Luis Roberto Alves dos Santos Gavranić (born 23 May 1967) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is best known as Zague, in honor to his father.
Zague's legacy is most closely associated with Club América, where he made his professional debut and went on to win seven official titles. He remains the club's all-time leading scorer and ranks among the top ten all-time goalscorers in Mexico's top division.
On the international stage, Zague made 83 appearances and scored 23 goals. He represented Mexico at the FIFA World Cup in 1994.
Career Born in Mexico, his father José Alves dos Santos was a Brazilian forward who played for Club América and his mother was a Croatian housewife. Zague spent his childhood in Brazil (where he was referred to as Zaguinho, Zague with the diminutive suffix "-inho" appended to signify him being his father's son) beginning his youth football career with Corinthians. He returned to Mexico in 1985 and made his debut with the Mexican Club América a year later.
On 2 October 2003, his testimonial game was celebrated at the Estadio Azteca where America would defeat FC Barcelona 2–0.
He was a physically strong and fast striker who was regarded as the best in his prime years for both América and Mexico. He was Hugo Sánchez's offense partner in the Mexican side who finished as runner-up in Copa América 1993, where he finished up as Mexico's top goalscorer of the tournament.
He was part of the Mexico squad for the 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup in which Mexico won the trophy and was the tournament top scorer with 11 goals which is still a CONCACAF record. Seven of those goals were scored against Martinique in a single game.
He scored 23 goals in 83 caps for his country.
Since 2018, Zague is an analyst for TV Azteca, alongside Luis García and Jorge Campos.
Career statistics International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsMexico198832198911199041199193199292199321141994601995901996431997143200141Total8430
Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zague goal.
+ List of international goals scored by ZagueNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1Estadio Azulgrana, Mexico City, Mexico2–08–0Friendly24–03Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico1–03–1Friendly4Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States2–02–0Friendly5Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States1–03–0Friendly62–07Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States2–04–11991 CONCACAF Gold Cup8Arnos Vale Stadium, Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines1–04–01994 FIFA World Cup qualification9Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico6–011–01994 FIFA World Cup qualification10Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico3–03–1Friendly11Estadio 9 de Mayo, Machala, Ecuador1–11–21993 Copa América12Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador2–04–21993 Copa América13Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico1–09–01993 CONCACAF Gold Cup142–0153–0165–0176–0187–0198–020Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico4–08–01993 CONCACAF Gold Cup215–022Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico5–16–11993 CONCACAF Gold Cup23Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico3–04–01993 CONCACAF Gold Cup24Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico1–02–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification25Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico3–05–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification26Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico3–03–11998 FIFA World Cup qualification27Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States1–02–0Friendly28Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico4–04–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification29Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico4–05–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification30Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico3–04–1Friendly
Honours América Mexican Primera División: 1987–88, 1988–89 Campeón de Campeones: 1988, 1989 CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 1987, 1990, 1992
Mexico CONCACAF Gold Cup: 1993
Individual CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Boot: 1993
Records Club América All Time Leading Goalscorer
References
External links International statistics at RSSSF.