View source for Gabelo Conejo

{{short description|Costa Rican footballer (born 1960)}}
{{family name hatnote|Conejo|Jiménez|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Gabelo Conejo
| image = 
| caption =
| fullname = Luis Gabelo Conejo Jiménez
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|1|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[San Ramón, Costa Rica]]
| height = {{height|m=1.88}} 
| position = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]]
| currentclub = 
| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = 
| years1 = 1980–1988 | clubs1 = [[Asociación Deportiva Ramonense|Ramonense]] | caps1 = ? | goals1 = 5
| years2 = 1989–1990 | clubs2 = [[C.S. Cartaginés|Cartaginés]] | caps2 = | goals2 = 
| years3 = 1990–1992 | clubs3 = [[Albacete Balompié|Albacete]] | caps3 = 69 | goals3 = 0
| years4 = 1993–1994 | clubs4 = [[Albacete Balompié|Albacete]] | caps4 = 12 | goals4 = 0
| years5 = 1996 | clubs5 = [[C.S. Herediano|Herediano]] | caps5 = | goals5 = 
| years6 = 1997 | clubs6 = [[Asociación Deportiva Ramonense|Ramonense]] | caps6 = | goals6 = 
| totalcaps = 263± | totalgoals = 5±
| nationalyears1 = 1987–1991 | nationalteam1 = [[Costa Rica national football team|Costa Rica]] | nationalcaps1 = 29 | nationalgoals1 = 0
}}

'''Luis Gabelo Conejo Jiménez''' (born 1 January 1960) is a Costa Rican former professional [[Association football|footballer]] who played as a [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]].

He played mainly for [[Asociación Deportiva Ramonense|Ramonense]] and [[Albacete Balompié|Albacete]], during a 17-year professional career. In 2009, the [[International Federation of Football History & Statistics]] named him the 34th best goalkeeper of the world for the period 1987–2008, and the seventh in [[Latin America]].<ref>[http://www.iffhs.de/?b88d85ff8b00388f05f4cbc0385fdcdc3bfcdc0aec28d6edb8d415 All-Time World Goalkeeper Ranking]; at [[International Federation of Football History & Statistics|IFFHS]]</ref>

Conejo appeared for [[Costa Rica national football team|Costa Rica]] at the [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990 World Cup]].

==Club career==
Born in [[San Ramón, Costa Rica|San Ramón]], [[Alajuela Province]], Conejo made his professional debut for [[Asociación Deportiva Ramonense]], playing his first game in the [[Costa Rican Primera División|Primera División]] on 27 November 1981 against [[C.S. Herediano]]<ref name="Bio">[http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/junio/30/deportes1593509.html Buzón de Rodrigo – Carrera deportiva de Gabelo Conejo (Rodrigo's mailbox – Sporting career of Gabelo Conejo)]; [[La Nación (San José)|La Nación]], 30 June 2008 {{in lang|es}}</ref> and managing to score five league goals during his eight-year spell.<ref>[http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/abril/08/deportes1054738.html Porteros ticos con más de dos años sin goles (''Tico'' goalkeepers with more than two years without goals)] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140803120529/http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/abril/08/deportes1054738.html |date=3 August 2014 }}; La Nación, 8 April 2007 {{in lang|es}}</ref> He left in 1989 to sign for [[C.S. Cartaginés]], and subsequently joined Spanish club [[Albacete Balompié]], quickly becoming an idol as the [[Castile-La Mancha]] side [[1990–91 Segunda División|reached]] [[La Liga]] for the first time ever in 1991;<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090611194334/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/stories/doyouremember/news/newsid=1065897.html#conejo+tico+talisman Conejo, the Tico talisman]; FIFA.com</ref><ref>[http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/1991/06/10/pagina-27/1230890/pdf.html El Albacete hace historia (Albacete make history)]; [[Mundo Deportivo]], 10 June 2001 {{in lang|es}}</ref> he made his debut in the competition on 1 September 1991 in a 2–0 away loss against [[CA Osasuna]],<ref>[http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/1991/09/02/pagina-23/1241596/pdf.html Urban apuntilla al Albacete (Urban finishes Albacete)]; Mundo Deportivo, 2 September 1991 {{in lang|es}}</ref> and finished [[1991–92 La Liga|the season]] with 33 appearances for a final seventh place.

