"El fenómeno costarricense" ("The Costa Rican phenomenon"),[1] as he was dubbed by the press in Catalonia, Spain, where he was part of FC Barcelona.

[5] In 1925 at the early age of 16, he made his debut with Alajuelense in the Costa Rican premier league Primera División in a match against Sociedad Gimnástica Española.

He shone as the team's outstanding player during Alajuelense's tours of Mexico (1931) and Perú (1932), where he received accolades for his playing ability.

One of his best remembered strikes was scoring his team's only goal in September of that year versus Real Madrid, beating Spain's fabled and Europe's best goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora "El Divino" in a 2 to 1 loss.

The 1934–35 season was also successful, playing 24 games and scoring 12 goals, and FCB placed sixth in the Spanish league championship.

With the urgent need to return to Costa Rica but with empty pockets, he briefly offered his services to the French team Le Havre, played two games and in usual fashion scored two goals for them.

Again he joined Alajuelense obtaining another championship in 1939 won when he scored a hat trick in the final match against Herediano.

[6] After retiring from sports he was voted a member of the country's legislature for his native province of Alajuela (1958–1962), where he also later served as Mayor and Governor.