Enzo Francescoli

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Enzo Francescoli
Enzo Francescoli 2011.jpg
Enzo Francescoli 2011
Personnel
Surname Enzo Francescoli Uriarte
birthday November 12, 1961
place of birth Montevideo ,  Uruguay
size 181 cm
position Midfield / storm
Juniors
Years station
Cady Juniors
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1980-1982 Montevideo Wanderers FC 74 (20)
1982-1986 River Plate 81 (43)
1986-1989 Racing Paris 89 (32)
1989-1990 Olympique Marseille 28 (11)
1990-1993 Cagliari Calcio 98 (17)
1993-1994 Torino Calcio 24 0(3)
1994-1997 River Plate 84 (47)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
at least 1981 Uruguay U20 at least 10 (at least 5)
1982-1997 Uruguay 73 (17)
1 Only league games are given.

Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (born November 12, 1961 in Montevideo , Uruguay ) is a former Uruguayan football player .

The two-time Footballer of the Year of South America won the Copa America three times with the national team . As a club player, he had his greatest successes with River Plate .

Pelé put him on the list of the 125 best living footballers ( FIFA 100 ) in 2004 .

Today he works for television.

youth

The boy of Italian and Spanish ancestry was born in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo , and grew up there. At the age of 13, the avid footballer joined the small club Cady Juniors . When scouts of the first division club Montevideo Wanderers noticed the agile and skillful talent, he joined the Wanderers, although he was a supporter of the traditional club Peñarol from an early age .

Club career

Montevideo Wanderers (1980 to 1983)

When Francescoli was 19, he made his debut for the Wanderers in Uruguay's premier league . The talent took off without any great teething problems and quickly became a top performer of the team, which, however, could not break through the dominance of the top clubs Peñarol and Nacional . Because of his style of play and the performances shown, he received an offer from River Plate .

River Plate (1983 to 1986)

In early 1983, the top Argentine club River Plate paid around $ 350,000 in transfer fees and brought Francescoli into the neighboring country via the Río de la Plata . He played his first game for River Plate against CA Huracan on April 24, 1983 (1-0). But at the beginning he had to struggle with adjustment difficulties and had to fight for his place in the team first. Only after he was ordered to attack by midfield did his form curve rise steeply. In his second season, Francescoli experienced a veritable explosion of performance, scoring 24 goals and thus securing the title of top scorer. The sports newspaper El País voted him South America's Footballer of the Year . In the 1985/86 season , Francescoli led the Millionarios to the championship title with 25 goals and was the first foreigner to be named Argentina's Footballer of the Year . The Uruguayan was the new superstar of the league and was christened "El Principe" (The Prince) by fans because of his elegant and technically perfect style of play . Thanks to his excellent goal instinct and style of play, Francescoli soon became the most sought-after player on the continent.

In France (1986 to 1990)

The exceptional player soon had numerous offers from European clubs, but in the summer of 1986 he announced his move to France , where he joined Racing Club Paris . The newcomer was supported by the ambitious industrialist Jean-Luc Lagardère , who invested a huge amount of money in the club. In addition to Francescoli, other top players moved to Paris with Pierre Littbarski , Thierry Tusseau and Luis Fernández . But the team was never able to meet the ambitious goals of their president and disappointed, as they regularly ended up in the middle of the league. After three years, Francescoli saw no progress and forced his transfer to the master Olympique Marseille .

In 1989, Francescoli moved to the serial champion in Marseille , who had players like Jean-Pierre Papin , Alain Roche and Manuel Amoros and was one of the top teams not only in France. But in Marseille he had problems not only due to injuries: President Bernard Tapie and coach Gerard Gili raved about Chris Waddle and Abédi Pelé , who should play in the position of the Uruguayan. Although Marseille became champions at the end of the season and a decent performance by Francescoli (OM's second best striker with 11 goals), he was advised to leave. After only a year on the Côte d'Azur , Francescoli had to look for a club.

In Italy (1990 to 1994)

After the year in Marseille Francescoli has signed a three year contract with the Sardinian club Cagliari Calcio and joined the Serie A . The elegant and strong-playing Uruguayan was celebrated by the Tifosi for his game. But with the defensive team, he moved back from the storm into midfield. Here he played with José Óscar Herrera and Daniel Fonseca, two compatriots. Cagliari was not one of the top teams in Italy and ended up in mediocrity, except in 1992/93 he finished 6th with the team, the best placement for over twenty years.

