Hugo Perez is named the head coach of El Salvador's U-23 men's team
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jan 12, 2021
The Concacaf tournament will be played in Guadalajara, Mexico, where El Salvador will face Canada, Haiti and Honduras in group play. The other group features host Mexico, the USA, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
Perez, a U.S. National Hall of Famer who played for the USA at the 1984 Olympics and 1994 World Cup, coached U.S. U-14 and U-15 national teams that included Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams. He also served as a U.S. Soccer technical advisor until he was let go in 2014. He is director of coaching and coaches two teams in the Silicon Valley Soccer Association and worked as a scout for the Mexican federation in the United States.
Perez, who replaces Rodolfo Gochez as El Salvador's U-23 coach, came to the USA from El Salvador at age 11 and settled in Los Angeles. He first appeared for the USA at the 1983 U-20 World Cup.
El Salvador's U-23s feature Eric Calvillo, who plays for the San Jose Earthquakes and represented the USA along with Pulisic and Adams at the 2015 U-17 World Cup. Other U.S.-based pros on the U-23s include Jonathan Rosales (Orlando City B) and Christian Molina (Union Omaha).
The squad Gochez called in a year ago to prepare for the Olympic qualifying tournament included Georgetown keeper Tomas Romero.
Best of luck, Hugo. We expect big things!