Ronald Osvaldo Cerritos Flores (born January 3, 1975) is a Salvadoran 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, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. Cerritos was once the all-time leader in assists of the

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 ...

team, the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

, with 47. He has since been surpassed by Shea Salinas and the current leader, Cristian Espinoza.

Club career

Cerritos has spent the bulk of his career playing in MLS, being signed by the league on March 21, 1997, and allocated to the San Jose Clash. While with San Jose he achieved great success, being named in the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

in his first year with the club. In the offseason after 2001, however, Cerritos was traded to the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

for Ariel Graziani. He never was able to settle in Dallas, having trouble earning a starting spot, and struggling with injuries. After a year and a half at Dallas, during which he scored seven goals, Cerritos was traded to D.C. United for Ali Curtis and a first-round pick in the

2004 MLS SuperDraft The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the younge ...

. Cerritos again was largely unproductive in D.C. and was cut midway through the 2004 season because his performances were not justifying his large salary, and returned to play for Alianza in his native El Salvador. After the season with Alianza he returned to MLS and his original team, with San Jose acquiring him from DC for a draft pick. During his returning season, Cerritos scored an additional 6 goals. He is 2nd on San Jose's all-time scoring list, with 61 goals and also has the honor of having the most assists, with 47. Shortly after his return to the Earthquakes, however, Cerritos was moved to Houston for the 2006 season along with his teammates. Despite his success with San Jose his resulting stint with the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

was short-lived, as he was released in August 2006. He was later signed by San Salvador F.C. on a two-year deal and became an outstanding performer week in and week out, soon being recalled to the El Salvador national team to participate in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States. In November 2007, Cerritos signed a two-year contract with expansion Real Maryland FC

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. He played fifteen games, scoring two goals, but was released by the team after their 6–0 loss to the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

, a game in which he did not play. On July 31, 2008, Cerritos signed with the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Carolina Railhawks. On December 6, 2016, the RailH ...

of the

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. He finished the season with the RailHawks, but was not signed by the team for the 2009 season. At half time of the match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Chicago Fire on September 29, 2010, Cerritos became the second player inducted into the San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Fame.

International career

Cerritos has been a mainstay in the El Salvador national team, having made over 60 appearances. He made his debut for the national team against the USA on 5 December 1993 and scored his first goal for El Salvador in a 3–2 victory over

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on January 10, 1996, in a

1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament returned to the United States and California; the games were hosted by Los ...

match. On March 5, 2000, in a

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 ...

match against

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, Cerritos scored El Salvador's 400th goal in all senior international matches.

International goals

:''Scores and results list El Salvador's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Cerritos is married to Brenda Cerritos, Cerritos son, Alexis Cerritos, is also a professional footballer who plays for the

El Salvador national football team The El Salvador national football team (), known as ("the National Team"), represents El Salvador in international football, and is governed by the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol (). The national team's first match was played in Septemb ...

. In his spare time, Cerritos enjoys playing cards and playing basketball with his friends. He enjoys spending time with his two sons. He currently lives Maryland. He now has his own Soccer Club named Cerritos Soccer Academy, youth kids from 5–19 years old.

Honors

San Jose Earthquakes *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Individual * MLS 50/50 Club *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

MLS Fair Play Award The Fair Play Award in Major League Soccer was the award that was given to an individual player and a team who presented best overall sportsmanlike behavior in addition to receiving one of the lowest numbers of yellow Yellow is the color ...

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 ...

* Inducted to San Jose Earthquakes Hall of Fame: 2010

References

External links

*
MLS Career Statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerritos, Ronald 1975 births Living people Footballers from San Salvador Men's association football forwards Salvadoran men's footballers El Salvador men's international footballers 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players San Jose Earthquakes players FC Dallas players D.C. United players Alianza F.C. (El Salvador) footballers Houston Dynamo FC players San Salvador F.C. footballers Real Maryland F.C. players North Carolina FC players USL First Division players USL Second Division players Salvadoran expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Salvadoran expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars D.C. United non-playing staff