At Torino Calcio , a club with a great history but currently only mediocre, he only stayed one season before returning to Argentina.

River Plate (1994 to 1997)

After seven years in Europe, Francescoli returned to his old love River Plate in 1994 at the age of 33. He kept his promise when he said before moving to Europe: “One day, that's for sure, I'll play for River Plate at Monumental again.” On September 25, 1994, he brushed against the Argentinos Juniors the white and red jersey again. Back in Argentina, Francescoli experienced further career highlights in the "autumn" of his career and reached his top form again. As a hanging tip, the experienced star player brought the team forward decisively. He acted as the link between coach Ramón Díaz and the young team, which was filled with talents such as Ariel Ortega and Marcelo Gallardo . With River Plate he won four championships, in 1996 even the Copa Libertadores (equivalent to the European UEFA Champions League ) and one year later the last edition of the Supercopa Sudamericana against São Paulo FC . He was even the top scorer again. His last league game for the "Millionarios" he completed on December 21, 1997 against the Argentinos Juniors (1: 1).

In February 1998, Enzo Francescoli said goodbye to professional football in a farewell game between River Plate and Peñarol Montevideo.

Career in the national team

Francescoli became South American champions in 1981 with the Uruguayan U-20 team alongside players like Adolfo Barán , Santiago Ostolaza , Jorge da Silva and José Batista . During the tournament he was used by coach Aníbal Gutiérrez Ponce seven times (five goals). In the same year he reached the quarter-finals with Uruguay at the Junior World Cup in 1981 . He contributed to this with three tournament appearances (no goal).

Francescoli completed his first international game for Uruguay on February 20, 1982 at the Nehru Cup in the game against South Korea (2-2). The following year he celebrated victory at the Copa America with the “Celeste” when Brazil were defeated 2-0 in the final. Two years later he took part in the Copa Artigas and also played in 1985 with the national team for the Artemio Franchi Cup .

In 1986 he drove with Uruguay to the World Cup in Mexico . The first World Cup participation of the "Celeste" in twelve years. But the team could not convince at any point, but still made it into the round of 16 in third place (1: 1 against Germany , 1: 6 against Denmark , 0: 0 against Scotland ). Francescoli had scored his first World Cup goal with a penalty against the Danes. But there was nothing to be gained against the Argentinians in the 2-0 defeat and Uruguay went home without a win.

The following year, the team around star player Francescoli was able to rehabilitate itself at the Copa America for the weak World Cup tournament, because the title could be defended. In the final, Chile were defeated 1-0. Francescoli was also used two years later at the 1989 Copa America .

After qualifying for the 1990 World Cup in Italy , Francescoli led his country as captain to the tournament in Europe, where they wanted to present themselves better. The group stage was mastered in third place, but the team rarely managed to convince. As four years earlier, the tournament ended prematurely in the round of 16 after a 2-0 defeat by hosts Italy .

His last major tournament was the 1995 Copa America in his own country. Francescoli was in excellent shape and as captain led his team to the final (two goals). There Brazil was defeated on penalties. As proof of his outstanding form, the 34-year-old was named South America's Footballer of the Year .

In the following years he played a few more games as part of the World Cup qualification for the 1998 tournament. Francescoli's last game for Uruguay was then on August 20, 1997 in Montevideo against Chile (1-0).

After the career

In 2003 he founded the American football channel Gol TV together with Francisco Casal and has lived in Miami with his family ever since .

successes

With clubs

With the national team

Personal

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Juventud de América (Spanish) in La República of December 30, 2002, accessed on October 27, 2012
  2. ↑ Sudamericanos s20: década del 80 ( Memento from June 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish) on auf.org.uy, accessed on May 11, 2015
  3. ↑ Enzo Francescoli in the FIFA database , accessed on June 27, 2015
  4. ^ Enzo Francescoli - International Appearances at www.rsssf.com, accessed December 19, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Francescoli, Enzo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Francescoli Uriarte, Enzo (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Uruguayan soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Montevideo , Uruguay