Óscar Pérez (footballer, born 1973)

Óscar Pérez Rojas (born 1 February 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.[1][2] Nicknamed "El Conejo" (Spanish for The Rabbit), he is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Mexican football history.[3]

This article is about the Mexican football player. For other similarly named persons, see Oscar Perez (disambiguation).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Pérez and the second or maternal family name is Rojas.
Óscar Pérez
Pérez playing for San Luis in 2011
Personal information
Full name Óscar Pérez Rojas
Date of birth (1973-02-01) 1 February 1973
Place of birth Mexico City, Mexico
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Cruz Azul (Goalkeeping coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–2019 Cruz Azul 416 (1)
2008–2009 → UANL (loan) 30 (0)
2009–2010 → Chiapas(loan) 30 (0)
2010–2011 → Necaxa (loan) 34 (0)
2011–2013 → San Luis (loan) 64 (0)
2013–2019 → Pachuca (loan) 171 (1)
Total 740 (2)
National team
1995–1996 Mexico U23 3 (1)
1997–2010 Mexico 55 (0)
Teams managed
2019– Cruz Azul (goalkeeping coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

With a club career spanning 26 seasons in Mexico's top flight, most notably with Cruz Azul and Pachuca, Pérez won the CONCACAF Champions League in three occasions, as well as two league titles and one domestic cup. He holds the national record for most league appearances, with 740.[4][5]

Pérez earned 55 caps for the Mexico national team between 1997 and 2010, winning three CONCACAF Gold Cup titles and the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. He also featured in the 1998, 2002 and 2010 editions of the FIFA World Cup, in the two latter as first choice goalkeeper.

Club career

He was the starting goalkeeper for Cruz Azul since 1997 with the team winning the championship in the 1997 Winter Season. Pérez debuted for the team in 1993, facing Atlas which ended in a 0–0 draw. He quickly became the starting goalkeeper for Cruz Azul and won the 1997 Invierno Final, where Cruz Azul defeated Club León by a score of 2–1.

In 2001, he helped steer Cruz Azul all the way to the final of the Copa Libertadores, a historic run for a Mexican club in the competition. With Pérez in goal, Cruz Azul was able to eliminate teams like Cerro Porteño, River Plate and Rosario Central, before playing Boca Juniors in the two-legged final.[6] In the final, they lost at home, and won in Buenos Aires to take the final to a penalty-shootout but lost 1–3.[7]

In a league game away to Estudiantes Tecos in 2006, Pérez scored by a header in stoppage time to equalise 1–1.[8] In 2007, he was given an award for a record-making 400 appearances at Cruz Azul.

He moved to UANL Tigres, starting 4 games in the Apertura 2008. Pérez's first game with Tigres was on 13 July 2008 in a friendly against his former team, Cruz Azul which ended in a draw 1–1. He was a great addition to Tigres as he maintained the least goal approaches of the Apertura 2008 tournament.

After a year with Tigres, he moved to Chiapas on loan where he played in the 2009–10 season.

For the Apertura 2010, Pérez moved to Club Necaxa. After leaving Club Necaxa Pérez joined with San Luis on loan.

On 16 May 2013, For the Apertura 2013, Pérez was loaned to Pachuca after finishing a spell with San Luis. He was given the number 21.

On 29 May 2016, Pérez won the Liga MX final with Pachuca. This broke his personal 19-year drought as well, making him the oldest champion in the league's history at 43-years-old and three months.[9] After the season, Pachuca extended his loan for another year.[10]

On 29 April 2017, Pérez scored a header on the last minute of a match against Cruz Azul to salvage a 2–2 draw. He became the oldest player to score a goal in the Liga MX.[11]

After winning the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League with Pachuca, Pérez postponed his retirement until after Pachuca's participation at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup.[12] Following the tournament, Pérez announced he planned on playing professionally for six more months, effectively postponing his retirement until after the 2017–18 Liga MX season.

On 23 July 2019, Pérez returned to his first club, Cruz Azul.[13] On 27 July, at the age of 46, he announced his retirement from football effective immediately after Cruz Azul's second round match of the Torneo Apertura 2019 against Toluca.[14][6]

International career

Pérez scored his first and only international goal for Mexico under-23 in a friendly against South Korea under-23,[15][16] scoring in injury time when Mexico were losing 1–0.[17]

Pérez was considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in Mexico and took over the spot for starting goalie during the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers, going on to play in the 2002 World Cup as the first-choice goalkeeper.[18] Once Javier Aguirre left the Mexico national team, Ricardo La Volpe became coach, and Oswaldo Sánchez took over his spot.

