Francisco Llorente Gento

Paco Llorente
Personal information
Full nameFrancisco Llorente Gento
Date of birth21 May 1965
Place of birthValladolid, Spain
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionWinger
Youth career
1982Urbis
1983Real Madrid
1984–1985Móstoles
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1985–1986Atlético Madrileño31(5)
1986–1987Atlético Madrid29(3)
1987–1994Real Madrid105(8)
1994–1998Compostela72(2)
National team
1986Spain U215(0)
1986–1987Spain U233(0)
1987Spain1(1)
* 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 Llorente and the second or maternal family name is Gento.

Francisco 'Paco' Llorente Gento (born 21 May 1965 in Valladolid, Castile and León) is a Spanish retired 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.

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 with Real trailing 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][2]

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.[3]

References

External links