Hugo Perez 1981, 1982, 1983; 1982 (id), 1983 (id)

Hugo Ernesto Pérez was born November 8th, 1963 in El Salvador. Where both his grandfather and father both played professionally for C.D. FAS, the club with which Hugo would finish his career. He migrated with his family to the United States when he was 11 and gained his U.S. citizenship in the mid-1980s. He chose to forego college.

In 1982, he signed with the Los Angeles Aztecs of the NASL. He also spent time with the Rowdies before ending up with the San Diego Sockers. In 1988, he was the championship MVP when the Sockers won the MISL championship.

That summer he joined Ajax during the team's pre-season. Ajax manager Johan Cruyff expressed an interest in signing him, but the Sockers refused to release him.

Cruyff then attempted to work a transfer for Hugo to Italian club Parma in 1990, but Parma needed him to play in the World Cup in order to get him a work permit. Hugo was part of the 1990 World Cup Roster, but when U.S. coach Gansler left him off the U.S. team that traveled, due to a question of match fitness due to injury, this nixed the move to Italy. Instead, he moved to France where he played with Red Star Paris. From France, he moved to Swedish First Division club Örgryte IS, then onto Saudi Arabian First Division club Al-Ittihad.

In 1994, he returned to the United States and played in the 1994 World Cup and after played for the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League. Hugo played with the Salsa while negotiating a contract with C.D FAS. The Salsa folded at the end of the 1994 season and he made his last move, to El Salvador First Division Club Deportivo FAS, commonly known as C.D. FAS. In both of his years with the club, 1994-1995 and 1995-1996, C.D. FAS won the El Salvador championship. He retired in 1996 from professional soccer.

He was a member of the American squad that competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He also helped the USA qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which he missed when he tore ligaments in his leg playing for Red Star Paris, a French Second Division club. He was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1991. He played 73 international matches for the US between 1984 and 1994, in which he scored thirteen goals. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he played in only the second round game against Brazil. Sadly, for such a talented midfielder, this was his only opportunity to play at the game's highest level.
After retiring from playing, Hugo Perez moved to the San Francisco area where he has served as the principal for the Living Hope Christian School. On March 10th, 2008, he was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In August 2002, he joined the University of San Francisco as an assistant coach to its men's soccer team. On December 7th, 2007, the California Victory, a USL First Division expansion franchise, announced that Hugo had joined its staff as an assistant coach. Hugo is also a coach for Novato Youth Soccer and in particular the U16 Boys Division 1 team. His son Gerson Perez is also a coach with Novato Youth Soccer.