Francisco Llorente Gento

Paco Llorente
Personal information
Full name Francisco Llorente Gento
Date of birth May 21, 1965 (1965-05-21) (age 46)
Place of birth Valladolid, Spain
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Winger
Youth career
1982 Urbis
1983 Real Madrid
1984–1985 Móstoles
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1986 Atlético Madrileño 31 (5)
1986–1987 Atlético Madrid 29 (3)
1987–1994 Real Madrid 105 (8)
1994–1998 Compostela 72 (2)
National team
1986 Spain U21 5 (0)
1986–1987 Spain U23 3 (0)
1987 Spain 1 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Francisco 'Paco' Llorente Gento (born 21 May 1965 in Valladolid, Castile and León) is a retired Spanish footballer who played mostly as a right winger.

The nephew of legendary Real Madrid's Francisco Gento (also a winger), he also represented the other side from the city, Atlético.

Contents

Club career

After a brief youth passage at Real Madrid, Llorente moved to neighbours Atlético Madrid, being fairly used in the course of two seasons. In 1987, after displays of incredible speed and useful skills, he re-joined Real.

Also being able to appear as a forward, Llorente found it difficult to break into the starting XI, barred by Míchel in his natural position and Hugo Sánchez and Emilio Butragueño up front. His moment of glory came during the second leg of the second round of the 1987–88 European Cup, as he appeared from the bench, as Real trailed 0–1 at F.C. Porto (2–1 win at home), to assist Míchel twice after powerful flank runs, as his uncle Francisco in the 50/60's.[1]

In 1989–90, after the arrival of John Toshack as coach, Llorente found his playing time drastically cut; in his later years with the club, with Benito Floro at the helm, he even saw some time as right back. He retired in 1998 after four seasons with lowly SD Compostela, having played 206 games with 13 goals during 13 years (all in La Liga).

International career

Llorente played once for Spain, against Albania for the UEFA Euro 1988 qualifiers, on 18 November 1987, scoring one of the five without response in Seville. He did not make the cut for the final stages in West Germany, however.

Honours

Personal life

Llorente hails from a sporting family: other than his uncle, his three brothers were also professionals: José Luis (1959) and Antonio "Toñín" (1963) played top level basketball for well more than one decade (including at Real Madrid), while the youngest, Julio, amassed nearly 400 overall official appearances during his career as a defender, coinciding with Paco at Real from 1988–90.[2][3]

References

External links