Puerto Rico national football team

Puerto Rico
Nickname(s) El Huracán Azul
(The Blue Hurricane)
Association Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol (FPF)
Confederation CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation CFU (Caribbean)
Head coach Amado Guevara
Captain Héctor Ramos
Most caps Andrés Cabrero, Héctor Ramos (35)
Top scorer Héctor Ramos (18)
Home stadium Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel
FIFA code PUR
First colors
Second colors
FIFA ranking
Current 175 Decrease 2 (20 September 2018)
Highest 97 (March 1994)
Lowest 202 (November 2004)
Elo ranking
Current 189 (10 September 2018)
Highest 171 (May 21–25, 1993)
Lowest 201 (February 3, 2001; July 21, 2002)
First international
 Cuba 1–1 Puerto Rico Puerto Rico
(Havana, Cuba; November 12, 1940)
Biggest win
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 9–0 Saint Martin 
(Port-au-Prince, Haiti; September 9, 2012)
Biggest defeat
 Netherlands Antilles 15–0 Puerto Rico Puerto Rico
(Caracas, Venezuela; January 15, 1959)

The Puerto Rico national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Puerto Rico) is governed by the Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol (FPF). Puerto Rico's national football team is a member of the Caribbean Football Union and part of CONCACAF.

History

1940–1990

Puerto Rico's first international match was against Cuba in 1940 in which they drew 1–1. They did not record a win until a 3–0 result in 1970 against the Bahamas. In 1972, Puerto Rico recorded a 1–0 win against Panama in a friendly. Wins between the 1980s and 1990s were mainly against the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Martinique.[1]

Chris Armas years (1993–1994)

Chris Armas played for Puerto Rico in the 1993 Caribbean Cup. In the tournament, Puerto Rico established a 4-game win streak without conceding a goal.[1] The competition was not then recognized by FIFA, and so his five matches were considered friendlies. As a result, he was later allowed to switch his allegiance to the United States of America,[2] for whom he has since been capped over fifty times.

1995–2007

Puerto Rico did not record a win, and had only four draws. During this time, the team dropped down in the FIFA Rankings to 202nd.[1]

2008–2015

Puerto Rico (in blue) playing Spain in 2012.

Over the past few years, Puerto Rico has begun to emerge as a contender, like they were in the 1990s. In 2008, they drew with Trinidad and Tobago. They also won for the first time since 1994 when they beat the Dominican Republic in the first round of the World Cup qualifiers. Although they lost the first leg 4–0 to Honduras, they fought a 2–2 tie in the home leg in the second round. The Puerto Rican Football Federation has announced plans that would allow them to participate in the next editions of the Caribbean Cup and Gold Cup.[3]

Puerto Rico were supposed to make their debut in the 21st Central American and Caribbean Games in 2010 on home soil in Mayagüez, but due to the controversy of CONCACAF not approving the stadiums, the team couldn't compete in the football event. The team was supposed to play in Venezuela instead but due to the lack of teams, the male event was canceled.[4]

Puerto Rico faced World and European champion Spain in a friendly on August 15, 2012, losing 2–1 in the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

On June 5, 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against Bermuda, their last friendly before the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup ending in a 1–1 draw. After losing to Grenada 2–1 in the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Puerto Rico's Interim coach Jose 'Cukito' Martinez resigned and a few days later, the Uruguayan Carlos Avedissian solved his visa problems and could finally arrive as the head coach of the national team. On December 11, 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against MLS team New York City losing 2–1.

2016–2017

Jack Stefanowski era

On May 22, 2016, Puerto Rico played a friendly match against the United States for the first time ever ending in a 3–1 loss.[5] They advanced for the first time to the third round of the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification when they defeated Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda in the second round, only two games away for reaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time. He had to left the technical director position because he was an assistant in Puerto Rico FC.

Carlos García Cantarero era

The team played three friendlies, two against Dominican Republic and one against India, prior to the third round matches against Antigua and Barbuda and Curaçao. Puerto Rico lost the decisive match against Curaçao after being 2−0 up front for which Curaçao as head of group advanced to the Gold Cup.

