| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Álvaro Mesén Murillo[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1972-12-24)December 24, 1972 (age 52) | ||
| Place of birth | Alajuela,Costa Rica | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1993 | Carmelita | ||
| 1993–2004 | Alajuelense | 207 | (1) |
| 2004–2006 | Herediano | 67 | |
| 2006–2007 | Brujas | 28 | (0) |
| 2007–2010 | Liberia Mía | 63 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2006 | Costa Rica | 38 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Álvaro Mesén Murillo (born December 24, 1972) is a retiredCosta Ricanfootballer.
Upon club legendAlejandro González Rojas's retirement in September 1990, then-sixteen years old Álvaro Mesén was called upon to theAlajuelense senior team to backfill the third-choice goalkeeper position, behind the more experienced pair of Desiderio Calvo and Paul Mayorga; however upon the signing of former Herediano goalkeeper José Alexis Rojas in early 1991, Mesén was sent back to the youth teams. Rojas's signing had the purpose of adding experience to Alajuelense's door, which was lacking upon González's retirement as Mayorga and Calvo only started a handful of games in the past two seasons, and neither one of them could keep the other's faults in check.
Mesén made his league debut forCarmelita on 6 March 1993 against Turrialba[2] during the 1992-93 season[3] before heading back to parent club Alajuelense ahead of the 1993-94 season.
Mesén eventually became an understudy to Rojas who was the first-choice goalkeeper, and rose to first-choice keeper himself ahead of the 1997-98 season, when Rojas's career ended at Alajuelense as a result of being on the receiving end of an eight-match ban (as he was involved in a post-match brawl after a match against Saprissa in June 1997--Mesén also was involved in said brawl but received a minor ban), causing the Alajuelense's Board of Directors to show him the door as Rojas was going to be unavailable for six matches (having served two on the 1996-97 season's finals).
He went on to play 207 league games forLiga,[4] scoring one goal, a penalty in the 1999-2000 season.[2]
He also played forHerediano andBrujas before finishing his career atLiberia Mía, after joining them in 2007.[5]
Mesén made his debut forCosta Rica in a November 1999friendly match againstSlovakia[2] and earned a total of 38 caps, scoring no goals.[6] He represented his country in 15FIFA World Cup qualification matches[7] and was a non-playing squad member at the2002 and2006 FIFA World Cups.[3]
He also played at the2003 UNCAF Nations Cup[8] as well as at the2002,[9]2003[10] and2005 CONCACAF Gold Cups.[11] He also was a non-playing squad member at the2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[12]
His final international was a May 2006 friendly match against theCzech Republic.
He has also become known for his activism, having been appointed as aFIFA ambassador in 2001 and supporting the2002 FIFA World CupGlobal March Against Child Labour campaign.[13]
After retiring in 2010, Mesén became the new secretary-general ofFedefutbol in September 2012. He has a master's degree in business administration.[14] He resigned from Fedefutbol in February 2013.[15]
Álvaro Mesén international tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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