It was easy to lose in the reverie following Christian Pulisic and the United States men’s national team’s win on Wednesday, but a CONCACAF legend went out in absolute style.
Playing in his final game, Guatemala’s Carlos Ruiz scored five goals against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines before leaving the rain-drenched pitch to massive cheers from the Guatemala City faithful.
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Ruiz’s 68 international goals is a country record that will stand for a while, with a 33-goal lead on second place and no active Guatemalan player with more than Marco Pappa’s 11.
Ruiz, 36, is now also the all-time goal scorer in World Cup qualifying history with 39. The title of highest active goal scorer falls to Cristiano Ronaldo, who will soon re-pass Ruiz.
But still, let’s take a minute to acknowledge the way he went out on Tuesday. The two-time Clausura winner, 2002 MLS Cup champ, and 2002 MLS MVP sure had a career.
