Luis Tejada

Luis Carlos "Matador" Tejada Hansell (28 March 1982 – 28 January 2024) was a Panamanian professional footballer who played as a striker. A journeyman player, Tejada represented over 15 different football clubs in his career. He represented the Panama national team 108 times, appearing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Early career
Tejada's debut in professional soccer was with Tauro in the local league, where he managed to make a good impression and quickly moved to Colombia to play with Colombian side Deportes Tolima. Later on he was transferred to first division team Envigado in 2004, and after a splendid participation in the Gold Cup, he set off to the United Arab Emirates.

In 2005, he signed a three-year contract to send him to Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates. However, he did not yield the same results he obtained in the Gold Cup, reason why shortly after finished the AFC Champions League, and he returned to Panama.

Returning to Panama, he participated in the Clausura Championship with Plaza Amador, one of the best teams in the local league, but he only participated in a few matches. His conditioning was not optimal, and he acquired the nickname of "Gordito (fatty)". Growing into better form, he moved on to Colombia, where he played a short spell with ex Copa Libertadores champions Once Caldas, from which he was fired for disciplinary problems. He then returned to Panama to play for Plaza Amador.

Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer announced the signing of Tejada on 12 December 2006, for the 2007 season. He played only two minutes in five games, however, before he was released by head coach Jason Kreis in early June. He returned to Panamanian side Tauro for a very brief stint, scoring four goals in four matches.

America de Cali
In August 2007, Tejada was signed by Colombian club América de Cali. Tejada scored only three goals in the 2007 Torneo Finalizacion; however, he became a key player for América in the next tournament, the 2008 Torneo Apertura, where he scored 12 goals in 19 matches, becoming América de Cali's top-scorer and second overall in the tournament. Tejada's goals helped America reached the finals, with Tejada scoring a goal in the second leg to send the match into penalties, where America lost to Boyacá Chicó on penalties. He was nicknamed by the Colombian press as America's golden tooth (el diente de oro del America) because of his golden tooth. After the tournament, there was much interest for Tejada across big teams from South America and Europe, including Argentine club River Plate; however, nothing was finalized.

Millonarios
Shortly after the 2008 Apertura concluded, Tejada was sold to another club in Colombia, Millonarios, on a three-year contract. He made his debut on 16 August 2008 in the Embajadores victory over Deportes Quindío. However, 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.

Juan Aurich
Tejada returned to Tauro in summer 2009, and afterwards moved to Peru to play for champions Juan Aurich in early 2010. In Tejada's first season at the club, the 2010 Torneo Descentralizado, he scored 16 league goals and helped his club secure a Copa Sudamericana spot. In the 2010 Copa Libertadores, Tejada scored six goals, placing fourth in the top scoring chart, including a brace against Tecos on 28 January 2010.

In the following season Tejada finished as topscorer of the league, with 17 goals, as he helped his club win the league title for the first time in history and achieve direct qualification for the 2012 Copa Libertadores. He left Juan Aurich with an impressive 48 goals in 96 games, which attracted interest from teams in stronger leagues such as Mexico and Brazil.

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

Later career
In summer 2013, Tejada joined Veracruz on loan. For the 2014 season he joined another Peruvian club, Universidad César Vallejo. He 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, 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, Tejada walked off the pitch during a match against Cienciano after being subjected to racist abuse from fans.

International career
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. This made him Panama's all-time record goalscorer, just ahead of Blas Pérez. 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. This goal was voted the best goal of the year by Fox Sports.

Tejada led Panama to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, where they finished as runners-up to the United States. He 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. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for his efforts. Tejada is currently the all-time leading scorer in Panama history.

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

In May 2018, he was named in Panama's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Death
Tejada died on 28 January 2024 of a suspected heart attack after a pick-up game in his hometown of San Miguelito. He was 41 years old.

International

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

Honours
Juan Aurich Individual
 * Peruvian First Division: 2011
 * CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP: 2005
 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2005
 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Top Goalscorer: 2005