Paulo César Wanchope Watson (; born 31 July 1976), more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a

Costa Rican Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the ...

football coach and former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

As a player he was a striker who notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He also had spells in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

for

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most po ...

and Chicago Fire as well as Herediano, Al-Gharafa,

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the English- ...

and

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be sim ...

. He was capped 73 times by

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, scoring 45 goals. Wanchope is the second most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Costa Rica national football team, behind

Rolando Fonseca Rolando Fonseca Jiménez (born 6 June 1974) is a former Costa Rican professional footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed ''El Principito'' (The little prince)''La Nación'"Nuevo Estadio Nacional: Joya del Deporte Costarricense" p. 30. ...

, with 45 goals in 73 international matches. Having scored against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and a brace against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, Wanchope is the top goalscorer for Costa Rica in the FIFA World Cup, a record he shares with

Rónald Gómez Rónald Gómez Gómez (born 24 January 1975 in Puntarenas) is a retired Costa Rican football forward and manager. He is the current manager for Liga Nacional club Santa Lucía. An important player on the Costa Rica national football team d ...

. As he is the former head coach of the

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body f ...

with a spell in charge between 2014 and 2015. He has also managed Herediano, Uruguay Coronado, CS Cartaginés and Pérez Zeledón.

Club career

Derby County

Born in Heredia, Wanchope began his career with CS Herediano moving to England to play with

along with fellow Costa Rican

Mauricio Solís Mauricio Rodrigo Solís Mora (born 13 December 1972 in Heredia) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is one of Costa Rica's best players in the past decade. He is a tough, hard working ce ...

on 27 March 1997. He cost Derby £600,000. Wanchope marked his debut for Derby on 5 April 1997 with a memorable goal against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

, beating four United players before slotting past

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

during a 3–2 win – the goal was later voted the greatest in the club's history by the Derby fans as part of the club's 125th Anniversary Celebrations. He scored 13 league goals in 1997–98 as Derby finished ninth – their highest finish since 1989 – and helped them go one better in 1998–99 when his nine goals that season helped the Rams finish eighth. After scoring 28 goals in 83 games within two seasons for Derby, Wanchope was sold to

for £3.5 million on 16 July 1999.

West Ham United

Wanchope made his debut for West Ham on 28 July 1999, at Upton Park, against

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foo ...

. His first West Ham goal came on 4 August 1999 in the away leg of the same tie. He scored 15 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions; his final game coming on 14 May 2000, at home to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. During his one year at Upton Park Wanchope formed a deadly partnership with

Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward ...

, the two scored a combined 31 league goals in the 1999–2000 season, and West Ham finished 9th in the Premier League, putting them in the top nine for the third consecutive season. He was eventually sold to

at the start of the 2000–01 season, following the arrivals of

Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former footballer who played as a striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 to 2021. He began his footballing career in his hometo ...

and

Frédéric Kanouté Frédéric Oumar Kanouté (born 2 September 1977) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker for several top-tier clubs in Europe, enjoying his greatest success with La Liga side Sevilla. Kanouté was named the 2007 African Foo ...

, for a fee of £3.65million.

Manchester City

On 23 August 2000 he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...

in a 4–2 win against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. Wanchope earned a starting position at Manchester City, but was unable to help them avoid immediate relegation back to Division One at the end of the 2000–01 season, despite scoring nine league goals. The following season was a mixed one for Wanchope. Despite missing large chunks of it through injury, he still managed 12 goals in just 15 games and often showed his best form. After City's return to the top flight as Division One champions he played almost no part, with injury once again keeping him on the sidelines – he missed the entire 2002–03 season. However, he returned to play a vital part at the end of 2003–04 and scored some vital goals to help avoid relegation, including the winning goal against Newcastle United, which effectively made City safe. He managed six goals from 22 league games that campaign.

Post-Premier League

In August 2004, Wanchope was sold to

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. They won the UEFA Intertoto ...

of the Spanish

for £500,000. He played 25 games for the club, scoring six goals. In 2005, ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

'' declared Wanchope's goal against Numancia the best of the entire 2004–05

Spanish First Division The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

. In 2006, following the World Cup in Germany and short but successful stints with Al-Gharafa in Qatar and Herediano in his native Costa Rica, he signed with

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

club

, scoring five goals in 14 games. On 29 December 2006,

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the ...

club

announced the acquisition of Wanchope on a transfer from Rosario Central. Along with local prospect

Sota Hirayama __NOTOC__ Sota, Soota, Souta or SOTA may refer to: People *, Japanese actor and vlogger *, Japanese professional shogi player *, Japanese actor *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese football player *, Japanese football player ...

, Wanchope allowed FC Tokyo to utilise a pair of large (190 cm+) strikers. He was released by FC Tokyo and subsequently signed a one-year deal with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

team Chicago Fire.

Retirement

On 16 November 2007, after a 13-year career in football, Wanchope decided to put an end to his career, primarily based on how his old knee injury was affecting his performance on the field, the same injury that made him lose large parts of his career with

, making him unable to reach his best physical shape, an argument that was commonly criticized by the press during recent years in every club he played for. At his retirement press conference he manifested his interest in becoming a professional coach, looking forward to accomplishing it in England.

International career

He was a member of Costa Rica's youth national teams, playing in the

1995 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1995 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 10th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held in Qatar from 13 to 28 April 1995. The tournament t ...

finals in the

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. Wanchope would become hugely important to the senior Costa Rica national team, after making his debut in an October 1996

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and playing for the team in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and several Gold Cups. On 8 October 2005, Wanchope became the all-time leading goal scorer for ''Los Ticos'' when he scored the first goal in a home win over the USA in the qualifying match that sent ''Los Ticos'' to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

. Wanchope has twenty plus World Cup qualifier goals to his name. On 9 June 2006, he scored twice in the opening game of the 2006 World Cup, a 4–2 loss to

. These two goals made Wanchope the inaugural Costa Rican to score twice in one World Cup match, and put him alongside

as the sole Costa Ricans ever to score more than one World Cup goal. After the defeat to Germany, Costa Rica were defeated by both

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Thus Costa Rica finished last in their group and failed to qualify for the second round. Wanchope played his last game for his country in January 2008 when Sweden had come to visit Costa Rica. He played 25 minutes and then he was substituted.

Managerial career

He managed

Club Sport Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

from 2008 to 2009. He resigned citing that the team's performance was low, and that he wanted to further his studies in England. Having left Herediano, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the administration of the club. Wanchope became an assistant to the Costa Rica national team coach,

Jorge Luis Pinto Jorge Luis Pinto Afanador (born 16 December 1952) is a Colombian football manager. He is the current manager of Categoría Primera A club Deportivo Cali. Managing career Pinto managed several teams in Colombia, including Santa Fe and Unión Mag ...

. Upon Pinto's departure after the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

, Wanchope took over as interim national team coach. In September 2014, he won the

Copa Centroamericana The Copa Centroamericana (, Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' ( UNCAF), the sport's Central A ...

with the Costa Rica national football team. On 31 January 2015, he was officially named as national team coach. On 12 August 2015, Wanchope resigned as manager of Costa Rica's national team following a post-match brawl with a steward.

Personal life

Wanchope is a son of Costa Rican former international striker

Vicente Wanchope Vicente Wanchope Kelly (born 19 July 1946) is a Costa Rican former footballer, who played most of his career at striker with Herediano. Club career Wanchope started his career at Limonense, for whom he scored a club record 54 goals, before m ...

and Patricia Watson and both his brothers, Javier and Carlos, also played for the national team. He is married to Brenda Carballo and they have a son and daughter. He is of Jamaican descent.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Wanchope goal''.

Honours

Player

;West Ham United *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Fo ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

;Manchester City *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 2001–02 ;Costa Rica *

UNCAF Nations Cup The Copa Centroamericana (, Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' (UNCAF), the sport's Central A ...

;Individual awards *

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

: October 1997

Manager

;Costa Rica *Copa Centroamericana:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

;Cartaginés * Costa Rican Cup:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wanchope, Paulo 1976 births Living people Costa Rican people of Jamaican descent People from Heredia Province Association football forwards Costa Rican footballers Costa Rica international footballers 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Copa Centroamericana-winning players C.S. Herediano footballers Derby County F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Málaga CF players Al-Gharafa SC players Rosario Central footballers FC Tokyo players Chicago Fire FC players Costa Rican expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Japan Expatriate soccer players in the United States Premier League players English Football League players La Liga players Qatar Stars League players Argentine Primera División players J1 League players Major League Soccer players Liga FPD players Costa Rican football managers C.S. Herediano managers Costa Rica national football team managers Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in England Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Japan Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Argentina 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players