Alberto Coyote

Who is Alberto Coyote?

Héctor Alberto Coyote Tapia is a retired Mexican football midfielder. He obtained a total number of 54 caps for the Mexican national team between 1992 and 2001, and was a squad member at the 1995 Copa América. He made his international debut on July 26, 1992.

He began his career with León in 1990, quickly winning a place in the lineup and starting 42 matches as the club won the championship in the 1991-92 season. Coyote is most remembered for his eight years at C.D. Guadalajara, where he spent the prime seasons of his career. A hard-working defensive midfielder with an effective short passing touch, he played for five years alongside his more renowned club and international teammate Ramón Ramírez. This skillful central midfield duo helped Chivas to the Verano 1997 championship, after which Coyote was honored as the league's player of the season. After leaving Guadalajara in 2001, he ended his top-flight Mexican career with Atlante in 2002.

Although Coyote appeared in the 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup and 1995 Copa América, his international career reached its height in 1996 and 1997, when Mexico was under the management of Bora Milutinovic. There, he formed an aging but clever midfield trio along with Alberto García Aspe and Benjamín Galindo, while his club teammate Ramírez played at left back. Although he played in thirteen of Mexico's sixteen qualifiers, Coyote missed out on the 1998 FIFA World Cup after the appointment of Manuel Lapuente in late 1997. Coyote was one of four regular starters from the qualifying stages, all of them at the age of 30 or above, to be dropped from the team upon Lapuente's appointment. He was, however, recalled by Enrique Meza in 2000 and earned five more caps. Coyote's last international appearance came at the Confederations Cup against Australia on May 30, 2001.