Guillermo Franco
Encyclopedia
Guillermo Luis Franco Farquarson (born 3 November 1976) is an Argentine
-born Mexican
football striker who plays for Vélez Sársfield
. He also played for the Mexico national team
, until his international retirement in September 2010.
, the capital city of the Corrientes Province
in Argentina
.
championship in 2003 and achieved runner-up position twice in 2004 and 2005.
, but his spell was plagued with injuries. The forward, however, scored a goal that qualified Villarreal for the UEFA Cup
, in a 1–0 victory against Celta de Vigo
.
on a one year contract, becoming the first Mexican to play for the Hammers. On 25 September, it was disclosed that due to West Ham's perilous financial situation following former chairman Björgólfur Guðmundsson
's financial collapse, West Ham's CEO Scott Duxbury, and their Sporting and Football Technical Director Gianluca Nani
, had part financed the deal from their own salaries.
Franco made his debut for West Ham on 17 October 2009 in a 2–1 away defeat to Stoke City
.
He scored his first goal for the team on 31 October 2009 to put them 1–0 up against Sunderland away from home, in a game that finished 2–2. Franco became the third Mexican player to score in the Premier League, Jared Borgetti
and Carlos Vela
being the first and second respectively. On 24 April 2010, Franco assisted Scott Parker
, who scored for the winner in a 3–2 victory against Wigan Athletic
; a win which would see them safe from relegation. In May, despite his wish to stay at the club, it was announced that West Ham had released Franco.
, until he joined Vélez Sársfield
back in Argentina on January 2011. He signed a one-year deal making his debut coming on as a second half substitute for Santiago Silva
on a 2–2 draw at Independiente
, for the first fixture of the 2011 Clausura. Subsequently, he played the starting minutes of the Copa Libertadores
debut against Caracas FC, suffering a shoulder injury that left him out for the remainder of the season. Having played less than 30 minutes, he offered the club to terminate his contract, or suspend his salary until he recovered, though Vélez rejected it. He returned for the 2011 Copa Libertadores
quarter-finals, entering the field and scoring one goal from a penalty in a 4–2 victory over Libertad
. He also played the last 5 games of the 2011 Clausura (one as a starter), helping his team win the Argentine league title.
in 2005.
He played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
and was a part of the triumphant 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
squad. During the 2010 World Cup qualification
, he contributed 2 goals in 6 games.
Franco played in all four matches for Mexico at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
.
In September 2010, he announced his retirement from international football.
|-
| 1995–96||rowspan="7"|San Lorenzo
||rowspan="7"|Primera División
(Argentina)||3||0||-||-||-||-||3||0
|-
|1996–97||6||0||-||-||-||-||6||0
|-
|1997–98||10||1||-||-||-||-||10||1
|-
|1998–99||6||0||-||-||-||-||6||0
|-
|1999–00||26||10||-||-||-||-||26||10
|-
|2000–01||19||7||-||-||-||-||19||7
|-
|2001–02||26||5||-||-||-||-||26||5
|-
|2002–03||rowspan="4"|Monterrey||rowspan="4"|Primera División
(Mexico)
||39||15||-||-||-||-||39||15
|-
|2003–04||30||12||-||-||-||-||30||12
|-
|2004–05||28||23||-||-||-||-||28||23
|-
|2005–06||22||13||-||-||-||-||22||13
|-
|2005–06
||rowspan="4"|Villareal||rowspan="4"|La Liga
||12||4||0||0||5||0||17||4
|-
|2006–07||27||2||5||0||-||-||32||2
|-
|2007–08||24||8||0||0||6||1||30||9
|-
|2008–09||18||0||1||1||6||1||25||2
|-
| 2009–10|||West Ham United
|||Premier League||23||5||0||0||-||-||23||5
|-
| 2010–11
||rowspan="2"|Vélez Sársfield
||rowspan="2"|Primera División||6||0||-||-||3||1||9||1
|-
| 2011–12
||11||4||-||-||6||4||17||8
113||27||-||-||9||5||121||32
119||63||-||-||-||-||119||63
81||14||6||1||17||2||104||17
23||5||0||0||-||-||23||5
236||109||6||1||24||5||266||117
| 1. || October 8, 2005 || Estadio Alfonso Lastras
, San Luis Potosí
, Mexico
|| || align=center|1–1 || align=center|5–2 || 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| 2. || March 1, 2006 || Pizza Hut Park
, Frisco
, United States
|| || align=center|1–0 || align=center|1–0 || Friendly
|-
| 3. || June 10, 2009 || Estadio Azteca
, Mexico City
, Mexico || || align=center|1–0 || align=center|2–1 || 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| 4. || July 23, 2009 || Soldier Field
, Chicago
, United States || || align=center|1–0 || align=center|5–3 (p.s.o.)|| 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
|-
| 5. || July 26, 2009 || Giants Stadium
, East Rutherford
, United States || || align=center|0–5 || align=center|0–5 || 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
|-
| 6. || September 5, 2009 || Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
, San José
, Costa Rica
|| || align=center|0–2 || align=center|3–0 || 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| 7. || May 24, 2010 || Wembley Stadium
, London
, England
|| || align=center|2–1 || align=center|3–1 || Friendly
|}
CF Monterrey
Vélez Sársfield
Christian
, as he is seen praying before matches, wore a t-shirt that said "I Love Jesus" after Mexico's victory at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and called a blessing the fact that Mexico was to open the World Cup against South Africa.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
-born Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
football striker who plays for Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...
