Guillermo Franco

For other people named Guillermo Franco, see Guillermo Franco (disambiguation).

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Franco and the second or maternal family name is Farquarson.

Guillermo Franco

Franco playing for West Ham United in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Guillermo Luis Franco Farquarson[1]
Date of birth	(1976-11-03) 3 November 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Corrientes, Argentina
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–2002	San Lorenzo	96	(23)
2002–2005	Monterrey	119	(63)
2006–2009	Villarreal	81	(14)
2009–2010	West Ham United	23	(5)
2010–2012	Vélez Sársfield	18	(5)
2012	Pachuca	12	(0)
2012	Chicago Fire	3	(0)
Total		352	(110)
International career
2005–2010	Mexico	25	(7)
Managerial career
2021–2022	Monterrey Reserves and Academy
Medal record Representing  Mexico CONCACAF Gold Cup Winner CONCACAF Gold Cup 2009
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Guillermo "Guille" Luis Franco Farquarson^[2] (born 3 November 1976) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born and raised in Argentina, he played for the Mexico national team.

Early life

Guillermo Franco was born in Corrientes, the capital city of the Corrientes Province in Argentina.

Club career

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 Mexican Primera División championship in 2003 and achieved runner-up position twice in 2004 and 2005.

Villarreal

Subsequently, Franco spent three years in Spain playing for Villarreal, but his spell was plagued with injuries. In his first season, Franco helped Villarreal reach the semifinal of the UEFA Champions League where they lost to Arsenal. Franco also scored a goal that qualified Villarreal for the UEFA Cup, in a 1–0 victory against Celta de Vigo.

West Ham United

In September 2009, Franco signed for West Ham United on a one-year contract, becoming the first Mexican to play for the Hammers.^[3] 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.^[4] Franco made his debut for West Ham on 17 October 2009 in a 2–1 away defeat to Stoke City.^[5] 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.^[6] Franco became the third Mexican player to score in the Premier League, Jared Borgetti and Carlos Vela being the first and second respectively.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[7] In May it was announced that West Ham would release Franco.^[8]

Vélez Sársfield

The striker then spent one semester as a free agent, until he joined Vélez Sársfield back in Argentina in January 2011.^[9] He signed a one-year deal, and made his debut coming on as a second-half substitute for Santiago Silva in a 2–2 draw at Independiente in 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.^[10] Having played less than 30 minutes, he offered the club to terminate his contract, or suspend his salary until he recovered,^[11] 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),^[12] helping his team win the Argentine league title.

Pachuca

On 21 January 2012, he joined Pachuca of the Mexican Primera División. The next season, the Chicago Fire signed him.^[13]

Chicago Fire

Franco signed with Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire on 14 September 2012.^[13] On 21 January 2013 the club announced Franco's contract option was not picked up for the new season.^[14]

On 29 January 2013, Franco announced his retirement from football.^[15]

International career

In 2004, Franco became a naturalized Mexican citizen^[16] after settling in Mexico in 2002; and made senior national team debut in 2005.

Franco played at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was a part of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad. During the 2010 World Cup qualification, he contributed two goals in six games. He played in all four matches for Mexico at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In September 2010, Franco announced his retirement from international football.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[17]^[18]^[19]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
San Lorenzo	1995–96	Argentine Primera División	3	0					3	0
	1996–97		6	0					6	0
	1997–98		10	1					10	1
	1998–99		6	0					6	0
	1999–2000		26	10					26	10
	2000–01		19	7					19	7
	2001–02		26	5					26	5
	Total		76	23					76	23
Monterrey	2002–03	Liga MX	39	15					39	15
	2003–04		30	12					30	12
	2004–05		28	23					28	23
	2005–06		22	13					22	13
	Total		119	63					119	63
Villarreal	2005–06	La Liga	12	4			5	0	17	4
	2006–07		27	2	5	0			32	2
	2007–08		24	8			6	1	30	9
	2008–09		18	0	1	1	6	1	25	2
	Total		81	14	6	1	17	2	104	17
West Ham United	2009–10	Premier League	23	5					23	5
Vélez Sársfield	2010–11	Argentine Primera División	6	0			3	1	9	1
	2011–12		12	5			6	4	18	9
	Total		18	5			9	5	27	10
Pachuca	2011–12	Mexican Primera División	12	0					12	0
Chicago Fire	2012	MLS	3	0					3	0
Career total			332	110	6	1	26	7	364	118

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[19]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Mexico	2005	4	1
	2006	6	1
	2007	0	0
	2008	2	0
	2009	8	4
	2010	5	1
Total		25	7

Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Franco goal.

