Oswaldo Sánchez

Early career

Oswaldo Sánchez debuted as a substitute when the starting keeper was injured with Atlas at the age of 20 on October 30, 1993, against Veracruz where the teams tied the game at 1–1. Two years after his debut, he was a starter on the team and led Atlas to the Quarterfinals where they were eliminated by C.D. Veracruz. In the summer of 1996, Sánchez was transferred to Club América. The following season, Sánchez was benched and replaced as goalkeeper by Hugo Pineda. Sánchez played three out of 19 games, including the quarterfinals where América was eliminated by Monarcas Morelia. The following season, Sánchez went back into the starting line-up and led América. In the summer of 1999, Sánchez left América for rival Chivas de Guadalajara.

Guadalajara

At Guadalajara, Sánchez became the team's captain. Sánchez became a key player to Chivas along with other players. This was during the time when Guadalajara were at their best. Sánchez's extraordinary goalkeeping skills and leadership helped Guadalajara reach the finals of the Clausura 2004 season, but Chivas ultimately lost to UNAM via penalty-shootout. Eventually, Sánchez captured his long-awaited league title with Guadalajara during the Apertura 2006 season. After his 2006 championship with Chivas, Sanchez left the club after not being able to reach an agreement on his contract. He decided that the club directors did not want him there anymore and chose to play with Santos Laguna over Tigres UANL.…

Sánchez was called up by Juan de Dios Castillo to participate at the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made his debut for the senior national team in 1996, against Bolivia. He has been part of three FIFA World Cups, in France 1998, 2002 and 2006. Coach Ricardo La Volpe called up Sánchez once again on April 2, 2006, to be the starting goalkeeper for Mexico in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. During preparation for the 2006 World Cup, Sánchez' father died of a heart attack on June 7, age 56. Sánchez flew home to Guadalajara, but he returned to Germany in time for the team's first game against Iran, which they won by a score of 3–1. In 2007, he was called up by coach Hugo Sánchez to play in the Gold Cup and 2007 Copa América. Sánchez was selected to represent Mexico in friendlies against Ghana national team and China national team, his first callup since the 2007 Copa América. Sánchez was not called up to the World Cup 2010 and did not play a single match for the Mexico national team in 2010. He played his 99th and last international match for Mexico on October 11, 2011, in a 2–1 loss to Brazil. He was substituted by Alfredo Talavera in the 88th minute, marking his official national football retirement.

Sánchez appeared on the front cover of the North American edition of the FIFA Football 2005 video game alongside Fernando Morientes and Andriy Shevchenko. In 2016, Santos Laguna erected a statue of Sánchez.

Atlas

Copa México runner-up: 1995–96 América

Copa Pachuca: 1997 Selectivo Pre Pre Libertadores: 1999 Copa Pre Libertadores: 1998, 1999 Guadalajara

Liga MX: Apertura 2006 InterLiga: 2005, 2006 Copa Pachuca: 1999 Santos Laguna

Liga MX: Clausura 2008, Clausura 2012 Copa MX: Apertura 2014 CONCACAF Champions League runner-up: 2011–12, 2012–13 Mexico

FIFA Confederations Cup: 1999 Copa América runner-up: 2001; third place: 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup: 1996, 2003 Pan American Games Silver Medal: 1995 CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament: 1996 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament: 1992 Individual

Liga MX Golden Glove: 1995–96, Invierno 2000, Apertura 2002, Clausura 2003, 2003–04, 2004–05, Apertura 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Glove: 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2003 Liga MX Golden Ball: 2003–04, Apertura 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Glove: 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Fair Play Trophy: 2005 IFFHS World's 16th Best Goalkeeper: 2005 CONCACAF Player of the Year: 2006 South American Player of the Year: 2006 (15th place) IFFHS World's 14th Best Goalkeeper: 2006 CONCACAF Champions League Golden Glove: 2012–13 Santos Laguna Honorary Statue: 2016 FIFA International Football Hall of Fame: 2020 Records

Goalkeeper with most penalty shots saved in the Liga MX: 25