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Hugo Perez
Personal information
Full name	Hugo Ernesto Perez
Date of birth	November 8, 1963 (age 43)
Place of birth	, El Salvador
Height	ft  in
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1982 1982-1983 1983-1984 1986 1989-1990 1990-1991 1992 1994 1994-1996	Los Angeles Aztecs Tampa Bay Rowdies San Diego Sockers Los Angeles Heat Red Star Paris Örgryte IS Al-Ittihad Los Angeles Salsa C.D. FAS
National team2
1984–1994	United States	73 (16)
Teams managed
2002- 2007-	University of San Francisco (assistant) California Victory (assistant)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 May 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 22 June 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Hugo Ernesto Perez (born November 8, 1963) is an American former soccer midfielder. He was known as a crafty and creative left-footed midfielder. His left foot was so dominant that it was rare to see him touch the ball with his right foot during a game.

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Football career 3 1984 Summer Olympics 4 Retirement 5 External Links 6 References

Perez, born in El Salvador, where both his grandfather and father both played professionally for C.D. FAS, the club with which Perez would finish his career. He migrated with his family to the United States when he was 11 and gained his U.S. citizenship in the mid-1980s. He chose to forego college.

In 1982 he signed with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the NASL. Perez also spent time with the Tampa Bay Rowdies before ending up with the San Diego Sockers. In 1988, he was the championship MVP when the Sockers won the MISL championship. That summer he joined Ajax during the team's pre-season. Ajax manager Johan Cruyff expressed an interest in signing him, but the Sockers refused to release Perez.

Cruyff then attempted to work a transfer for Perez to Italian club Parma in 1990, but Parma needed Perez to play in the World Cup in order to get him a work permit. When U.S. coach Gansler left Perez off the U.S. roster due to a question of match fitness due to injury, this nixed the move to Italy. Instead, Perez moved to France where he played with Red Star Paris. From France, Perez moved to Swedish First Division club Örgryte IS then Saudi Arabian First Division club Al-Ittihad.

In 1994, he returned to the United States and played for the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League. The Salsa folded at the end of the 1994 season and Perez made his last move, to El Salvador First Division Club Deportivo FAS, commonly known as C.D. FAS. In both of Perez' years with the club, 1994-1995 and 1995-1996, C.D. FAS won the El Salvador championship. He retired in 1996 from professional soccer.

Perez was a member of the American squad that competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He also helped the USA qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which he missed when he tore ligaments in his leg playing for Red Star Paris, a French Second Division club.^[1] He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1991. He played 73 international matches for the US between 1984 and 1994, in which he scored thirteen goals. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Perez played in only the second round game against Brazil. Sadly, for such a talented midfielder, this was his only opportunity to play at the game's highest level.

After retiring from playing, Perez moved to the San Fransisco area where he has served as the principal for the Living Hope Christian School. In August 2002, he joined the University of San Francisco as an assistant coach to its men's soccer team.^[2] On December 7, 2007, the California Victory, a USL First Division expansion franchise announced that Perez had joined its staff as an assistant coach.^[3]

• BigSoccer discussion board on Hugo Perez
• USSoccerPlayers bio of Perez
• Photo of Perez at 1994 World Cup

Preceded by Tab Ramos

U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year 1991

Succeeded by Marcelo Balboa

	United States squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Meola | 2 Lapper | 3 Burns | 4 Kooiman | 5 Dooley | 6 Harkes | 7 Perez | 8 Stewart | 9 Ramos | 10 Wegerle | 11 Wynalda | 12 Sommer | 13 Jones | 14 Klopas | 15 Moore | 16 Sorber | 17 Balboa | 18 Friedel | 19 Reyna | 20 Caligiuri | 21 Clavijo | 22 Lalas | Coach: Milutinović