. He also played for the Mexico national team
Mexico national football team
The Mexican national football team represents Mexico in association football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation , the governing body for football in Mexico. Mexico's home stadium is the Estadio Azteca and their head coach is José Manuel de la Torre...
, until his international retirement in September 2010.
Early life
Guille Franco was born in CorrientesCorrientes
Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12...
, the capital city of the Corrientes Province
Corrientes Province
Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:...
in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
San Lorenzo
Franco began his career with Argentine Primera División side San Lorenzo, playing with the team from 1996 to 2002 mainly as a right winger.Monterrey
He then joined Mexican Monterrey in the middle of 2002, and made his debut during the 2002 Apertura. Franco was very successful with the Rayados, and led the league in scoring during the 2004 Apertura with 15 goals in 16 games, playing as a striker. He was part of the team that won the Primera División de MéxicoPrimera División de México
The Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
championship in 2003 and achieved runner-up position twice in 2004 and 2005.
Villareal
Subsequently, Franco spent 3 years in Spain playing for VillarrealVillarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. , usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or just Villarreal, is a Spanish Primera División football club based in Vila-real, a city in the province of Castellón within the Valencian Community...
, but his spell was plagued with injuries. The forward, however, scored a goal that qualified Villarreal for the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
, in a 1–0 victory against Celta de Vigo
Celta de Vigo
Real Club Celta de Vigo , simply referred to as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, currently playing in the Segunda División. It was founded on March 28, 1923 following the merger of Real Vigo Sporting and Real Fortuna Foot-ball Club.Nicknamed Los Celestes ,...
.
West Ham United
In September 2009, Franco signed for West Ham UnitedWest Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
on a one year contract, becoming the first Mexican to play for the Hammers. On 25 September, it was disclosed that due to West Ham's perilous financial situation following former chairman Björgólfur Guðmundsson
Björgólfur Guðmundsson
Björgólfur Guðmundsson was the chairman and former owner of West Ham United FC. Björgólfur was Iceland's second businessman worth more than a billion dollars — his son, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson being the first. He was ranked by Forbes magazine in March 2008 as the 1014th-richest person in the...
's financial collapse, West Ham's CEO Scott Duxbury, and their Sporting and Football Technical Director Gianluca Nani
Gianluca Nani
Gianluca Nani is an Italian sporting and football technical director.-Football career:Nani organised football tournaments in Spain before working as Brescia Calcio's sporting director commencing in 1999. During this time he was credited with developing talents such as World Cup winners Andrea...
, had part financed the deal from their own salaries.
Franco made his debut for West Ham on 17 October 2009 in a 2–1 away defeat to Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
.
He scored his first goal for the team on 31 October 2009 to put them 1–0 up against Sunderland away from home, in a game that finished 2–2. Franco became the third Mexican player to score in the Premier League, Jared Borgetti
Jared Borgetti
Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría is a retired Mexican footballer. Borgetti is the all-time leading goal scorer for the Mexican national team, with 46 goals. A prolific goal scorer at both club and national level, Borgetti was renowned for his heading ability...
and Carlos Vela
Carlos Vela
Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido is a Mexican association football player, currently playing as a striker for La Liga club Real Sociedad on loan from Arsenal. He also plays for the Mexico national football team. He started his career at Mexican club C.D...
being the first and second respectively. On 24 April 2010, Franco assisted Scott Parker
Scott Parker (footballer)
Scott Matthew Parker is an English footballer who plays for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. He is the FWA Footballer of the Year for the 2010–11 season. He has represented England at every level from under-16 to senior. Uniquely, he won his first four England...
, who scored for the winner in a 3–2 victory against Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
; a win which would see them safe from relegation. In May, despite his wish to stay at the club, it was announced that West Ham had released Franco.