Puerto Rico didn't play an international match until the summer of 2017 when they played to a scoreless draw against Indonesia.[6]

After the devastation of Hurricane Maria in September that left the entire island powerless. On October 7 it was reported MLS club, Orlando City SC announced a Fuerza Puerto Rico’ Friendly for November 4 with all the net proceeds from the match going towards the United for Puerto Rico initiative to raise funds and aid recovery efforts for the island. Reactivating the national team for a 3rd time this year.[7] The friendly marked Orlando City’s last game of 2017, as well team captain, Kaká with the lions.[8] Puerto Rico lost the exhibition match 6-1.[9]

2018

In May 2018, the Puerto Rican Football Federation announced that Carlos Cantarero wouldn't continue as the head coach of the national teams, with former Honduran player Amado Guevara taking over as head coach.[10]

Team image

Colors

Kit suppliers

Provider Period
Spain Joma 2018–

Tournament results

Caribbean Cup

Gold Cup

  • 1991 to 2017 – Did not enter or Did not qualify

Pan American Games

  • 1979 – Round 2 (5th Place)

World Cup

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962
England 1966
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 12
Argentina 1978 Did not enter Did not enter
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 0 8
Italy 1990 2 0 0 2 1 3
United States 1994 4 1 1 2 4 5
France 1998 2 0 0 2 1 9
South Korea Japan 2002 2 0 1 1 4 8
Germany 2006 Did not enter Did not enter
South Africa 2010 Did not qualify 3 1 1 1 3 6
Brazil 2014 6 2 3 1 8 4
Russia 2018 2 1 0 1 1 2
Qatar 2022 To be determined To be determined
Canada Mexico United States 2026
Total 0/21 25 5 6 14 22 57

Coaching staff

RoleNameStart date
Head coach Honduras Amado Guevara July 27, 2018
Assistant coach Puerto Rico Marco Vélez July 27, 2018
Trainer Argentina Juan Bertani July 27, 2018
Goalkeeping coach Mexico Joel Carvajal July 27, 2018

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the CONCACAF Nations League match against Martinique on October 13, 2018.

Caps and goals updated as of September 9, 2018 after the match against Saint Kitts & Nevis.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
12 1GK Cody Laurendi (1988-08-15) August 15, 1988 3 0 United States Oklahoma City Energy
18 1GK Joel Serrano (1999-05-17) May 17, 1999 0 0 United States Marshalltown CC
1 1GK Leftie Millán (1993-08-23) August 23, 1993 0 0 Puerto Rico Bayamón FC
4 2DF Marcos Martínez (1992-03-27) March 27, 1992 14 0 Puerto Rico Guayama FC
14 2DF Juan Vélez (1989-12-05) December 5, 1989 13 0 Puerto Rico Guayama FC
3 2DF Shawn Barry (1990-04-23) April 23, 1990 2 0 United States Real Salt Lake
5 2DF Joshua Calderón (1996-09-11) September 11, 1996 2 0 United States Elm City Express
6 2DF Luis Cosme (2000-12-21) December 21, 2000 2 0 Puerto Rico Bayamón FC
22 2DF Daniel Arce (2000-08-31) August 31, 2000 0 0 United States St. Francis College
13 2DF Nicolás Cardona (1999-02-11) February 11, 1999 0 0 United States Assumption College
7 3MF Andrés Cabrero (1989-01-04) January 4, 1989 35 4 Puerto Rico Bayamon FC
10 3MF Joseph Marrero (1993-04-09) April 9, 1993 30 6 Puerto Rico Academia Quintana
21 3MF Samuel Soto (1992-08-11) August 11, 1992 16 0 Puerto Rico Guayama FC
11 3MF Jorge Rivera (1996-03-24) March 24, 1996 10 1 United States Penn FC
17 3MF Alex Oikkonen (1994-10-15) October 15, 1994 9 2 Finland PEPO Lappeenranta
2 3MF Jeremy Hall (1988-09-11) September 11, 1988 7 0 United States Sacramento Republic
23 3MF Deniz Bozkurt (1993-07-23) July 23, 1993 4 1 Puerto Rico Bayamon FC
19 3MF Juan O'Neill (1998-07-12) July 12, 1998 2 0 United States Assumption College
8 3MF Joseph Villafañe (1999-11-30) November 30, 1999 0 0 Puerto Rico Bayamón FC
9 4FW Héctor Ramos (captain) (1990-05-04) May 4, 1990 35 18 Malaysia Sabah
15 4FW Mike Ramos (1991-01-29) January 29, 1991 7 1 United States Tacoma Stars
16 4FW Karlos Ferrer (1998-01-28) January 28, 1998 2 0 Puerto Rico Metropolitan FA
20 4FW Ricardo Rivera (1997-04-17) April 17, 1997 2 0 Spain Vilamarxant CF

