Alberto Delgado (Cuban footballer)

Alberto Delgado y Pérez (born March 11, 1978) is a Cuban retired footballer.

Alberto Delgado
Personal information
Full name Alberto Delgado y Pérez
Date of birth (1978-03-11) March 11, 1978
Place of birth Havana, Cuba
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2004 Ciudad de la Habana
2004 Colorado Rapids 13 (1)
2005–2008 Puerto Rico Islanders 38 (0)
2008–2009 → Sevilla Bayamon (loan) (14)
International career‡
1998–2002 Cuba 22 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 February 2008
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 February 2008

Club career

Before joining the Rapids in 2005,[1] he played for Ciudad de la Habana of Cuba and was one of the most dangerous players on the Cuba national team.

Delgado scored a goal and added three assists in his year with Colorado. He wears Pérez on the back of his jersey to honor his mother. He was released by the Rapids before the 2005 season, signing with Puerto Rico.

In 2008, he was loaned to Sevilla Bayamon in the Puerto Rico Soccer League and decided to stay with them instead of the Puerto Rico Islanders.

International career

He made his international debut for Cuba in 1998 and has earned a total of 22 caps, scoring 4 goals. He scored all of his goals in one game against Surinam, making him the only Cuban to score 4 in an official international match.[2] His final international was a January 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup match against South Korea.

Defection to the United States

Delgado defected from Cuba during that 2002 Gold Cup, together with cousin and future Colorado Rapids teammate Rey Ángel Martínez.[3] He and Martínez ran away from their teammates halfway through breakfast, literally running for more than thirty minutes before finding a Spanish-speaking gas station attendant who then called a cab for them. Martínez made his way there shortly after that.

International goals
Scores and results list Cuba's goal tally first.[4]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 May 2001Centre of Excellence Stadium, Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago Suriname1–24–32001 Caribbean Cup
2.2–2
3.3–2
4.4–2

References
  1. Rapids Sign Second Cuban in MLS History Forward Alberto Delgado - Colorado Rapids
  2. biografico de los jugadores cubanos que se encuentran jugando en la hermana isla Archived 2018-01-19 at the Wayback Machine - El Blog del Futbol Cubano (in Spanish)
  3. Cuban soccer defectors starting anew at St. Thomas Archived 2011-06-16 at the Wayback Machine - Cubanet
  4. "Delgado, Alberto". National Football Teams. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
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