Francisco Palencia
| File:Francisco Paco Palencia.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Francisco Palencia Hernández | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) (5'8) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | C.D. Chivas USA | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 July, 2006 | |||
Juan Francisco Palencia Hernández (born April 28, 1973 in Mexico City) is a Mexican football player, specializing as both a midfielder and striker, currently playing for C.D. Chivas USA in the Major League Soccer.
Biography
Known for his explosive speed, ball control fast counter attacks, and trademark long hair, Palencia made his international debut for the Mexican national football team in June 8 , 1996 against Bolivia at the U.S. Cup tournament in Dallas, Texas, scoring the winning goal.
Palencia played in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, taking his side to the quarterfinals where they defeated Italy. He was member of the national team who played in the 1996, 1998 and 2003 Gold Cup tournaments and the 1999 Confederations Cup tournament, where he helped Mexico win all four competitions. Palencia also played in two FIFA World Cups, France'98 and Korea-Japan 2002, but could only help his team reach the "Round of 16" of the tournaments before being eliminated. He has also represented his country in three Copa América tournaments in 1997, 1999 and 2004, as well as two Confederations Cup appearances in 1997 and 1999.
A veteran of 362 career games at club level with 117 goals to his name, 75 international caps for his country and 10 international goals. He is regarded as one of the best and exciting players in Mexico. Palencia was trained under the Cruz Azul youth system at the age of 13 and made his debut in the Primera División de México in 1994 at the age of 21. After finishing the 1995-1996 season in a highly anticipated performances, Palencia was awarded the "Rookie of the Year Award", for most outstanding young player in the Mexican League Division. Palencia would go on to play seven seasons, captained and score 91 goals for Mexico City giants Cruz Azul, leading them to two championship titles in the CONCACAF Tournaments of 1996 and 1997, one championship title in the Mexican League Division in 1997, and second place in the Copa Libertadores of 2001.
After finishing second place to Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores, Palencia departed from Cruz Azul at the end of the 2000-2001 season and went to Spain (on loan) to play for RCD Espanyol in La Liga, were he played 30 matches and scored six goals. After his one year contract expired, Palencia returned back to Mexico in early 2003, to play one more half season with his old club, Cruz Azul. In late 2003, Palencia joined another giants of Mexican football, this time to the "All Mexican Team", Chivas de Guadalajara. It was with Guadalajara that he displayed his stupendous form, talking the team into the semi-finals of the 2005 Copa Libertadores tournament and registering five goals.
Palencia was originally slated to join C.D. Chivas USA for the start of their inaugural season, but he enjoyed so much success with their parent club that his arrival to the U.S. team was delayed until August 19, 2005. In his American debut, he promptly displayed his fine form and scored three goals.
Palencia is the team captain of Chivas USA and is also the highest paid player in the M.L.S., earning US$ 1,360,000 a year [1]. In 2006, the veteran striker along with national team mate Cuauhtémoc Blanco, both missed out on selection in Mexico's 23 man squad for the 2006 World Cup.
Club history
- 1994 - 2003 Cruz Azul
- 2001 - 2002 RCD Espanyol (loan)
- 2003 - 2005 Chivas de Guadalajara
- 2005 - present C.D. Chivas USA
Personal life
Palencia is of indigenous Amerindian ancestry. He is also a musician off the field and is a huge fan of Mexican, American, European Heavy metal music and regularly plays his acoustic and electric guitars as a hobby. His favourite rock bands includes the legendary super-groups KISS, Metallica, Scorpions, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple [2]
Palencia currently lives in Los Angeles, U.S.A.
See also
External links
- Francisco Palencia article (In Spanish)
- Football Database.com provides Francisco Palencia's profile and stats
- Chivas USA Roster
- Profile and Statistics (In Spanish)
- Hobbies (In Spanish)
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- 1973 births
- Living people
- Chivas USA players
- Mexican footballers
- Indigenous Mexicans
- Mestizos
- People from Mexico City
- Cruz Azul footballers
- Chivas de Guadalajara footballers
- La Liga footballers
- RCD Espanyol footballers
- FIFA World Cup 1998 players
- FIFA World Cup 2002 players
- Olympic footballers of Mexico
- Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Mexican musicians