Óscar Pérez Rojas (born 1 February 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Nicknamed El Conejo (The Rabbit), he is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Mexican football history.
With a club career spanning 26 years in Mexico's top flight, most notably with Cruz Azul and Pachuca, Pérez won the CONCACAF Champions League on three occasions, as well as two league titles and one domestic cup. He holds the national record for most league appearances, with 740.
Pérez earned 55 caps for the Mexico national team between 1997 and 2010, winning three CONCACAF Gold Cup titles and the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. He also featured in the 1998, 2002 and 2010 editions of the FIFA World Cup, in the two latter as first choice goalkeeper.
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Club career
Cruz Azul
He was the starting goalkeeper for Cruz Azul since 1997 with the team winning the championship in the 1997 Winter Season. Pérez debuted for the team in 1993, facing Atlas, which ended in a 0–0 draw. He quickly became the starting goalkeeper for Cruz Azul and won the 1997 Invierno Final, where Cruz Azul defeated Club León by a score of 2–1.
In 2001, he helped steer Cruz Azul all the way to the final of the Copa Libertadores, a historic run for a Mexican club in the competition. With Pérez in goal, Cruz Azul was able to eliminate teams like Cerro Porteño, River Plate and Rosario Central, before playing Boca Juniors in the two-legged final. In the final, they lost at home, and won in Buenos Aires to take the final to a penalty-shootout but lost 1–3.
In a league game away to Estudiantes Tecos in 2006, Pérez scored a header in stoppage time to salvage a 1–1 draw. In 2007, he was given an award for a record-making 400 appearances at Cruz Azul.
He moved to Tigres UANL, starting 4 games in the Apertura 2008. Pérez's first game with Tigres was on 13 July 2008 in a friendly against his former team, Cruz Azul, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He was a great addition to Tigres as he maintained the fewest goal approaches of the Apertura 2008 tournament.
After a year with Tigres, he moved to Chiapas on loan, where he played in the 2009–10 season.
For the Apertura 2010, Pérez moved to Club Necaxa, after which he joined San Luis on loan.
Pachuca
For the Apertura 2013, Pérez was loaned to Pachuca after finishing a spell with San Luis. He was given the number 21.
On 29 May 2016, Pérez won the Liga MX final with Pachuca. This broke his personal 19-year drought as well, making him the oldest champion in the league's history at 43-years-old and three months. After the season, Pachuca extended his loan for another year.
On 29 April 2017, Pérez scored a header in the 93rd minute against his former club Cruz Azul to salvage a 2–2 draw, and in doing so at the age of 44, he became the oldest goalscorer in the history of Liga MX. Coincidentally, Azul's goalkeeper, José de Jesús Corona, was the same who conceded Pérez's goal in 2006.
After winning the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League with Pachuca, Pérez postponed his retirement until after Pachuca's participation at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup. On 12 December 2017, he started in the semifinals against Grêmio, becoming, at the age of 44 years and 10 months, the oldest-ever player in the history of the Club World Cup. Following the tournament, Pérez announced he planned on playing professionally for six more months, effectively postponing his retirement until after the 2017–18 Liga MX season.
On 23 July 2019, Pérez returned to his first club, Cruz Azul. On 27 July, at the age of 46, he announced his retirement from football effective immediately after Cruz Azul's second round match of the Torneo Apertura 2019 against Toluca.
International career
Pérez scored his first and only international goal for the under-23 team in a friendly against South Korea under-23, scoring in injury time when Mexico were losing 1–0.
Pérez was considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in Mexico and took over the spot for starting goalie during the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers, going on to play in the 2002 World Cup as the first-choice goalkeeper. Once Javier Aguirre left the national team, Ricardo La Volpe became coach, and Oswaldo Sánchez took over his spot.
Guillermo Ochoa was expected to be the starting keeper for Mexico at the 2010 World Cup but in a surprise move, Pérez was called up and played as the starting goalkeeper in the tournament. Following Mexico's loss in the Round of 16 to Argentina, Pérez announced his retirement from the national team on 14 July 2010.
Personal life
In October 2017, Pérez helped found Asociación Mexicana de Futbolistas (Mexican Footballers Association).
Career statistics
Honours
Cruz Azul
Primera División: Invierno 1997
Copa México: 1996–97
Supercopa MX: 2019
Copa Pachuca: 1997, 1998, 2002, 2006
CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 1996, 1997
Leagues Cup: 2019
Selectivo Pre Pre Libertadores: 2000, 2002
Copa Pre Libertadores: 2000, 2002
Copa Libertadores runner-up: 2001
San Luis
Copa Tijuana: 2011
Pachuca
Liga MX: Clausura 2016
CONCACAF Champions League: 2016–17
Copa Pachuca: 2013, 2014
FIFA Club World Cup third place: 2017
Mexico
FIFA Confederations Cup: 1999
Copa América runner-up: 2001; third place: 1999
CONCACAF Gold Cup: 1998, 2003, 2009
Pan American Games Silver Medal: 1995
CONCACAF Pre-Olympic Tournament: 1996
Individual