Nicaragua national football team

Nicaragua
Nickname(s)
  • La Azul y Blanco (The Blue and White)
  • Los Pinoleros
  • Albiazules
Association Nicaraguan Football Federation
Sub-confederation UNCAF (Central America)
Confederation CONCACAF (North America)
Head coach Costa Rica Henry Duarte
Captain Juan Barrera
Most caps David Solórzano (49)
Top scorer Emilio Palacios (11)
Home stadium Nicaragua National Football Stadium
FIFA code NCA
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 105 Increase 1 (5 May 2016)
Highest 92 (December 2015)
Lowest 193 (May 2001)
Elo ranking
Current 155 (June 2015)
Highest 83 (May 1941)
Lowest 197 (April 2002)
First international
 El Salvador 9–0 Nicaragua 
(El Salvador; 1 May 1929)
Biggest win
 Nicaragua 5–0 Anguilla 
(Managua, Nicaragua; 23 March 2015)
 Nicaragua 5–0 Cuba 
(Managua, Nicaragua; 8 December 2015)
Biggest defeat
 Brazil 14–0 Nicaragua 
(Mexico; 17 October 1975)
CONCACAF Championship
& Gold Cup
Appearances 3 (First in 1963)
Best result 6th, 1967

The Nicaragua national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Nicaragua) is the national team of Nicaragua and is controlled by the Nicaraguan Football Federation. Nicaragua achieved its first qualification to a major international competition in 2009, when it qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup after a 2–0 win over Guatemala in the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup.[1]

Due to American influence throughout the country's history, baseball has more of a following as both a pursuit and spectator event in Nicaragua than football.

History

Nicaragua travelled to El Salvador for their first ever international, losing 9–0 to the hosts on 1 May 1929. They did not play another match for over twelve years, until the qualifying group for the 1941 CCCF Championship in Costa Rica. They lost all 4 games: 7–2 to the hosts Costa Rica on 10 May, 8–0 to El Salvador on 13 May, 9–1 to the Netherlands Antilles on 15 May and 5–2 to Panama on 18 May. Therefore, Nicaragua finished bottom of the group and did not make the final group.[2]

FIFA World Cup record

The Nicaraguan national football team had never qualified for the World Cup. With a record one own goal Uriel "El Coco" Mendez holds the goal scoring record. Their last attempt was for the 2014 World Cup, which they failed to qualify from a group with Panama and Dominica. The pinoleros ended in second place defeating Dominica twice and losing to Panama, first only by one.

CONCACAF Championship record

In 1963 Nicaragua participated in the first CONCACAF Championship which included all countries of the region, North America, Central America and the Caribbean. During 1963 to 1971 only 5 championships were played. Nicaragua achieving only a sixth-place finish in 1967. From 1973 to 1989 no championship was played. The CONCACAF proclaimed champion of the region for the country that achieved the first place in qualifying to the FIFA World Cup. In 1990, CONCACAF again created a tournament as its showpiece event to crown the regional champion of the CONCACAF. The event was named the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with the USA hosting the first competition in 1991. However Nicaragua have only qualified once since the gold cup format started with a group stage finish in 2009.

Year Round Pld W D* L GF GA
El Salvador 1963Round 14004215
Guatemala 1965Did not qualify
Honduras 1967Sixth Place5014312
Costa Rica 1969Did not enter
Trinidad and Tobago 1971Did not qualify
Haiti 1973Did not qualify
Mexico 1977Did not enter
Honduras 1981
1985
1989
United States 1991Did not qualify
United States Mexico 1993
United States 1996
United States 1998
United States 2000
United States 2002
United States Mexico 2003
United States 2005
United States 2007
United States 2009Round 1300308
United States 2011Did not qualify
United States 2013
United States Canada 2015
Total3/22120111535

Other tournament records

Copa Centroamericana

The tournament has been held since 1991 as the UNCAF Nations Cup and serves as a qualifying event for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The competition was re-branded as the Copa Centroamericana from the 2011 edition. Nicaragua has participated in all of the tournaments and has managed to get up to Fifth place in 2009.

Year Round Pld W D* L GF GA
Costa Rica 1991Preliminary round200225
Honduras 1993Preliminary round200208
El Salvador 1995Preliminary round200207
Guatemala 1997First round2002211
Costa Rica 1999First round200202
Honduras 2001First round3003219
Panama 2003Sixth Place5104111
Guatemala 2005Group Stage310229
El Salvador 2007Sixth Place4103614
Honduras 2009Fifth Place412156
Panama 2011Sixth Place401327
Costa Rica 2013Group Stage301225
United States 2014Sixth Place300306
TotalFifth Place39443124110
Central American and Caribbean Games
  • Cuba 1930Did not qualify
  • El Salvador 1935Did not qualify
  • Panama 1938Did not qualify
  • Colombia 1946Did not qualify
  • Guatemala 1950Group Stage
  • Mexico 1954Did not qualify
  • Venezuela 1959Did not qualify
  • Jamaica 1962Did not qualify
  • Puerto Rico 1966Did not qualify
  • Panama 1970Group Stage
  • Dominican Republic 1974Quarter Final
  • Colombia 1978Group Stage
  • Cuba 1982Group Stage
  • Dominican Republic 1986Did not qualify
  • Mexico 1990Did not qualify
  • Puerto Rico 1993Did not qualify
  • Venezuela 1998Quarter Final
  • El Salvador 2002Quarter Final
  • Colombia 2006Did not qualify
  • Puerto Rico 2010Did not qualify
  • Mexico 2014Did not qualify

