Salvador Mariona


Salvador Antonio Mariona Rivera is a retired footballer from El Salvador who played as a defender. At international level, he represented his country at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

Club career

Born in Santa Tecla, Mariona moved with his parents to Izalco while still a boy and started a youth swimming career there, in the end winning a silver medal in a 4x100 m relief competition in Puerto Rico. He then began his footballing career at Mario Calvo in the third division and moved up to the Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador when he joined Atlante.
But he spent the major part of his career at Salvadoran giants Alianza and also played for Platense Zacatecoluca, after which he retired in 1977 and became a coach.

International career

Nicknamed Chamba, he was selected to represent El Salvador for eight years and featured in qualifying and playing in the 1970 World Cup.

Retirement

After football, Salvador Mariona worked as an insurance salesman and gained enough experience to found Desarrollo, SA which quickly became AIG Unión y Desarrollo, SA.
Mariona was the Chief Executive of his beloved Alianza after taking over in 2005.

Personal life

He is married to Floridalma Palacios and the couple have 5 children.