Milton Flores

Milton Flores

Personal information
Full name	Milton Javier Flores Miranda
Date of birth	5 December 1974(1974-12-05)
Place of birth	La Lima, Honduras
Date of death	19 January 2003(2003-01-19) (aged 28)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992 - 2002	Real C.D. España	231	(0)
National team
1996 - 2001	Honduras	29	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Milton Javier Flores Miranda (5 December 1974 – 19 January 2003) was a Honduran football player.

Biography

Flores was born in La Lima, Honduras, near sports recreation park named "Polideportivo Chulavista." He started playing baseball, but later was discovered as a goalkeeper talent. He attended elementary school Manuel Bonilla, where he became best friends with Carlos Pavon. He also played in "La Mosquito."

Nicknamed "el Chocolate", the goalkeeper played for Real C.D. España. Real Españas fans idolized Chocolate for his excellent performances with the team. One of the most famous games Chocolate ever played was against Brazil for the Panamericanos Of Mar del Plata, Argentina, where he stopped 3 penalties and scored the goal that passed Honduras to the next stage. After that goal, Chocolate danced punta as a celebration, the national Honduran dance. He was the goalkeeper of the Honduras national soccer team, on the game they won Mexico for the first time in history on qualifiers, at the end of the game, in an interview by Salvador Nasralla, crying he dedicated the win to his mother, who had died years before.

He was killed by automatic weapons fire as he was allegedly having a sexual act in his parked car in the red light district of San Pedro Sula. After the shooting, he tried to drive himself to a hospital but drove into a tree where he died.^[1] It has, alternatively, been voiced that he was passing a notoriously criminal neighborhood where gang members, taking his for a rival car, started shooting Flores' car.

After his death, a football stadium was named after him in La Lima, his hometown. His wake took place in Polideportivo Chulavista, with massive attendance by fans, making it one of the most noted funerals ever in Honduras. Soccer players, friends, TV reporters from national and international channels and family gathered to say farewell. He was famous by his imitations of TV personalities in Honduras, also a skilled dancer. Real Espana's fans remember him as one of their team's most memorable players until the present day. He was buried in Lima Nueva Cemetery, next to his mother.

He also played for the Honduras national football team between 1996 and 2001.

References

1. ^ "Honduran goalkeeper shot dead". www.iol.co.za. 20 January 2003. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=19&art_id=vn20030120141810781C116974. Retrieved 7 July 2010. 

External links

• Milton Flores at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Flores, Milton
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 December 1974
Place of birth	La Lima, Honduras
Date of death	19 January 2003
Place of death