CCCF Championship record

The Nicaragua national football team have competed in the CCCF Championship in six occasions. Nicaragua won third place at the 1951 CCCF Championship.

Year Round Pld W D* L GF GA
Costa Rica 1941Fifth place4004529
El Salvador 1943Fourth Place6006739
Costa Rica 1946Sixth Place5104531
Guatemala 1948Did not enter
Panama 1951Third Place4004422
Costa Rica 1953Sixth Place6105418
Honduras 1955Did not enter
Curaçao 1957Did not enter
Cuba 1960Did not enter
Costa Rica 1961Ninth Place3003318
Total6/1028202628157
Pan American Games record
Central American Games
  • Guatemala 1973 Silver Medal
  • El Salvador 1977 – Bronze Medal
  • Guatemala 1986 – Bronze Medal
  • Honduras 1990 – Bronze Medal
  • El Salvador 1994 – Round 1
  • Panama 1997 – Round 1
  • Guatemala 2001 – Round 1
  • Costa Rica 2013 – Round 1

Personnel

Current staff

Position Name
Head Coach Costa Rica Henry Duarte
Assistant Coach Nicaragua Ivan Rodriguez
Physical Coordinator Nicaragua TBD

Schedule and results

The following is Nicaragua's schedule and results for the 2015 season.

Key

      Win       Draw       Loss

2015

2016

Current squad

The following 25 players were selected for the Friendlies vs El Salvador and Panama in March 2016.
Caps and goals updated as of March 15, 2016 after the game against Panama.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Henry Maradiaga (1990-02-05) February 5, 1990 0 0 Nicaragua Real Esteli F.C.
1GK Jadzeel Mendoza 0 0 Nicaragua Juventus Managua
1GK Diedrich Tellez (1984-10-31) October 31, 1984 3 0 Nicaragua Managua F.C.

2DF Jason Casco (1990-02-13) February 13, 1990 15 0 Nicaragua Deportivo Walter Ferretti
2DF Luis Fernando Copete (1989-02-12) February 12, 1989 16 3 Nicaragua Deportivo Walter Ferretti
2DF Jason Ingram (1997-08-20) August 20, 1997 0 0 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C.
2DF Jessie López (1990-03-15) March 15, 1990 2 0 Nicaragua Deportivo Walter Ferretti
2DF Oscar López Pineda (1992-02-27) February 27, 1992 2 0 Nicaragua Managua F.C.
2DF Josué Quijano (1991-03-10) March 10, 1991 32 1 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C.
2DF Manuel Rosas (1983-10-14) October 14, 1983 19 2 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C.
2DF Axel Silva (1993-01-04) January 4, 1993 1 0 Nicaragua Diriangén FC
2DF Erick Téllez (1989-01-28) January 28, 1989 15 0 Nicaragua Diriangén FC
2DF Bismarck Veliz (1993-09-10) September 10, 1993 4 0 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C.

3MF Carlos Chavarría (1994-05-02) May 2, 1994 15 3 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C.
3MF Jason Coronel (1993-10-06) October 6, 1993 3 0 Nicaragua Diriangén FC
3MF Norlan Cuadra (1988-07-10) July 10, 1988 7 1 Nicaragua Juventus Managua
3MF Luis Galeano (1991-10-15) October 15, 1991 8 3 Nicaragua Real Esteli F.C.
3MF Bryan Garcia (1995-05-25) May 25, 1995 4 1 Nicaragua Managua F.C.
3MF Carlos Membreño (1988-12-19) December 19, 1988 3 0 Nicaragua Diriangén FC
3MF Bismarck Montiel 2 0 Nicaragua Managua F.C.
3MF Maykel Montiel (1993-01-27) January 27, 1993 3 0 Nicaragua UNAN Managua
3MF Luis Peralta (1988-10-12) October 12, 1988 8 0 Nicaragua Deportivo Walter Ferretti
3MF Juan Carlos Rosales (1991-12-18) December 18, 1991 1 0 Nicaragua UNAN Managua

4FW Raúl Leguías (1981-10-09) October 9, 1981 23 8 Nicaragua Deportivo Walter Ferretti
4FW Eulises Pavón (1993-01-06) January 6, 1993 14 2 Nicaragua Deportivo Walter Ferretti
4FW Daniel Reyes (1990-07-21) July 21, 1990 12 1 Nicaragua UNAN Managua

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Nicaragua squad in the past 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Esdras Gonzales 0 0 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C. v.  Honduras, January 27, 2016
GK Justo Lorente (1994-02-27) February 27, 1994 15 0 Costa Rica Municipal Liberia v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
GK Erling Mendez (1992-03-20) March 20, 1992 0 0 Nicaragua Juventus Managua v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015

DF Cristian Gutiérrez (1993-06-23) June 23, 1993 1 0 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C. v.  Suriname, June 16, 2015
DF Francisco Paz (1982-08-07) August 7, 1982 0 0 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C. v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
DF Alejandro Tapia (1993-03-28) March 28, 1993 6 0 Nicaragua Deportivo Walter Ferretti v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015

MF Franklin Ulises López (1980-08-16) August 16, 1980 21 0 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C. v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
MF Marlon Lòpez (1992-11-02) November 2, 1992 10 0 Costa Rica Santos de Guápiles v.  Honduras, January 27, 2016
MF Elvis Pinel (1992-03-22) March 22, 1992 17 1 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C. v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
MF Sergio Zepeda (1987-05-30) May 30, 1987 0 0 Nicaragua UNAN Managua v.  Suriname, June 16, 2015

FW Juan Barrera (1989-03-02) March 2, 1989 32 6 Guatemala C.S.D. Comunicaciones v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW Daniel Cadena (1987-02-09) February 9, 1987 7 0 Dominican Republic Atlántico v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW Erick Lazo (1990-02-15) February 15, 1990 1 0 Nicaragua Juventus Managua v.  Costa Rica, December 15, 2015
FW Norfran Lazo (1990-09-08) September 8, 1990 9 1 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C. v.  Trinidad and Tobago, October 13, 2015
FW Ariagner Smith (1998-12-13) December 13, 1998 0 0 Nicaragua Real Estelí F.C. v.  Anguilla, March 23, 2015
FW Alexis Somarriba (1994-05-11) May 11, 1994 1 0 Nicaragua Managua F.C. v.  Honduras, January 27, 2016

Top ten appearances

# Name Career Appearances
1 David Solórzano 1999–2014 49 (0)
2 Denis Espinoza 2004–2013 33 (1)
3 Juan Barrera 2009— 32 (6)
= Josué Quijano 2011— 32 (1)
5 Carlos Alonso 1999–2011 29 (0)
= Samuel Wilson 2001–2013 29 (4)
7 Emilio Palacios 2001–2009 26 (11)
= Rudel Calero 2001–2011 26 (4)
9 Felix Zeledón 2009— 24 (1)
10 Raul Leguias 2011— 23 (8)

Note: Players in bold text are still active with Nicaragua. Last updated: March 15, 2016

Top ten goal scorers

# Name Career Goals
1 Emilio Palacios 2001–2009 11
2 Raul Leguias 2011– 8
3 Juan Barrera 2009– 6
4 Samuel Wilson 2001–2013 4
= Rudel Calero 2001–2011 4
6 Carlos Chavarría 2013– 3
= Luis Galeano 2015– 3
= Luis Fernando Copete 2014– 3
9 Axel Villanueva 2010– 2
= Félix Rodríguez 2010– 2

Note: Players in bold text are still active with Nicaragua. Last updated: March 15, 2016.

Manager history

Name Nation From To
Octavio Edmundo Salas Urbina  Nicaragua 1941 TBD
Eduardo Kosovic 'Edy'  Hungary 1941 TBD
Santiago Bonilla  Costa Rica 1952 1953
Carlos Ruiz  Nicaragua 1961 1962
Santiago Berrini  Argentina 1966 TBD
Ferenc Mészáros  Hungary 1967 TBD
Livio Bendaña Espinoza  Nicaragua 1967 1970
Salvador Dubois Leiva  Nicaragua 1977 1977
Jan Fulop  Czechoslovakia 1985 1986
Salvador Dubois Leiva  Nicaragua 1991 1992
Mauricio Cruz Jiron  Nicaragua 1993 June 2001
Florencio Levia  Nicaragua June 2001 December 2002
Maurizio Battistini  Italy February 2003 June 2004
Marcelo Javier Zuleta  Argentina January 2005 September 2005
Carlos De Toro  Argentina September 2007 October 2008
Mauricio Cruz Jiron  Nicaragua October 2008 November 2008
Ramón Otoniel Olivas  Nicaragua November 2008 December 2009
Enrique Llena  Spain January 2010 November 2014
Javier Londono  Colombia November 2014 December 2014
Henry Duarte  Costa Rica December 2014 Present

Others

References

External links

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