Walter Centeno

Wálter Centeno Corea (born 6 October 1974) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder and current manager of Guadalupe.

Wálter Centeno Corea
Personal information
Full name Wálter Centeno Corea[1]
Date of birth (1974-10-06) 6 October 1974
Place of birth Palmar Sur, Costa Rica
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Guadalupe (manager)
Youth career
Compañeros de Tibás
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2002 Saprissa 152 (18)
1995–1996 → Belén (loan) 52 (3)
2002–2003 AEK Athens 14 (2)
2003–2012 Saprissa 251 (47)
2013 Bayamón 11 (3)
Total 480 (72)
International career
1995–2009 Costa Rica 137 (24)
Managerial career
2015–2016 Puntarenas
2016–2019 Municipal Grecia
2019–2021 Saprissa
2021– Guadalupe
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Centeno and the second or maternal family name is Corea.

He was a regular member of the Costa Rica national team and holds the record for appearances, having gained 137 caps (135 FIFA official caps) and scored 24 goals.

Club career

Saprissa

Nicknamed Paté, Centeno started his career at Saprissa, who loaned him out to Belén for whom he made his professional debut on 4 February 1995 against Alajuelense. He scored his first goal on 3 September 1995 for Belén against Turrialba.[3] He earned his nickname in his childhood due to his love for eating pate's.[4]

AEK Athens

After seven years at Saprissa Centeno had a short spell abroad when he moved to Greece to play for AEK Athens.[5] While playing for AEK, he participated in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage managing to score in the team's away home draws against Real Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in the 2–2 draw and Roma at Stadio Olimpico in 1–1 draw, as they achieved the record of drawing all the matches of the group stage.[6] After one season, Centeno filed an appeal for debts of club to him and was released.[7]

Back at Saprissa

He returned to Saprissa, where he was named the best player of the 2003–04 Costa Rican season by the Costa Rican sports media, after scoring nine goals while orchestrating Saprissa's offense, helping the team to win the league.

With Saprissa, he won 10 national championships and one CONCACAF Champions Cup, winning the title with a 3–2 aggregate win over Mexico's UNAM Pumas in the final. He was part of the team that played the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup,[8] where Saprissa finished third behind São Paulo and Liverpool. His appearance at this tournament was considered as outstanding by FIFA experts.

He retired in 2012, his final league match was on 5 May 2012 for Saprissa against Santos de Guápiles.[3] Saprissa retired the no. 8 shirt in his honour as well as definitely retiring the no. 10 shirt of Alonso Solís.[9]

Puerto Rico

In April 2013, Centeno came out of retirement to join Puerto Rican side Bayamón.[10]

International career

Centeno played his first game for the Costa Rica national football team on 27 September 1995 against Jamaica.[11] He has been a fixture for the team for the last thirteen years, playing in the Pan American Games held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1995; the Copa América tournaments of 1997,[12] 2001[13] and 2004;[14] plus the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2006.[8] On 1 April 2009, he surpassed the record of caps for Costa Rica (held then by Luis Marín, 124 caps, 5 goals) as at 18 November 2009 he has 137 caps and 24 goals.[15] He was the captain of Costa Rica national football team for the last part of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifications. Rodrigo Kenton, the appointed manager replacing the fired Hernan Medford, chose him for covering this important role in the team because of his experience, hardening and leadership. Centeno played his last game on the national team on 18 November 2009, where they tied 1–1, in which he scored. The game meant that Costa Rica will not be in World Cup 2010. Centeno's goal was his last with as an International player, and it also marked the last goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying stage.

Shortly after that game, he announced his quitting from national team.

Personal life

Centeno is a son of Benigno Centeno and Lidieth Corea and he is married to Vivian Gutiérrez with whom he has three children.

Career statistics
Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Centeno goal.
List of international goals scored by Walter Centeno
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
124 February 1999San José, Costa Rica Jamaica9–0Friendly
225 November 1999Alajuela, Costa Rica Slovakia4–0Friendly
31 July 2000Alajuela, Costa Rica Panama5–1Friendly
430 May 2001San Pedro Sula, Honduras Panama2–12001 UNCAF Nations Cup
53 June 2001San Pedro Sula, Honduras El Salvador1–12001 UNCAF Nations Cup
626 January 2001Miami, United States Haiti2–12002 CONCACAF Gold Cup
79 May 2002San Salvador, El Salvador Colombia1–2Friendly
813 February 2003Panama City, Panama Guatemala1–12003 UNCAF Nations Cup
916 July 2003Boston, United States Cuba3–02003 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1019 July 2003Boston, United States El Salvador5–22003 CONCACAF Gold Cup
11
12
1312 January 2005San José, Costa Rica Haiti3–3Friendly
143 September 2005Panama City, Panama Panama3–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
157 September 2005San José, Costa Rica Trinidad and Tobago2–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
166 June 2007Miami, United States Canada1–22007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
179 June 2007Miami, United States Haiti1–12007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1811 June 2007Miami, United States Guadeloupe1–02007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1917 October 2007San José, Costa Rica Haiti1–1Friendly
2011 October 2008Paramaribo, Suriname Suriname4–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
211 April 2009San José, Costa Rica El Salvador1–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
2210 July 2009Florida, United States Canada2–22009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2310 October 2009San José, Costa Rica Trinidad and Tobago4–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
2418 November 2009Montevideo, Uruguay Uruguay1–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

Honours

Deportivo Saprissa

Costa Rica

Individual

See also

References
  1. "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Costa Rica" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. "FIFA Club World Championship Japan 2005 – Official Rosters". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 December 2005. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005.
  3. “Paté” Centeno se despidió de la afición junto con sus amigos - CRHoy (in Spanish)
  4. Walter 'Paté' Centeno anunció su retiro - Mediotiempo (in Spanish)
  5. Walter "Paté" Centeno jugó con el AEK de Atenas el año 2002. Archived 17 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine - Al Día (in Spanish)
  6. "12/11/2003: Ολοκληρώνεται η αήττητη πορεία της ΑΕΚ στα 'αστέρια'". sport24.gr.
  7. "Βάλτερ Σεντένο". kitrinomavro.gr.
  8. Walter Centeno – FIFA competition record (archived)
  9. Centeno escogerá a sus compañeros en juego de hoy - Nación (in Spanish)
  10. Walter Centeno regresa al futbol con el Bayamón F. C. de Puerto Rico - Nación (in Spanish)
  11. Walter Centeno quedó fuera de Copa de Oro por esguince (with bio) Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine - Nación (in Spanish)
  12. Copa América 1997 - RSSSF
  13. Copa América 2001 - RSSSF
  14. Copa América 2004 - RSSSF
  15. Mamrud, Roberto. "Walter Centeno Corea – Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
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