List of international goals scored by Guillermo Franco

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 October 2005	Estadio Alfonso Lastras, San Luis Potosí, Mexico	Guatemala	1–1	5–2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification[20]
2	1 March 2006	Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, United States	Ghana	1–0	1–0	Friendly[21]
3	10 June 2009	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Trinidad and Tobago	1–0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification[22]
4	23 July 2009	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Costa Rica	1–0	5–3 (p.s.o.)	2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup[23]
5	26 July 2009	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States	United States	5–0	5–0	2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup[24]
6	5 September 2009	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San José, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	2–0	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification[25]
7	24 May 2010	Wembley Stadium, London, England	England	1–2	1–3	Friendly

Honours

San Lorenzo

• Argentine Primera División: 2001 Clausura
• Copa Mercosur: 2001

Monterrey

• Mexican Primera División: 2003 Clausura

Vélez Sársfield

• Argentine Primera División: 2011 Clausura

Mexico

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2009

Individual

• Mexican Primera División Golden Ball: Clausura 2003
• Mexican Primera División Top scorer: 2004 Apertura

References

1. "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Mexico" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
2. "Guillermo Franco - Historial".
3. Franco signs Archived 22 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine www.whufc.com
4. West Ham chiefs pay for striker with their own money Archived 28 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine www.thisislondon.co.uk
5. Scrivener, Peter (17 October 2009). "Stoke 2–1 West Ham". BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
6. Dawkes, Phil (31 October 2009). "Sunderland 2–2 West Ham". BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
7. Bevan, Chris (24 April 2010). "BBC Sport – Football – West Ham 3–2 Wigan". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
8. Curtis, Adrian (26 May 2010). "Franco to be released by West Ham". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
9. "Ricardo Gareca ya tiene su primer refuerzo" (in Spanish). Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield. 22 January 2011. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
10. "México: Guillermo Franco, cuatro meses fuera por lesión". Goal.com (in Spanish). 18 February 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
11. "Franco: "Mientras me recupere, no cobraré ni un centavo"". Cancha Llena (in Spanish). 18 February 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
12. "Closing '11 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
13. "Fire Sign Guillermo Franco | Chicago Fire". Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
14. "Three Fire Midfielders Return To Fold in 2013". chicago-fire.com. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013.
15. "El Guille Franco anuncia su retiro como futbolista". mediotiempo.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
16. Tom Bryant (17 September 2009). "Guillermo Franco signs for West Ham | Football | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
17. "Mediotiempo". Mediotiempo. 26 January 2009. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
18. Guillermo Luis Farcuason Franco (3 November 1976). "Soccernet". ESPN. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
19. "Guillermo Franco". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
20. "Mexico vs Guatemala". Fifa.com. 8 October 2005. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
21. "Mexico vs Ghana". ESPN. 1 March 2006. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
22. "Mexico vs Trinidad and Tobago". Fifa.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
23. "Costa Rica vs Mexico, Gold Cup". ESPN. 23 July 2009. Archived from the original on 27 July 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
24. "USA vs Mexico". ESPN. 26 July 2009. Archived from the original on 30 July 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
25. "Costa Rica vs Mexico". Fifa.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.

External links

• Guillermo Franco at Soccerbase
• FootballDatabase.com Profile
• Guillermo Franco – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (archived) (in Spanish)
• Guillermo Franco – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Guillermo Franco at National-Football-Teams.com
• Argentine Primera statistics^[usurped] at Fútbol XXI (in Spanish)