Vélez Sársfield
The striker then spent one semester as a free agentFree agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
, until he joined Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...
back in Argentina on January 2011. He signed a one-year deal making his debut coming on as a second half substitute for Santiago Silva
Santiago Silva
Santiago Martín Silva Olivera is a Uruguayan football forward currently playing for Fiorentina in the Italian Serie A.-Career:...
on a 2–2 draw at Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente
Club Atlético Independiente is an Argentine athletic, sports and social club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División....
, for the first fixture of the 2011 Clausura. Subsequently, he played the starting minutes of the Copa Libertadores
2011 Copa Libertadores
The 2011 Copa Libertadores de América was the 52nd edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. It was held from January 25 to June 22 of the same year...
debut against Caracas FC, suffering a shoulder injury that left him out for the remainder of the season. Having played less than 30 minutes, he offered the club to terminate his contract, or suspend his salary until he recovered, though Vélez rejected it. He returned for the 2011 Copa Libertadores
2011 Copa Libertadores
The 2011 Copa Libertadores de América was the 52nd edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. It was held from January 25 to June 22 of the same year...
quarter-finals, entering the field and scoring one goal from a penalty in a 4–2 victory over Libertad
Club Libertad
Club Libertad is a sports club based in the District Tuyucuá of the city of Asuncion, capital of Paraguay. It was founded on July 30, 1905 and currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División...
. He also played the last 5 games of the 2011 Clausura (one as a starter), helping his team win the Argentine league title.
International career
In 2004, Franco became a naturalized Mexican citizen after settling in Mexico in 2002; and made his debut for the national sideMexico national football team
The Mexican national football team represents Mexico in association football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation , the governing body for football in Mexico. Mexico's home stadium is the Estadio Azteca and their head coach is José Manuel de la Torre...
in 2005.
He played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
and was a part of the triumphant 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean . It was contested from 3 July to 26 July 2009 in the United States. This competition was the fourth tournament...
squad. During the 2010 World Cup qualification
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
The CONCACAF qualification stage for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa consisted of 35 national teams competing for the three berths given automatically to CONCACAF by FIFA. The United States, Mexico and Honduras qualified...
, he contributed 2 goals in 6 games.
Franco played in all four matches for Mexico at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
.
In September 2010, he announced his retirement from international football.
Career statistics
As of 20 February 2011|-
| 1995–96||rowspan="7"|San Lorenzo
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro
Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine sports club based in Boedo neighbourhood, Buenos Aires, mostly known because of its football team....
||rowspan="7"|Primera División
(Argentina)||3||0||-||-||-||-||3||0
|-
|1996–97||6||0||-||-||-||-||6||0
|-
|1997–98||10||1||-||-||-||-||10||1
|-
|1998–99||6||0||-||-||-||-||6||0
|-
|1999–00||26||10||-||-||-||-||26||10
|-
|2000–01||19||7||-||-||-||-||19||7
|-
|2001–02||26||5||-||-||-||-||26||5
|-
|2002–03||rowspan="4"|Monterrey||rowspan="4"|Primera División
(Mexico)
Primera División de México
The Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
||39||15||-||-||-||-||39||15
|-
|2003–04||30||12||-||-||-||-||30||12
|-
|2004–05||28||23||-||-||-||-||28||23
|-
|2005–06||22||13||-||-||-||-||22||13
|-
|2005–06
2005–06 La Liga
* Athletic Bilbao* Atlético Madrid* FC Barcelona* Betis* Cádiz CF* Celta de Vigo* Deportivo Alaves* Deportivo de La Coruña* Espanyol* Getafe CF* Málaga CF* RCD Mallorca* CA Osasuna* Racing de Santander* Real Madrid* Real Sociedad* Sevilla FC...
||rowspan="4"|Villareal||rowspan="4"|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||12||4||0||0||5||0||17||4
|-
|2006–07||27||2||5||0||-||-||32||2
|-
|2007–08||24||8||0||0||6||1||30||9
|-
|2008–09||18||0||1||1||6||1||25||2
|-
| 2009–10|||West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
|||Premier League||23||5||0||0||-||-||23||5
|-
| 2010–11
2010–11 Argentine Primera División season
The 2010–11 Primera División season was the eighty-second season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams competed in two championships —the Apertura and Clausura— over the course of the season, which started on August 6, 2010 and ended on June 30, 2011, one...
||rowspan="2"|Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...
