José Luis Chilavert
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Paraguay
Born 27 July 1965 in Luque (Paraguay), José Luis Felix Chilavert Gonzales (his complete name) was one of the greatest Goalkeepers in the World , winning 3 IFFHS Awards as THE WORLD’S BEST GOALKEEPER 1995, 1997, 1998 and also THE SECOND BEST GOAL SCORER in the World among the Goalkeepers (behind Brazil’s Rogerio Ceni) , he scored 67 goals (free kick specialist) in his professional career, holding 3 Guiness Records : 1 – the only Goalkeeper to score a hat trick in a match. 2- The only Goalkeeper to execute free kicks in World Cup . 3- The Goalkeeper with the most goal scoring with the National team (8 goals). He grew up in Luque (Paraguay) where he began as Goalkeeper his career in the youth and in 1982 with Sportivo Luqueno (67 matches, 4 goals) before joining Guarani in 1984 for one season (19 matches, 1 goal) and one Primera Division title. San Lorenzo (1985-1988) was his third station with 122 matches without goal , he moved later to Spain where he played for Real Zaragoza from 1988 to 1992 (79 matches, 1 goal). He joined Velez Sarsfield in Argentina in 1992 ( 236 matches, 36 goals), winning there 9 titles (4 Argentina Champion titles and 5 continental titles). The two most important were the winning of the Copa Libertadores 1994, defeating San Pablo on penalties. He stopped a penalty and converted the one he executed and the conquest of the Copa Europea-Sudamericana in 1994, defeating AC Milan in Tokyo. It was his greatest career station, staying in Argentina for ten years. He went then to France to Racing Strasbourg where he played 50 matches from 2001 to 2003 and won the Coupe de France 2001, scoring the winning penalty in the shootout victory ! He returned to South America, to Penarol (Uruguay) in 2003 where he won the Primera Division title 2003 before to finish his career in Velez Sarsfield in Argentina. Jose Luis Chilavert earned 74 international caps for Paraguay from 1989 to 2003 and achieved a international goalkeeper record of 8 international goals ! He participated in the World Cup 1998 in France, where he became the first goalkeeper ever to score a direct free kick in the World Cup finals (elected as the Best Goalkeeper of the World Cup) and in the World Cup 2002, representing his team also in Copa America 1991, 1993 and 1997. He announced his retirement from football in december 2003, was guest commentator in TV , worked against corruption and was involved in political of Paraguay. In 2014, the Legislature of Buenos Aires named José Luis Chilavert Outstanding Sports Personnality of the City .
