Carlos Ruiz (born September 15, 1979 in Guatemala City, Guatemala) is currently one of the best players both in Major League Soccer and for the Guatemala national team. He currently plays for F.C. Dallas.

Ruiz, nickanamed El Pescadito (the little fish), joined MLS from CSD Municipal, a club in his home country of Guatemala, that still retains a portion of his contract rights. He signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy in January, 2002. Once in MLS, Ruiz shone immediately - in his debut season, he scored 24 goals (best in the league), leading the Galaxy to the MLS Cup and winning the MLS Most Valuable Player Award as well. In the playoffs, he scored eight goals and added two assists to set MLS record for playoff goals and points (18). In his second season Ruiz and the Galaxy cooled off significantly, but he nevertheless tied with Taylor Twellman for the league lead in goals with 15. He dropped off a bit again in 2004, scoring just 11. His playoff production went down as well, as the Galaxy were knocked out on the first hurdle each time; he tallied just two and one goal in the two postseasons respectively.

In 2005, when Landon Donovan expressed his desire to come back to MLS, the Galaxy traded Ruiz to Dallas for the #1 allocation in the MLS pecking order, so that they could acquire Donovan.

Ruiz is the focal point of the Guatemalan team in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, leading the team in scoring as they made a surprising run to the final stage of the CONCACAF region. He has appeared over 50 times for his country.

See also

• List of current MLS players