26 Facts About Luis Tejada

Luis Carlos "Matador" Tejada Hansell was a Panamanian professional footballer who played as a striker.

Luis Tejada represented the Panama national team 108 times, appearing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Luis Tejada's conditioning was not optimal, and he acquired the nickname of "Gordito ".

Luis Tejada then returned to Panama to play for Plaza Amador.

Luis Tejada returned to Panamanian side Tauro for a very brief stint, scoring four goals in four matches.

Luis Tejada scored only three goals in the 2007 Torneo Finalizacion; however, he became a key player for America in the next tournament, the 2008 Torneo Apertura, where he scored 12 goals in 19 matches, becoming America de Cali's top-scorer and second overall in the tournament.

Luis Tejada's goals helped America reached the finals, with Luis Tejada scoring a goal in the second leg to send the match into penalties, where America lost to Boyaca Chico on penalties.

Luis Tejada was nicknamed by the Colombian press as America's golden tooth because of his golden tooth.

Shortly after the 2008 Apertura concluded, Luis Tejada was sold to another club in Colombia, Millonarios, on a three-year contract.

Luis Tejada made his debut on 16 August 2008 in the Embajadores victory over Deportes Quindio.

However, Luis Tejada was unable to replicate his form at America with his new club, and he was released shortly after Millonarios failed to quality for the 2009 Apertura playoffs, having scored just once in 25 appearances.

Luis Tejada returned to Tauro in summer 2009, and afterwards moved to Peru to play for champions Juan Aurich in early 2010.

Luis Tejada left Juan Aurich with an impressive 48 goals in 96 games, which attracted interest from teams in stronger leagues such as Mexico and Brazil.

Luis Tejada finally moved to Mexican side Deportivo Toluca in late 2012 as a replacement for the Uruguyan striker Ivan Alonso.

Luis Tejada's spell at Toluca began promising after a late arrival, scoring four goals in five matches; however, his performance and consistency dropped for the liguilla, the Clausura 2013 and in the disappointing performance of Toluca at Copa Libertadores.

Luis Tejada scored 11 league goals and participated in the 2014 Copa Sudamericana with the club, but failed to score in any of the Sudamericana games.

In January 2015, Luis Tejada returned to Peru where he played with Juan Aurich for two years and had an excellent spell, scoring 39 goals in 58 appearances.

On 1 March 2015, Luis Tejada walked off the pitch during a match against Cienciano after being subjected to racist abuse from fans.

Luis Tejada made his debut for Panama in a June 2001 friendly against Trinidad and Tobago and, until his international retirement in 2018, earned a total of 108 caps, scoring 43 goals.

Luis Tejada represented his country in 34 FIFA World Cup qualification matches, and in March 2005, he scored a goal from an overhead kick against Mexico in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match to draw Panama level with the CONCACAF giants.

Luis Tejada led Panama to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, where they finished as runners-up to the United States.

Luis Tejada scored three goals to end up as joint top scorer, but unfortunately, he missed his penalty kick in the penalty shoot-out against the United States in the final.

Luis Tejada was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for his efforts.

Luis Tejada is currently the all-time leading scorer in Panama history.

Luis Tejada was ejected from the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi final against Mexico after receiving a red card.

Luis Tejada died on 28 January 2024 of a suspected heart attack after a pick-up game in his hometown of San Miguelito.