Carlos Ruiz (Guatemalan footballer): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:15, 28 May 2006

Revision as of 15:04, 28 May 2006

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'''Carlos Ruiz''' (born [[September 15]], [[1979]] in [[Guatemala City]], [[Guatemala]]) is a football player in both [[Major League Soccer]] and the [[Guatemala national football team|Guatemala national team]]. He plays for [[FC Dallas]].

Ruiz, nicknamed ''El Pescadito'' (the little fish), joined MLS from [[CSD Municipal]], a club in his home country of Guatemala. He played for a short time in Greece at PAS Giannina and then signed with the [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] in January, [[2002]]. Once in MLS, Ruiz shined immediately, whilealthough he also developingdeveloped asome reputation as a diver, making his nickname ironically appropriate. In his debut season, he scored 24 goals ([[MLS Golden Boot|best in the league]]), leading the Galaxy to the [[MLS Cup]] and winning the [[MLS Most Valuable Player Award]] as well. In the playoffs, he scored eight goals and added two assists to set MLS record for playoff goals and points (18). In his second season Ruiz and the Galaxy cooled off significantly, but he nevertheless tied with [[Taylor Twellman]] for the league lead in goals with 15. He dropped off a bit again in [[2004]], scoring just 11. His playoff production went down as well, as the Galaxy were knocked out on the first hurdle each time; he tallied just two and one goal in the two postseasons respectively.

In 2005, when [[Landon Donovan]] expressed his desire to come back to MLS, the Galaxy traded Ruiz to Dallas for the #1 [[allocation (MLS)|allocation]] in the MLS picking order, so that they could acquire Donovan. Ruiz finished his year in Dallas with 11 goals and two assists. During the postseason Ruiz scored 2 goals in the second leg match against the Colorado Rapids, but FC Dallas was eliminated in penalty shots.