Jorge White

Jorge White was a member of the first Costa Rica football team to compete at the Olympics. He played in all three of their matches in 1980, against Iraq, Finland and Yugoslavia when, despite a 3-2 defeat, White had the honour, after 35 minutes, of scoring Costa Rica’s first ever goal at the Games. He was also honoured with the FIFA “Player of the Match” Award. White had already carved his name into Costa Rican football history when, a few months earlier, he scored two goals in the 3-2 defeat of Suriname to qualify for their first Olympics.

One of nine children, White started playing football at school in his home-town Limón, and in 1974 was a member of the Rogelio Rojas Youth Team who participated in the CONCACAF Tournament in Ottawa, Canada. He joined Limón in 1975, and part of the deal that took him, and two teammates, to the club, was for new uniforms to be purchased for his old school. White won the 1980-81 Costa Rican Championship with Alajuelense, and scored the only goal in the second leg of the final against Herediano, in front of more than 21,000 fans. White played for eight different clubs throughout his career, before retiring with Limón in 1988.

After his playing career, he worked on American cruise ships, mostly sailing around the Caribbean. He also dedicated his life to rescuing young people from drugs. On a March day, In 1997, White was out walking with his wife, four nephews and nieces and two of his own children, when he went to retrieve a ball belonging to one of his nieces from a pond in the River Vizcaya. White tragically drowned, at the age of 40.