Mario Camposeco

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Camposeco and the second or maternal family name is López.
Mario Camposeco
Mario Camposeco
Personal information
Full name Mario Salvador Camposeco López
Date of birth (1921-08-06)6 August 1921
Place of birth Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Date of death 17 June 1951(1951-06-17) (aged 29)
Place of death Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1938-1940 América Quetzaltenango
1940-1951 Xelajú
1942-1943 → C.S.D. Municipal (loan)
1948-1949 → C.S.D. Municipal (loan)
International career
1943-1951 Guatemala MNT (23)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mario Salvador Camposeco López (6 August 1921 – 17 June 1951)[1] was a Guatemalan footballer.

Camposeco (standing fourth from the left) as a member of the Municipal team that participated in the 1948 tournament in Cuba

Born in Quetzaltenango, he started his football career in 1938 playing for the local team América. He then joined club Xelajú becoming its captain[2] and helping the team become champion of the Quetzaltenango department for 10 consecutive seasons (1940–1950).[3] In 1942 he was called as a reinforcement for CSD Municipal by coach Manuel Felipe Carrera to play against Atlante F.C. of Mexico, and in 1943 he was first capped with the Guatemala national team. On 10 March 1946, during the III Central American Football Championship, he scored against Costa Rica in a 4–1 win in San José.[4] In 1948 he was part of a Municipal squad that won a friendly tournament in commemoration of the Cuban Independence in Havana, Cuba.[5] He later participated in the VI Central American and Caribbean Games in 1950.[1] At the time he became the second best scorer ever for Guatemala behind his national teammate Carlos Toledo, with 23 goals, what remains the 4th highest total of all time.[6]

In June 1951, after a friendly match in Quetzaltenango, he was invited by a friend to go aboard an aircraft and fly over the city; there was a mechanic failure and the plane crashed, killing both the pilot and Camposeco. Following the death of the footballer, Quetzaltenango club Xelajú changed its name to "Xelajú M.C." in his honor. The team's stadium was also renamed to Estadio Mario Camposeco after him.

  1. ^ a b (in Spanish) Source: "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ (in Spanish) Source: http://www.muniquetzaltenango.com/newsite/historia Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ (in Spanish) Source: "Sin Reservas: Facetas del Xelajú MC". Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  4. ^ La Nación, 7 September 1969, p. 144. "En 19 ocasiones se han enfrentado Costa Rica y Guatemala"
  5. ^ La Habana, Cuba 1948 Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ (in Spanish) Source: "Mario Camposeco, goleador histórico del azul y blanco | Radio Emisoras Unidas - en línea desde Guatemala". Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2011.