Francisco "Pinula" López Contreras (born 17 September 1934) 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 former footballer.

Born in Santa Catarina Pinula

Santa Catarina Pinula

Santa Catarina Pinula is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala....

, source of his nickname, López made his domestic league debut with Comunicaciones in 1955, and would go on to play 14 seasons at that club, winning four league titles, one domestic cup, and three Campeón de Campeones (Guatemala Super Cup

Super Cup

A Super Cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in football, which often forms the curtain-raiser to a season. Most Super Cups are one-off fixtures between the League Champions and major Cup Winners of the previous season. Sometimes these are two-legged affairs, with a match played at...

). In 1956 he helped Comunicaciones win their first ever league title by scoring the championship-winning goal against arch-rivals 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...

. Two seasons later he would score again in the decisive match against Xelajú M.C.

Club Xelajú MC

Club Social y Deportivo Xelajú Mario Camposeco, commonly known as Xelajú MC or just Xela and nicknamed Superchivos are a Guatemalan professional football club competing in the Liga Nacional, the country's top footballing division. They are located in Quetzaltenango, Department of Quetzaltenango,...

 at the Estadio Mario Camposeco

Estadio Mario Camposeco

Estadio Mario Camposeco is a soccer stadium located in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. It is the home to one of the most traditional clubs in Guatemala, Xelajú MC . The stadium has a capacity of 11,000, and it was named after footballer Mario Camposeco, who played for Xelajú MC....

 in a 3-0 win that gave the title to Comunicaciones.

On 18 January 1959 Comunicaciones played a friendly match against Santos FC, with Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

's legend Pelé

Pelé

However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...

 in its squad, at the Estadio Mateo Flores

Estadio Mateo Flores

The Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores is a multi-use national stadium in Guatemala City, the largest in Guatemala. It was built in 1948, to host the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1950, and was renamed after long-distance runner Mateo Flores, winner of the 1952 Boston Marathon...

. Santos took a 2-0 lead with goals by Pelé and Pepe

José Macia

Pepe, real name José Macia, is a former association footballer and manager. He was left winger for Santos F.C. and the Brazilian national team...

, and nine minutes before the match ended, "Pinula" scored the 2-1.

Facing Municipal again in the title match of the 1959-60 season, Comunicaciones won 2-1 with the 1-1 equalizer netted by "Pinula". The title allowed Comunicaciones to compete in the first CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 1962, with "Pinula" scoring against C.D. Águila

C.D. Águila

Club Deportivo Águila is a Salvadoran football club based in San Miguel. They currently play in the Primera División de Fútbol Profesional, and are one of the most prestigious teams in the country along with long-time rivals Club Deportivo FAS...

 in the first round, and helping the team reach the final of the tournament against 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...

.

"Pinula" was part 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....

 which entered 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...

 for the first time during the 1958 World Cup qualifiers, and continued to represent the team four years later for the 1962 process. During the first stage of the latter, in a 4-4 draw 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...

, "Pinula" scored three goals becoming the only Guatemalan player to score a hat-trick

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

 against Costa Rica in a World Cup qualification match. In total, he scored five goals in six World Cup qualification matches.

A stadium in Santa Catarina Pinula, the Estadio Pinula Contreras, is named after him.

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