Francisco Palencia - Biography

Last Editor: silly.sli				Francisco Palencia Biography -   Name : Francisco Palencia Date of birth : April 28, 1973 Place of birth : Mexico City

Francisco Palencia Trivia -

N/A

Francisco Palencia Detailed Biography -

Juan Francisco Palencia Hernández (born April 28, 1973 in Mexico City) is a Mexican football (soccer) player, specializing as both a midfielder and striker, and is considered one of the finest and most exciting footballers in his country. He currently plays for C.D. Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. Standing at 170 cm tall and weighing 71 kg, Palencia has good explosive speed, ball control and exciting fast counterattacks. The long raven-haired mestizo made his international debut for the Mexican national team in 1996 against Bolivia at the U.S. Cup tournament, 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 the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, but could only help his team reach the 2nd round before being eliminated. "Paco" has amassed 75 international caps for his country and scored 10 goals. He made his debut in the Primera División de México in 1994 at the age of 21 and played seven seasons, captained and scored 83 goals for Mexican giants Cruz Azul, leading them to two championship titles in the CONCACAF Tournaments of 1996 and 1997, once 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 to play for Espanyol in La Liga, were he played 26 matches and scored 5 goals. "Paco" then returned to Mexico in 2003-04 to play for Chivas de Guadalajara. Palencia was originally slated to join 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 2005. In his American debut, he promptly displayed his fine form and scored two goals.