Francisco Palencia

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Francisco Palencia
Personal information
Full name	Juan Francisco Palencia Hernández
Date of birth	April 28, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Mexico City, Mexico
Height	175 cm (5'8)
Nickname	El Gatillero (The Triggerman) Paco
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	UNAM Pumas
Number	17
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994-2003 2001-2002 2003-2005 2005-2006 2007-	Cruz Azul Espanyol Guadalajara Chivas USA UNAM	240 (91) 35 (6) 73 (14) 32 (7) 3 (2)
National team2
1996-	Mexico	78 (10)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 February 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 28 February 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

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 UNAM Pumas in the Primera División de México.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Personal life 3 References 4 External links

[edit] 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 were defeated by Nigeria, the eventual winners. 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 383 career games at club level with 121 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 two goals. In 2006, Palencia was 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 missed out on selection in Mexico's 23 man squad for the World Cup. On January 2007 it was made official that Palencia was signed to UNAM Pumas.

[edit] 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.

Palencia currently lives in Mexico DF, Mexico.

[edit] References

[edit] 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)

	Mexico squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Campos | 2 Suárez | 3 J. Sánchez | 4 Villa | 5 Davino | 6 Bernal | 7 Ramírez | 8 García Aspe | 9 Peláez | 10 García | 11 Blanco | 12 O. Sánchez | 13 Pardo | 14 Lara | 15 Hernández | 16 Terrazas | 17 Palencia | 18 Carmona | 19 Luna | 20 Ordiales | 21 Arellano | 22 Pérez | Coach: Lapuente

	Mexico squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Pérez | 2 de Anda | 3 García | 4 Márquez | 5 Vidrio | 6 Torrado | 7 Morales | 8 García Aspe | 9 Borgetti | 10 Blanco | 11 Luna | 12 Sánchez | 13 Mercado | 14 Villa | 15 Hernández | 16 Carmona | 17 Palencia | 18 J. Rodríguez | 19 Caballero | 20 Brown | 21 Arellano | 22 A. Rodríguez | 23 Campos | Coach: Aguirre