José Francisco Cevallos

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José Francisco Cevallos Villavicencio (born 17 April 1971 in Ancón) is an Ecuadorian football goalkeeper who plays for LDU Quito and the Ecuadorian national team. Nicknamed Las Manos del Ecuador (English: The hands of Ecuador), Cevallos is considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Ecuadorian football. He has won three national titles (1991, 1995, 1997) with Guayaquil based club Barcelona, with whom he has spent the majority of his professional career. As the goalkeeper for LDU Quito, he was a key figure in the team's 2008 Copa Libertadores title, where he saved three penalties in the deciding penalty shoot-out. That same year, he was voted as the Best Goalkeeper in South America by Montevideo based newspaper El País. As a member of the national team, he has participated in four Copa Américas and Ecuador's first World Cup participation. Capped 80 times, he is the highest capped goalkeeper in the history of the team.

He is also known for having a foundation that helps young kids, especially in soccer. He has a brother, Alex Cevallos, who used to play for Emelec (Barcelona's archirival).

[edit] Club career

[edit] Barcelona

Cevallos join the Guayaquil based club in 1990, and has spent most of his career there, playing over 400 league matches. He was a key figure in the club's 1991, 1995, and 1997 national titles, which gave the club their record 13 titles.

His most significant contribution to the club internationally came during the 1998 Copa Libertadores. In that season, Barcelona reached the finals for the second time in their history, but they would be the runner-up, again, after losing to Brazilian club Vasco da Gama.

[edit] Once Caldas and Deportivo Azogues

In 2005, he was loaned to play for Once Caldas in Colombia, where he did not enjoy major success and he just completed one season there. After returning to Barcelona breifly, he went to Deportivo Azogues where many believed that would be the end of his career. But at the club, kept his form and got back to being one of the best goalkeepers in Ecuador. Due to his outstanding performance in 2007, LDU Quito signed him for the following season. ^[1]

[edit] LDU Quito

Cevallos joined the Quito club at the start of the 2008 season to help the club defend their 2007 title and to become an instrumental part of the clubs Copa Libertadores campaign. Again, as he did with Barcelona in 1998, Cevallos saw his role elevated to prominence. In the quarterfinals, LDU Quito eliminated Argentine club San Lorenzo by penalties, with Cevallos stopping a key shoot by Aureliano Torres. In the semifinals, he kept a clean sheet again Mexican club América in Quito, helping LDU Quito advance to their first final. After a 4−2 win in Quito during the first leg, Cevallos let the club's superior goal difference against Brazilian club Fluminense slip in the second leg, resulting in a decisive penalty shoot-out. Cevallos came out a hero in the end, blocking penalties by Darío Conca, Thiago Neves and Washington to give LDU Quito their first Copa Libertadores, which was also the first for the country. As a result of his performance in the tournament, he was elected as the best goalkeeper in South America and to the best eleven team for the tournament. IFFHS even ranked his as one of the top-ten goalkeepers around the world, at number 6.

Initially slated to be with the club for a year, he extended his plans with the squad until 2010.

[edit] International career

During his first era with the Ecuador national football team he was a participant at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and in Copa América 1995,^[2] 1997,^[3]1999,^[4] and 2001^[5] He played 77 official games before anouncing retirenment in 2004.

In 2008, he returned for the national team in an unofficial friendly match against his current club, LDU Quito. This was the first time that he played for Ecuador in 4 years. He played the first half of the 5-0 win until he was replaced by Espoli's Maximo Banguera.

Later he was called again to play 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against Argentina and Colombia.

He was nicknamed by the ecuadorian fans as "las manos del Ecuador" meaning "the hands of Ecuador" refering to his wonderful performances in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

• Barcelona
  • Serie A de Ecuador: 1991, 1995, 1997
• LDU Quito
  • Copa Libertadores: 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• José Cevallos FIFA competition record
• FEF's Player Card
• Career details at National Football Teams

José Francisco Cevallos international tournaments v • d • e Ecuador squad – 1995 Copa América 1 Cevallos • 2 Guamán • 3 Tenorio • 4 Capurro • 5 I. Hurtado • 6 Carcelén • 7 Aguinaga • 8 Garay • 9 E. Hurtado • 10 Ron • 11 E.P. Hurtado • 12 Morales • 13 Asencio • 14 Noriega • 15 Coronel • 16 Quiñónez • 17 Díaz • 18 Herrera • 19 León • 20 Mora • 21 Carabalí • 22 Espinoza • Coach: Maturana v • d • e Ecuador squad – 1997 Copa América 1 J. Cevallos • 2 Constante • 3 de la Cruz • 4 Méndez • 5 Tenorio • 6 Capurro • 7 Sánchez • 8 Carabalí • 9 Hurtado • 10 Gavica • 11 Fernández • 12 Ibarra • 13 Delgado • 14 Montaño • 15 Rosero • 16 Smith • 17 Burbano • 18 Maldonado • 19 Chalá • 20 Graziani • 21 González • 22 A. Cevallos • Coach: Maturana v • d • e Ecuador squad – 1999 Copa América 1 Cevallos • 2 Coronel • 3 Hurtado • 4 Anangonó • 5 Montaño • 6 de la Cruz • 7 Moreira • 8 Blandón • 9 Graziani • 10 Aguinaga • 11 Asencio • 12 Ibarra • 13 Delgado • 14 Ayoví • 15 Candelario • 16 Carabalí • 17 George • 18 Gómez • 19 Zamora • 20 Sánchez • 21 Quiñónez • 22 Kaviedes • Coach: Sevilla v • d • e Ecuador squad – 2001 Copa América 1 J. Cevallos • 2 Porozo • 3 Hurtado • 4 de la Cruz • 5 Burbano • 6 Guerrón • 7 J. Aguinaga • 8 Ordóñez • 9 Borja • 10 A. Aguinaga • 11 Delgado • 12 Ibarra • 13 Fernández • 14 W. Ayoví • 15 M. Ayoví • 16 Chalá • 17 Espinoza • 18 Obregón • 19 Méndez • 20 Tenorio • 21 Sánchez • 22 Guagua • Coach: Gómez v • d • e Ecuador squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Cevallos • 2 Porozo • 3 Hurtado • 4 de la Cruz • 5 Obregón • 6 Guerrón • 7 Asencio • 8 L. Gómez • 9 Kaviedes • 10 Aguinaga • 11 Delgado • 12 Ibarra • 13 Fernández • 14 Burbano • 15 M. Ayoví • 16 Chalá • 17 Espinoza • 18 C. Tenorio • 19 Méndez • 20 E. Tenorio • 21 Sánchez • 22 Viteri • 23 W. Ayoví • Coach: H. Gómez