||rowspan="2"|Primera División||6||0||-||-||3||1||9||1
|-
| 2011–12
2011–12 Argentine Primera División season
The 2011–12 Primera División season is the eighty-third season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams will compete in the league. It started on August 5, 2011 and will end on June 2012.-Club information:...
||11||4||-||-||6||4||17||8
113||27||-||-||9||5||121||32
119||63||-||-||-||-||119||63
81||14||6||1||17||2||104||17
23||5||0||0||-||-||23||5
236||109||6||1||24||5||266||117
International
As of 14 November 2010| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico Mexico national football team The Mexican national football team represents Mexico in association football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation , the governing body for football in Mexico. Mexico's home stadium is the Estadio Azteca and their head coach is José Manuel de la Torre... |
2005 | 4 | 1 |
| 2006 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 8 | 4 | |
| 2010 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 25 | 7 | |
International goals
|-| 1. || October 8, 2005 || Estadio Alfonso Lastras
Estadio Alfonso Lastras
Estadio Alfonso Lastras is a multi-use unfinished stadium in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and also music concerts, it is the home stadium of San Luis F.C. The stadium holds 35,000 people and was built in 2002. It is named after the late Alfonso...
, San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí, commonly called SLP or simply San Luis, is the capital of, and most populous city in the Mexican state of the same name. The city lies at an elevation of 1,850 meters...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
|| || align=center|1–1 || align=center|5–2 || 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for North, Central America and the Caribbean. A total of 34 teams took part , competing for 3.5 places in the World Cup.The qualification process was divided in three stages...
|-
| 2. || March 1, 2006 || Pizza Hut Park
Pizza Hut Park
Pizza Hut Park is a soccer-specific stadium with a 21,193-seat capacity, built and owned by the city of Frisco, Texas. Its primary tenant is Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, which relocated from the Cotton Bowl in central Dallas to the fast-growing suburb...
, Frisco
Frisco, Texas
Frisco is an affluent city in Collin and Denton Counties in the U.S. state of Texas and a rapidly growing suburb of Dallas. As of the 2010 Census, 116,989 people were living in Frisco up from 33,714 in the previous census. Frisco was the fastest growing city in the United States in 2009, and also...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|| || align=center|1–0 || align=center|1–0 || Friendly
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
|-
| 3. || June 10, 2009 || Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca is a stadium in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team and the Mexican team Club América.The stadium was the venue for football soccer in the 1968 Summer Olympics....
, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Mexico || || align=center|1–0 || align=center|2–1 || 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
The CONCACAF qualification stage for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa consisted of 35 national teams competing for the three berths given automatically to CONCACAF by FIFA. The United States, Mexico and Honduras qualified...
|-
| 4. || July 23, 2009 || Soldier Field
Soldier Field
Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, United States || || align=center|1–0 || align=center|5–3 (p.s.o.)|| 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean . It was contested from 3 July to 26 July 2009 in the United States. This competition was the fourth tournament...
|-
| 5. || July 26, 2009 || Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
, East Rutherford
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
, United States || || align=center|0–5 || align=center|0–5 || 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
|-
| 6. || September 5, 2009 || Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá
Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá is one of the main sports stadiums in Costa Rica. It is located in San Juan de Tibás, San José. With a capacity of 24,000, it has one of the highest capacity stadiums in the country. The stadium is the home of Deportivo Saprissa, and was named in honour of the team's...
, San José
San José, Costa Rica
San José is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica. Located in the Central Valley, San José is the seat of national government, the focal point of political and economic activity, and the major transportation hub of this Central American nation.Founded in 1738 by order of Cabildo de León, San...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
|| || align=center|0–2 || align=center|3–0 || 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| 7. || May 24, 2010 || Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
|| || align=center|2–1 || align=center|3–1 || Friendly
|}
Club
San Lorenzo- Argentine Primera División: 2001 Clausura
- Copa MercosurCopa MercosurThe Copa Mercosur was a football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate TV money to the participating teams, but it went beyond and ended up as a natural replacement...
: 2001
CF Monterrey
- Primera División de MéxicoPrimera División de MéxicoThe Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
: 2003 Clausura
Vélez Sársfield
- Argentine Primera División: 2011 Clausura
Individual
- Primera División de MéxicoPrimera División de MéxicoThe Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
top scorer: 2004 Apertura
Personal life
Franco is a non-denominationalNon-denominational Christianity
In Christianity, nondenominational institutions or churches are those not formally aligned with an established denomination, or that remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, as he is seen praying before matches, wore a t-shirt that said "I Love Jesus" after Mexico's victory at the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and called a blessing the fact that Mexico was to open the World Cup against South Africa.
External links
- FootballDatabase.com Profile
- Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI