Luis Carlos "Matador" Tejada Hansell (28 March 1982 – 28 January 2024) was a Panamanian 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, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. A

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

player, Tejada represented over 15 different football clubs in his career. He represented the Panama national team 108 times, appearing at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia.

Club career

Early career

Tejada's debut in professional soccer was with Tauro in the local league, where he managed to make a good impression and quickly moved to Colombia to play with Colombian side

Deportes Tolima Club Deportes Tolima S.A., commonly known as Deportes Tolima, or simply as Tolima, is a Colombian professional football club based in Ibagué, Tolima Department, that competes in the Categoría Primera A. Founded in 1954, the club has won the C ...

. Later on he was transferred to first division team

Envigado Envigado () is a city and municipality due South of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta, An ...

in 2004, and after a splendid participation in the Gold Cup, he set off to the United Arab Emirates. In 2005, he signed a three-year contract to send him to

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

of the United Arab Emirates. However, he did not yield the same results he obtained in the Gold Cup, reason why shortly after finished the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

, and he returned to Panama. Returning to Panama, he participated in the Clausura Championship with Plaza Amador, one of the best teams in the local league, but he only participated in a few matches. His conditioning was not optimal, and he acquired the nickname of "Gordito (fatty)". Growing into better form, he moved on to Colombia, where he played a short spell with ex

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

champions

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

, from which he was fired for disciplinary problems. He then returned to Panama to play for Plaza Amador. Real Salt Lake of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

announced the signing of Tejada on 12 December 2006, for the 2007 season. He played only two minutes in five games, however, before he was released by head coach

Jason Kreis Jason Clarence Kreis (born December 29, 1972) is an American soccer coach and former player who is the director of operations and special projects for Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake and the former head coach of the United States unde ...

in early June. He returned to Panamanian side Tauro for a very brief stint, scoring four goals in four matches.

America de Cali

In August 2007, Tejada was signed by Colombian club

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

. Tejada scored only three goals in the 2007 Torneo Finalizacion; however, he became a key player for América in the next tournament, the 2008 Torneo Apertura, where he scored 12 goals in 19 matches, becoming América de Cali's top-scorer and second overall in the tournament. Tejada's goals helped America reached the finals, with Tejada scoring a goal in the second leg to send the match into penalties, where America lost to Boyacá Chicó on penalties. He was nicknamed by the Colombian press as America's golden tooth (''el diente de oro del America'') because of his golden tooth. After the tournament, there was much interest for Tejada across big teams from South America and Europe, including Argentine club River Plate; however, nothing was finalized.

Millonarios

Shortly after the 2008 Apertura concluded, Tejada was sold to another club in Colombia, Millonarios, on a three-year contract. He made his debut on 16 August 2008 in the ''Embajadores'' victory over Deportes Quindío. However, Tejada was unable to replicate his form at America with his new club, and he was released shortly after Millonarios failed to quality for the 2009 Apertura playoffs, having scored just once in 25 appearances.

Juan Aurich

Tejada returned to Tauro in summer 2009, and afterwards moved to Peru to play for champions

Juan Aurich Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a Peru, Peruvian association football, football club based in Chiclayo. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005. The club currently ...

in early 2010. In Tejada's first season at the club, the 2010 Torneo Descentralizado, he scored 16 league goals and helped his club secure a Copa Sudamericana spot. In the 2010 Copa Libertadores, Tejada scored six goals, placing fourth in the top scoring chart, including a brace against Tecos on 28 January 2010. In the following season Tejada finished as topscorer of the league, with 17 goals, as he helped his club win the league title for the first time in history and achieve direct qualification for the 2012 Copa Libertadores. He left Juan Aurich with an impressive 48 goals in 96 games, which attracted interest from teams in stronger leagues such as Mexico and Brazil.

Toluca

Tejada finally moved to Mexican side Deportivo Toluca in late 2012 as a replacement for the Uruguyan striker Iván Alonso. His spell at Toluca began promising after a late arrival, scoring four goals in five matches; however, his performance and consistency dropped for the liguilla, the Clausura 2013 and in the disappointing performance of Toluca at Copa Libertadores.

Later career

In summer 2013, Tejada joined

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

on loan. For the 2014 season he joined another Peruvian club, Universidad César Vallejo. He scored 11 league goals and participated in the 2014 Copa Sudamericana with the club, but failed to score in any of the Sudamericana games. In January 2015, Tejada returned to Peru where he played with Juan Aurich for two years and had an excellent spell, scoring 39 goals in 58 appearances. On 1 March 2015, Tejada walked off the pitch during a match against

Cienciano Club Cienciano, more commonly known as Cienciano, is a Peru, Peruvian professional association football, football club based in Cusco, that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División. It gained worldwide recognition after defeating Club At ...

after being subjected to racist abuse from fans.

International career

Tejada made his debut for

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

in a June 2001 friendly against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

and, until his international retirement in 2018, earned a total of 108 caps, scoring 43 goals. This made him Panama's all-time record goalscorer, just ahead of

Blas Pérez Blas Antonio Pérez Ortega (born 13 March 1981) is a Panamanian former professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Dallas Sidekicks in the Major Arena Soccer League. Club career Pérez began his career in his native Panama with P ...

. Tejada represented his country in 34

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches, and in March 2005, he scored a goal from an overhead kick against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match to draw Panama level with the CONCACAF giants. This goal was voted the best goal of the year by Fox Sports. Tejada led Panama to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, where they finished as runners-up to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He scored three goals to end up as joint top scorer, but unfortunately, he missed his penalty kick in the penalty shoot-out against the United States in the final. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for his efforts. Tejada is currently the all-time leading scorer in Panama history. Tejada was ejected from the

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 23rd CONCACAF regional championship overall in the organization's fifty-four years of existence. It was held in the United States, with two matches bei ...

semi final against Mexico after receiving a red card. In May 2018, he was named in Panama's 23-man squad for the

in Russia.

Death

Tejada died on 28 January 2024 of a suspected heart attack after a

pick-up game In sports and video games, a pick-up game (also known as a ''scratch game'' or ''PUG'') is a game that has been spontaneously started by a group of players. Players are generally invited to show up beforehand, but unlike exhibition games, there ...

in his hometown of San Miguelito. He was 41 years old.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Panama's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tejada goal.''

Honours

Juan Aurich * Peruvian First Division:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Panama *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

runner-up:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

; third place:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual * CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP: 2005 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2005 *

Top Goalscorer:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tejada, Luis 1982 births 2024 deaths Footballers from Panama City Men's association football forwards Panamanian men's footballers 21st-century Panamanian sportsmen Panama men's international footballers 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players Tauro F.C. players C.D. Plaza Amador players Deportes Tolima footballers Envigado F.C. players Al Ain FC players Once Caldas footballers Real Salt Lake players Boyacá Chicó F.C. footballers América de Cali footballers Millonarios F.C. players Juan Aurich footballers Deportivo Toluca F.C. players C.D. Veracruz footballers Club Deportivo Universidad César Vallejo footballers Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Sport Boys footballers Club Deportivo Universitario players San Francisco F.C. players Potros del Este players Panamanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Peru Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Peru Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Liga Panameña de Fútbol players Major League Soccer players Peruvian Primera División players Liga MX players UAE Pro League players Categoría Primera A players 2018 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Men's Century Club