Edgar Estrada
Encyclopedia
Edgar Eladio Estrada Solís (born November 16, 1967), popularly known as El Gato (The Cat) is a Guatemala
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 footballer who has played goalkeeper
Goalkeeper (football)
In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

 for several clubs in Guatemala's top division
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...

. He was capped
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 80 times for the Guatemala national football 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....

.

Club career

"El Gato" started his professional career at Aurora FC
Aurora FC
Aurora Fútbol Club are a Guatemalan professional football club. Once one of the most powerful teams in the country, the team has now been relegated to a lower division...

, winning the domestic league title in the 1992-93 season. He would remain there until 1996, when he joined CSD Comunicaciones. He helped that club win four consecutive league titles. In 2001, he signed with 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...

, where he won two more titles. He then had a second stint with Comunicaciones. On May 11, 2003, he scored his first career goal via a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

. He repeated such action one year later, against his former club Aurora.

After having retired due to a spine
Vertebral column
In human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column usually consisting of 24 articulating vertebrae, and 9 fused vertebrae in the sacrum and the coccyx. It is situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by intervertebral discs...

 injury, he surprisingly returned to play in 2005 for Comunicaciones. He then joined Deportivo Suchitepéquez
CD 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...

, of whom he was a member until the end of 2006. As of the 2008 Clausura tournament, he was playing for Club Petapa, which he joined in 2007. He retired after that season but in June 2008 it was said he would perhaps continue his career at Deportivo Zacapa.

Estrada was the leading goalkeeper in terms of goals against average
Goals against average
Goals Against Average is a statistic used in ice hockey, water polo, lacrosse, and soccer that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender....

 in 11 consecutive league tournaments.

National team

Estrada defended 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....

 between 1995 and 2003, appearing in 80 international matches and becoming the most capped player ever for the country, until Juan Carlos Plata
Juan Carlos Plata
Juan Carlos Plata is a Guatemalan retired football striker. He is the highest-scoring player in the history of Guatemala's top division...

 surpassed his mark in 2005. Estrada participated in the qualification processes
FIFA World Cup qualification
The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals. The FIFA World Cup is a global event, so qualification is required to reduce the large field of participants from about 200 to 32.Qualifying tournaments...

 for the 1998
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...

 and 2002
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...

 World Cups
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...

, receiving 25 goals in 20 matches.

In January 2001, after allowing 5 goals in a defeat 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...

, which eliminated Guatemala from the 2002 World Cup qualifying
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 199 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. and , as the co-hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition....

 campaign, he was highly criticised, to the extent of receiving death threat
Death threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...

s. He would not play any other official international matches that year. He appeared in three more official matches for Guatemala, before retiring from the national team in 2003.

Estrada played in three editions of the UNCAF Nations Cup
UNCAF Nations Cup
The Copa Centroamericana is a biennial association football tournament, held for the CONCACAF national teams of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The tournament has been held since 1991 as the UNCAF Nations Cup and doubles as a...

 and in five editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 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...

. He has represented his country in 20 FIFA World Cup qualification
FIFA World Cup qualification
The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals. The FIFA World Cup is a global event, so qualification is required to reduce the large field of participants from about 200 to 32.Qualifying tournaments...

 matches.

External links

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