||20||3
|-
|1994–95
Primera División de México 1994–95
-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Repechaje round:*Monterrey 2-0 ; 0-2 U.A.G.*Veracruz 1-1 ; 0-0 Puebla-Quarterfinal:*Santos 3-1 ; 0-2 Guadalajara*U.A.G. 0-2 ; 1-2 Necaxa*U.N.A.M...
|||37||4||||||||||37||4
|-
|1995–96
Primera División de México 1995–96
-Group 1:-Group 2:-Group 3:-Group 4:-Repechaje round:*U.A.N.L. 4-1 ; 1-3 León*América 2-0 ; 0-0 U.N.A.M.-Quarterfinal:*Veracruz 1-1 ; 2-2 Atlas*Cruz Azul 0-3 ; 2-0 América*Monterrey 2-2 ; 0-0 Atlético Celaya*U.A.N.L...
|||32||5||||||||||32||5
|-
|1996–97||rowspan="4"|Guadalajara
C.D. Guadalajara
Club Deportivo Guadalajara , is a Mexican professional football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Guadalajara plays in the Primera División de México and is the most successful club in Mexican football, having won 11 First Division titles, 7 Campeón de Campeones and 2 Copa México...
||39||6||||||||||39||6
|-
|1997–98||32||1||||||||||32||1
|-
|1998–99||39||1||||||||||39||1
|-
|1999–00|||34||2||||||||||34||2
|-
|2000–01||rowspan="6"|UANL||29||3||||||||||29||3
|-
|2001–02||33||5||||||||||33||5
|-
|2002–03||18||3||||||||||18||3
|-
|2003–04||37||1||||||||||37||1
|-
|2004–05||20||3||||||||||20||3
|-
|2005–06||6||0||||||||||6||0
|-
|2006||rowspan="4"|Chivas USA
C.D. Chivas USA
Club Deportivo Chivas USA is an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California that competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada....
||rowspan="4"|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...
||20||6||||||||||20||6
|-
|2007
2007 Major League Soccer season
The 2007 Major League Soccer season was the 12th season in league history. The season began on April 7 and concluded with MLS Cup 2007 on November 18, 2007 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C.....
||25||3||||||||||25||3
|-
|2008
2008 Major League Soccer season
The 2008 Major League Soccer season was the 13th season in league history. The season began on March 29 and ended with MLS Cup 2008, on November 23 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.-Changes from the 2007 season:...
||14||0||||||||||14||0
|-
|2009
2009 Major League Soccer season
The 2009 Major League Soccer season was the 14th season of Major League Soccer. The season began on March 19 and ended with Real Salt Lake winning the MLS Cup 2009, on November 22 at Qwest Field in Seattle, Washington-Changes from the 2008 season:...
||5||0||||||||||5||0
491||44||||||||||491||44
64||9||||||||||64||9
555||53||||||||||555||53
International goals
- Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.
|-
|1. ||November 8, 1992 ||Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown
Kingstown
Kingstown is the chief port of Saint Vincent, and the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 25,418 Kingstown is a centre for the island's agricultural industry and a port of entry for tourists...
, Saint Vincent
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....
|| ||align=center|2–0 ||align=center|4–0 ||1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification
1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the North, Central American and Caribbean zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification....
|-
|2. ||November 22, 1992 ||Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca is a stadium in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team and the Mexican team Club América.The stadium was the venue for football soccer in the 1968 Summer Olympics....
, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, 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...
|| ||align=center|2–0 ||align=center|4–0 ||1994 FIFA World Cup Qualification
|-
|3. ||December 14, 1994 ||Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico || ||align=center|3–1 ||align=center|5–1 ||Friendly
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
|-
|4. ||October 11, 1995 ||Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|| ||align=center|1–1 ||align=center|2–1 ||Friendly
|-
|5. ||January 31, 2001 ||Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States || ||align=center|1–0 ||align=center|2–3 ||Friendly
|-
|6. ||May 1, 2001 ||Estadio Jalisco
Estadio Jalisco
The Estadio Jalisco is a football stadium located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It is the third largest Mexican football stadium behind Estadio Azteca and Estadio Olimpico Universitario...
, Guadalajara, Mexico || ||align=center|1–0 ||align=center|3–3 ||Friendly
|}
Mexican National Team
- FIFA Confederations CupFIFA Confederations CupThe FIFA Confederations Cup is an association football tournament for national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships , along with the FIFA World Cup winner and the host nation, to bring the number of teams...
(1): 19991999 FIFA Confederations Cup-Group B:---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi-finals:-----Third place play-off:-Final:-Awards:-Top scorers:6 goals Cuauhtémoc Blanco Marzouq Al-Otaibi Ronaldinho4 goals Alex3 goals José Manuel Abundis Zé Roberto-Notes:... - CONCACAF Gold CupCONCACAF Gold CupThe CONCACAF Gold Cup is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.The Gold Cup is held every two years and when it does not fall the same year as an...
(3): 19931993 CONCACAF Gold Cup-Group B:---------------------Bracket:-Semifinals:-----Third place match:-Final:-Top scorers:11 goals Zaguinho5 goals Luis Miguel Salvador4 goals Eduardo Bennett3 goals Juan Arnoldo Cayasso Octavio Mora...
, 19961996 CONCACAF Gold CupThe 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ....
, 19981998 CONCACAF Gold CupThe 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ....
Pumas UNAM
- Primera División de MéxicoPrimera División de MéxicoThe Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
(1): 1990–91
Chivas Guadalajara
- Primera División de MéxicoPrimera División de MéxicoThe Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
(1): Verano 1997Primera División de MéxicoThe Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...