Playing position Role Football player 1978–1979 Platense Height 1.86 m | Years Team Position Goalkeeper Name Luis Mora | |
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Full name Luis Ricardo Guevara Mora Date of birth (1961-09-02) 2 September 1961 (age 54) Place of birth | ||
Luis Ricardo Guevara Mora (born 2 September 1961) is a Salvadoran former football goalkeeper.
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Nicknamed el Negro, he became a member of the Salvadoran national team and represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Guevara remains one of El Salvador's best goalkeepers. He was known for his outstanding reflexes, leaping ability and acrobatic style of play, as well as his controversial antics off the field, which also earned him another nickname, 'el Loco'. He is the all-time cap leader for the El Salvadoran national team.
Club career
In his early years, Guevara was a baseball and basketball enthousiastic despite future national team goalkeeper Raul Antonio Garcia being one of his friends in school. He was tempted to train with Coca Cola by former national team goalkeeper Raul Magana and then joined Platense to make his senior league debut at 16 years. He then played for Atletico Marte and after the 1982 World Cup in Spain he moved to Spanish side Real Murcia and had a spell in United States indoor soccer. On his return to El Salvador he played for Once Lobos and again for Marte but since the fans still blamed him for the 10–1 drubbing by Hungary he left for Guatemala in the end, to play for Club Xelaju MC and Aurora FC. He only returned to his country after five years and spent time again at Atletico Marte before retiring at Alianza in 2000. He then became goalkeeper coach at the national team but returned to Atletico Marte as a player/coach when they were relegated to the Salvadoran second division. Finally, he retired again at San Salvador F.C. to become a manager.
International career
At the age of 17, he was called up to play a friendly game against Panama in April 1979. He became the youngest goalkeeper in the national team's history.
Prior to the 1982 World Cup finals, during the qualification rounds, he only conceded one goal and played in a memorable victory against Mexico. At the finals tournament in Spain, he became one of the youngest goalkeepers to participate in the World Cup. In the first round, El Salvador lost to Hungary 10–1, and Guevara became the goalkeeper with the most goals scored against in a single match, a record that stands as of 2014.
He played 91 times for his national team in which he earned 50 senior caps. He represented his country in 13 World Cup qualification matches. His final international game was a November 1996 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Panama.
Personal life
Guevara is married to Flor de Maria and the couple have three children: Luis Ricardo, Ana Luisa and Gabriel Sebastian.