Blas Pérez

Blas Antonio Pérez Ortega (born 13 March 1981) is a Panamanian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Club career
Pérez began his career in his native Panama with Panamá Viejo. He made his debut with the club in 1998 and went on to score 27 goals in 56 matches. In 2001, he joined Árabe Unido and continued his goal scoring form. In 2002, he joined top Uruguayan side Nacional. The following season, he left for Colombia signing with Envigado, scoring a goal on his debut against Independiente Medellin in the process. After one season at the club he joined Centauros and went on to score 29 goals in 37 matches, catching the attention of one of Colombia's top clubs Deportivo Cali. For the 2005 season he signed with Cali and remained at the club for two years in which he continued with his goal scoring form. In 2006 Perez joined Cúcuta. With Cúcuta, Perez won the Copa Mustang in 2006 against Deportes Tolima. In 2007 Cúcuta and Blas Perez made their debut in Copa Libertadores, in which Blas scored eight goals, including two against Argentina's Boca Juniors. The eight goals were the second-most in the tournament.

On 29 May 2007, Spanish Segunda División team Hércules CF signed Super Ratón on a four-year contract in which they acquired 50% of the players rights. It was valued at US$2.7 million, with Blas Perez earning 60 thousand dollars per month. Perez enjoyed a brief stay in Spain in which he scored four goals in 16 matches.

On 18 January 2008, he signed with UANL Tigres, his seventh club in his career and first in Mexico. He played for Pachuca for the 2009 Clausura in a loan deal after Miguel Sabah's transfer to Pachuca did not work out. He scored eight goals in 15 matches with Pachuca.

After his impressive display in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Al Wasl FC of Dubai was able to secure Blas Pérez services to play in the UAE League based on Al Wasl's new coach Alexandre Guimarães recommendation. He stayed there only for the first half of the 2009–10 season before moving back to Mexico to play for San Luis. After having played 17 games in the Torneo Bicentenario and 2 in the 2010 edition of the Copa Libertadores and having scored 5 goals in both tournaments, he was released at the end of the season. He was later signed by Club León from the Liga de Ascenso in the 2010 edition of the Mexican draft. he rediscovered his goal scoring form with Club León with 19 goals in 28 matches. For the second half of the 2011 season he was again sent on loan this time to Indios. For the 2012 Major League Soccer season, he signed with FC Dallas. On 2 December 2015, it was announced that FC Dallas would not be renewing Perez's contract.

On 16 February 2016, Perez was traded to Vancouver Whitecaps FC for Mauro Rosales. At the conclusion of the 2016 season Perez's contract was not renewed. On 31 January 2017, Pérez signed with Panamanian club, C.D. Árabe Unido.

On 25 November 2018, Pérez retired from playing professional football. He came out of retirement in 2022, however, to play arena soccer with the Dallas Sidekicks of the Major Arena Soccer League.

International career
Pérez made his debut for Panama in a March 2001 friendly match against El Salvador and, up until his international retirement in 2018, earned a total of 123 caps, scoring 42 goals. He is Panama's fifth all-time record cap holder and second all-time leading goalscorer after Luis Tejada. He represented his country in 35 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played for Panama at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the United States. He ended up as Panama's top scorer, with three goals and one assist. Pérez was also named in the tournament's "Best XI". He also played in the 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 editions of the Gold Cup, as well as the Copa América Centenario.

In May 2018, Pérez was named in Panama's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, eeventually being named to the final 23-man selection.

Assault attempt
On 23 July 2009, two cars chased Pérez's Nissan 350Z early at the morning while he was travelling along the La Chorrera highway. The assaulting cars intercepted him when one of them collided with it forcing it to stop. Pérez managed to escape from the attackers and sustained no injuries but his car was heavily damaged.

Personal life
Pérez holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

 * Scores and results list Panama's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pérez goal.

Honours
Deportivo Cali
 * Categoría Primera A: 2005

Cúcuta Deportivo
 * Categoría Primera A: 2006

Individual
 * CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Star Team: 2007