Luis Roberto Alves

Club América's all-time leading scorer and 1993 Gold Cup top marksman.

Luis Roberto Alves dos Santos Gavranić (born 23 May 1967), known as Zague, is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward. He spent most of his playing career with Club América, where he holds the distinction of being the club's all-time leading scorer.

Quick Facts

Full name: Luis Roberto Alves dos Santos Gavranić
Born: 23 May 1967
Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico
Height: 1.93 m / 6 ft 4 in
Position: Forward
Total caps: 584
Total goals: 209

Lore & Background

Zague's 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, beginning his youth football career with Corinthians. He returned to Mexico in 1985 and made his debut with Club América a year later. On 2 October 2003, his testimonial game was celebrated at the Estadio Azteca where América defeated 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 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. Since 2018, Zague is an analyst for TV Azteca, alongside Luis García and Jorge Campos.

Reader's Guide

Zague made 83 appearances and scored 23 goals for Mexico. He represented Mexico at the FIFA World Cup in 1994. He was Hugo Sánchez's offense partner in the Mexican side that finished as runner-up in Copa América 1993, where he finished as Mexico's top goalscorer of the tournament.