Fran González

Fran
Personal information
Full nameFrancisco Javier González Pérez
Date of birth14 July 1969
Place of birthCarreira, Spain
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
Carreira CF
Deportivo La Coruña
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1987–1988Fabril
1988–2005Deportivo La Coruña550(58)
National team
1993–2000Spain16(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is González and the second or maternal family name is Pérez.

Francisco Javier González Pérez (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ˈxaβjer ɣonˈθaleθ ˈpeɾeθ]; born 14 July 1969), commonly known as Fran [fɾan], is a Spanish retired professional footballer.

He spent his entire career with Deportivo de La Coruña, as a left midfielder with skill and field vision, helping it win the first La Liga title in the club's history.

Fran represented Spain at Euro 2000.

Club career

Fran, one of the most notable players in Deportivo de La Coruña's history, was born in Carreira, Santa Uxía de Ribeira, Galicia, and arrived at the club's first team in 1988, making his La Liga debut on 31 August 1991 in a 1–2 away loss against Valencia CF. Quickly established, he only missed eight league games in his first five seasons combined – also scoring on 24 occasions – while already being club captain.

In the 1995–96 off-season Real Madrid almost signed Fran, but he regretted leaving Deportivo and returned quickly. In 1999–2000, as Depor conquered its first top level league, injuries limited him to only 22 games, adding a goal in a 2–0 home win over Valencia on 12 March 2000.

Fran retired from football at the end of the 2004–05 campaign after 17 years with his only team, 14 in the first division, at the same time as Brazilian Mauro Silva, with both playing their last match on 22 May 2005 in a 0–3 home defeat against RCD Mallorca. He amassed more than 600 overall appearances for the club.

In 2008 Fran returned to Deportivo, joining its indoor football team, alongside club greats Donato, Djalminha, Noureddine Naybet and Jacques Songo'o.[1]

International career

Fran made his Spanish national team debut on 27 January 1993 in a friendly 1–1 draw against Mexico, in Las Palmas.

In total he earned 16 caps, participating at UEFA Euro 2000 where he played his last international, in a 4–3 group stage win over Yugoslavia.[2]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 27 March 1999 Mestalla, Valencia, Spain  Austria 9–0 9–0 Euro 2000 qualifying
2. 31 March 1999 Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino 0–1 0–6 Euro 2000 qualifying

Honours

Personal life

Fran's older brother, José Ramón, was also a footballer (and a midfielder). He too spent several seasons with Deportivo, but with much less individual impact.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Real Madrid and Deportivo draw 14–14 in a match decided in the last minute (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Spain survive in seven-goal classic; BBC Sport, 21 June 2000
  3. ↑ Juan Carlos y Zubi ‘cantan’ (Juan Carlos and Zubi ‘sing’); El Mundo Deportivo, 28 June 1995 (Spanish)

External links