After [[1993–94 La Liga|one year]] as a backup at Albacete, Conejo returned to Costa Rica with [[C.S. Herediano]] in 1996, retiring the following year after one season with Ramonense, aged 37. He had retired two times earlier, not playing in the 1992–93 and 1994–95 campaigns,<ref name="LGCJ">[http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/1999/septiembre/26/deportesxx.html Luis Gabelo Conejo Jiménez]; La Nación, 26 September 1999 {{in lang|es}}</ref> and his final league match occurred on 2 April 1997 against [[Puntarenas F.C.|Puntarenas FC]].<ref name="Bio"/>

==International career==
Conejo made his debut for [[Costa Rica national football team|Costa Rica]] in a 1987 [[Exhibition game|friendly match]] with [[South Korea national football team|South Korea]], and earned a total of 29 [[Cap (sport)|caps]].<ref name="Bio"/> He appeared for his country in ten [[FIFA World Cup qualification]] matches,<ref>{{FIFA|47913|Luis Conejo}}</ref> and represented it at the [[1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup]].<ref>[https://www.rsssf.org/tables/91gc-full.html CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1991 – Full Details] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016083600/http://www.rsssf.com/tables/91gc-full.html |date=16 October 2013 }}; at [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|RSSSF]]</ref>

Conejo received international recognition during the [[1990 FIFA World Cup]]: featuring in three matches and conceding only twice, his heroic saves against [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]], [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] and [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]] helped the nation reach the second round. He was replaced by [[Hermidio Barrantes]] in the [[Single-elimination tournament|round-of-16]] encounter against [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]] because of an injury, and his team was eliminated; he still managed to be selected as one of the two best goalkeepers in the tournament, the other being [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]]'s [[Sergio Goycochea]].<ref>[http://www.worldcupbrazil.net/world-cup-history/world-cup-70s-90s/1990-italy/#world-cup-1990-fifa-all-star-team 1990 – Italy]; at World Cup Brazil</ref>

Conejo's final international was a 1991 Gold Cup match against [[Mexico national football team|Mexico]].<ref name="Bio"/> Subsequently, he worked with the national team as goalkeepers' coach.<ref>[http://www.nacion.com/deportes/futbol-costa-rica/Gabelo-Conejo-Keylor-Navas-Espanola_0_1399060217.html Luis Gabelo Conejo confiaba en que Keylor Navas sería el mejor de la Liga Española (Luis Gabelo Conejo had confidence that Keylor Navas would be the best in Spanish League)]; La Nación, 26 February 2014 {{in lang|es}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{BDFutbol|1804|Luis Conejo}}
*{{NFT|14011|Luis Conejo}}

{{Navboxes colour
|title=Costa Rica squads
| bg = #ce1126
| fg = White
|list1=
{{Costa Rica Squad 1990 World Cup}}
{{Costa Rica Squad 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
}}
{{1990 FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conejo, Gabelo}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from San Ramón, Costa Rica]]
[[Category:Footballers from Alajuela Province]]
[[Category:Costa Rican men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]]
[[Category:A.D. Ramonense players]]
[[Category:C.S. Cartaginés players]]
[[Category:C.S. Herediano footballers]]
[[Category:La Liga players]]
[[Category:Segunda División players]]
[[Category:Albacete Balompié players]]
[[Category:Costa Rica men's international footballers]]
[[Category:1990 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]]
[[Category:CONCACAF Championship–winning players]]
[[Category:Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Spain]]
[[Category:Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Spain]]