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Matthew Sanchez (1994-08-04) August 4, 1994 12 0 United States Rio Grande Valley FC v.  Saint Kitts and Nevis; September 9, 2018INJ
DF Carlos Rosario (1994-01-30) January 30, 1994 7 0 Puerto Rico Bayamón FC v.  Saint Kitts and Nevis; September 9, 2018
MF Alejandro Rabell (2001-11-12) November 12, 2001 0 0 Puerto Rico Bayamón FC v.  Saint Kitts and Nevis; September 9, 2018
FW Marco Arocha (1998-01-13) January 13, 1998 0 0 Puerto Rico Universidad Interamericana v.  Saint Kitts and Nevis; September 9, 2018PRE

INJ = Injury
RET = Retired
WD = Withdrew
PRE = Preliminary

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss   Upcoming fixture

2018

2019

Records

Most capped players

As of June 13, 2017
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Héctor Ramos 2010– 33 18
Andrés Cabrero 2008– 33 4
2 Alexis Rivera 2004–2016 31 0
3 Joseph Marrero 2011– 28 6
4 Noah Delgado 2008–2012 23 3
5 Cristian Arrieta 2010–2015 22 5
6 Chris Megaloudis 2008–2012 20 6
7 Andrés Pérez 2011–2015 19 0
8 Richard Martinez 2008–2012 17 0
Tyler Wilson 2010–2012 17 0
9 John Krause 2010–2012 16 1

Top goalscorers

As of June 13, 2017
# Name Career Goals Caps
1 Héctor Ramos 2010– 18 33
2 Joseph Marrero 2011– 6 28
Chris Megaloudis 2008–2012 6 20
3 Cristian Arrieta 2010–2015 5 22
4 Andrés Cabrero 2008– 4 33
5 Josh Hansen 2010–2012 3 9
Noah Delgado 2008–2012 3 22
Petter Villegas 2008–2011 3 14
Raphael Ortiz 2000–2010 3 11
6 Juan Coca 2012– 2 16
Alex Oikkonen 2011– 2 8
Olvin Ortiz 2016– 2 7
Isaac Nieves 2004–2010 2 9

Head coaches

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Puerto Rico – List of International Matches". rsssf.com. Rec Sport Soccer Statistics Foundation. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Lewis, Michael (February 2001). "Now You See Him". Soccer Digest. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  3. ↑ "Primerahora.com". primerahora.com. GFR Media LLC. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  5. ↑ http://noticias.elhuracanazulpr.com/2016/05/puerto-rico-cae-en-renido-amistoso-ante.html
  6. ↑ http://noticias.elhuracanazulpr.com/2017/06/renido-empate-ante-indonesia.html
  7. ↑ http://futbolboricua.co/la-seleccion-se-activa-en-beneficio-de-reconstruccion-de-puerto-rico/
  8. ↑ http://futbolboricua.co/kaka-jugara-su-ultimo-partido-contra-puerto-rico/
  9. ↑ http://noticias.elhuracanazulpr.com/2017/11/cae-puerto-rico-6-1-ante-orlando-city-sc.html
  10. ↑ http://noticias.elhuracanazulpr.com/2018/05/fpf-anuncia-salida-de-los-tecnicos.html
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