MLS: Top 5 CONCACAF players in league history
By Matt Coles
There have been some amazing foreign imports in the 25-year history of MLS, but who ranks in the top five players of all time from the rest of the CONCACAF nations?
In total, almost 300 players from CONCACAF nations barring the United States, Canada and Mexico have featured in Major League Soccer. The majority of those represented either Costa Rica, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Honduras, and we have narrowed them down to the best five to ever feature in MLS.
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But who are they? How did they make the list? There are some big names that miss out. Take a look at our top five players from the CONCACAF region below.
5. Ronald Cerritos
The first member of our top five players from the CONCACAF region is one of two Salvadorians to make the list, Ronald Cerritos. Cerritos signed for San Jose Clash in 1997 and immediately became their star striker. With 12 goals and 10 assists from just 22 matches in his debut campaign, the Salvadorian made it into the MLS Best XI. But more was to come from the forward.
He then went on to score a further 33 goals and set up 28 more for his team-mates over the next four seasons, with San Jose going on to lift the MLS Cup in what would be Cerritos’ final game for the side before moving on.
The El Salvador forward, who played 70 times for his country, then had spells with the Dallas Burn and D.C. United before returning to San Jose, with the renamed Earthquakes, before spending the 2006 campaign, his last in the American top flight, with Houston Dynamo.
Cerritos played over 220 matches in Major League Soccer, scoring 70 times. He holds the all-time records for assists in San Jose with 47 and has been inducted into the Earthquakes Hall of Fame since retiring.