José Luis Chilavert (born July 27, 1965) is an Association football player from Paraguay. A goalie, he is considered by many to be the greatest soccer player to come out of that South American nation.
Chilavert made his debut as a soccer player at the age of 15, with a team named Sportivo Luqueno, a secondary divisions team back then. In 1989, he played for the Paraguayan national team for the first time.
By then, he had already reached a division 1 team, with Argentina's San Lorenzo football team. He later moved on to Spain, where he participated with Real Zaragoza. Back in Argentina after his stint in Spain, he played with the Velez Sarsfield team, helping lead the team to the Argentine championship three times as well as the Copa Libertadores and the Toyota Cup, both won in 1994. In 1995, he was voted as World Goalkeeper of the Year, an award he repeated in 1997.
In 1998, he participated in the World Cup, helping take Paraguay to the second round, where the team lost to France. Chilavert boasted of being the Cup's best goalie before the tournament even began.
During a qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup, he spat on Brazil's player Roberto Carlos, action which caused him to watch the first two games of that World Cup from the stands, since FIFA gave him a three-match suspension.
Chilavert is also one of the world's leading free-kick specialists, and often takes penalties. This unusual expertise for a goalkeeper has made him the all-time leading scorer among professional keepers. He has scored nearly 60 goals in his professional career, including eight in international matches. Four of his international goals were scored during Paraguay's qualification for the 2002 World Cup.