Guillermo Ochoa was expected to be the starting keeper for Mexico at the 2010 World Cup but in a surprise move, Pérez was called up and played as the starting goalkeeper in the tournament.[6][18] Following Mexico's loss in the Round of 16 to Argentina, Pérez announced his retirement from the national team on 14 July 2010.[19]

Career statistics

[20]

Club Div. Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental[lower-alpha 2] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cruz Azul Primera División de México
1993–94 70----70
1994–95 20020--220
1995–96 4010--50
1996–97 90--0090
1997–98 310--40350
1998–99 3203010360
1999–2000 39030--430
2000–01 32030140500
2001–02 33030--360
2002–03 3902090500
2003–04 460----460
2004–05 280----270
2005–06 28030--300
2006–07 39110--401
2007–08 31030--340
Total 41812402804701
Tigres UANL Primera División de México
2008–09 30020--320
Total 30020--320
Jaguares de Chiapas Primera División de México
2009–10 30020--320
Total 30020--320
Necaxa Primera División de México
2010–11 340----340
Total 340----340
San Luis F.C. Primera División de México
2011–12 310----310
2012–13 31020--330
Total 62020--640
Pachuca C.F. Primera División de México
2013–14 39010--400
2014–15 3000040340
2015–16 37000--370
2016–17 3611040391
2017–18 1202020160
2018–19 20100030
Total1661401001771
Total career 74023503808142
  1. Includes data from Copa Mexico (1994–1997, 2012–2019), Pre Libertadores (1998–2002) and InterLiga (2005–2008)
  2. Includes data from Copa Libertadores (2001, 2003), Concacaf Champions League (1996, 1997, 1998, 2014-15, 2016-17) and FIFA World Club Cup (2017)

International
Mexico[21]
YearAppsGoals
199710
199860
199940
200060
2001130
2002100
200310
200410
200540
200920
201070
Total550

Honours

Cruz Azul

Pachuca[6]

Mexico[6]

Individual

References
  1. http://www.espn.com.mx/futbol/mexico/nota/_/id/2698785/lo-que-dejo-el-draft-para-el-apertura-2016
  2. CRUZ AZUL FC ® [@Cruz_Azul_FC] (9 June 2016). "Transferencia temporal del Jugador @Oscar_Conejo21 a los @Tuzos. ¡Dale Conejo!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. rhzunam80 (27 July 2019). "Oscar Perez, Mexican goalkeeping legend, retires from football". FMF State Of Mind. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  4. admin (25 October 2017). "MEXICO : HISTORIC RECORD FOR OSCAR PEREZ ROJAS". IFFHS. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  5. FIFA.com. "FIFA Club World Cup 2017 - News - Oscar Perez, Pachuca's ageless Rabbit - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  6. "Oscar Perez, Mexican goalkeeping legend, retires from football". SB Nation. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  7. "Copa Libertadores de América 2001". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  8. http://espnfc.com/en/gamecast/198801/gamecast.html?soccernet=true&cc=4716
  9. "Oscar Perez, Jonathan Orozco to steal the spotlight in Liga MX's Gran Final". ESPN. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  10. CRUZ AZUL FC ® [@Cruz_Azul_FC] (9 June 2016). "Transferencia temporal del Jugador @Oscar_Conejo21 a los @Tuzos. ¡Dale Conejo!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. "Pachuca keeper, Liga MX's oldest player, scores late winner". Dirty Tackle. 30 April 2017.
  12. http://www.goal.com/es-mx/noticias/oscar-perez-posterga-su-retiro-para-jugar-el-mundial-de/xpqac6aej98s1qcmt61794vjf
  13. "CONFIRMADO: Conejo Pérez regresa al Cruz Azul" (in Spanish). Los Pleyers. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  14. "Oscar Perez of Cruz Azul gestures after retiring". Getty. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/groups_and_teams/team/mexico/oscar_perez
  16. http://www.rsssf.com/tabless/skor-u23-intres.html
  17. http://rdfc.com.ne.kr/int/skor-u23-intres-1991.html
  18. "Mexico's Oscar Perez Living Out Dream World Cup Scenario". Goal. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  19. "World Cup 2010 Starter Oscar Perez Retires From Tricolor". Goal. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  21. "Óscar Pérez". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  22. "Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones CONCACAF 1996". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  23. "Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones CONCACAF 1997". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
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