Andrés Guardado

Andrés Guardado

Guardado playing for Mexico
Personal information
Full name	José Andrés Guardado Hernández
Date of birth	(1986-09-28) 28 September 1986 (age 25)
Place of birth	Guadalajara, Mexico
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Valencia
Number	TBA
Youth career
1993–2005	Atlas
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2007	Atlas	64	(6)
2007–2012	Deportivo La Coruña	134	(23)
2012–	Valencia	0	(0)
National team‡
2005–	Mexico	79	(13)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 31 May 2012

José Andrés Guardado Hernández (born 28 September 1986) is a Mexican footballer who plays for Valencia CF in La Liga and the Mexican national team, as a left winger.

Popularly known as Principito (Spanish for Little prince), he came through the youth ranks at Atlas, then signed with Deportivo in Spain, going on to remain with the club for several seasons, four in La Liga.

A Mexican international since 2005, Guardado represented the country in two World Cups, two Gold Cups and the 2007 Copa America.

Club career

Atlas

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guardado started playing professionally in Club Atlas, joining the team's youth system at the age of only seven, and going on to appear in two full top division seasons. He made his league debut in August 2005 in a 3–2 home win against C.F. Pachuca.

In the summer of 2006, press speculations linked Guardado to several Serie A teams^[1] as well as Real Madrid,^[2] but Deportivo de La Coruña moved quickly and made an offer of €7 million for 75% of his rights. Atlas accepted the offer and the transfer was finalized on 7 July 2007, making him the most expensive Mexican player in history; the Mexican outfit remained entitled a 25% sell-on-fee as long as it held the remaining 25% of his rights.^[3]

Deportivo La Coruña

Guardado was officially presented on 24 July 2007, with the Spanish team giving him the number 18 shirt. He made his La Liga debut on 26 August, in a 0–3 home loss against UD Almería,^[4] and finished his first season with 26 games and five goals as Depor finished in ninth position, eventually qualifying to the UEFA Intertoto Cup - and the subsequent UEFA Cup, where he netted in a 3–0 group stage home win over Feyenoord.^[5] Coach Miguel Ángel Lotina stated that Guardado was a key player for Deportivo, and admired his talent and character.^[6] He solidified himself as first-choice for the team, providing several assists and being charged with set pieces; he was also bothered with several injuries, however.^[7][8][9]

Guardado only managed to appear in 20 games for Deportivo in the 2010–11 season, and the Galicians were relegated to the second division after 20 years. On 27 March 2012, the player confirmed that 2011–12 would be his last campaign with the club,^[10] and he scored a career-best 11 goals as his team returned to the top level after one year out, as champions.

Valencia

On 28 May 2012, Guardado signed a four-year contract with Valencia CF.^[11][12]

International career

Guardado with Mexico at the 2010 World Cup.

Guardado made his first international appearance for Mexico in a friendly match with Hungary on 14 December 2005, just four months after his first team debut with Atlas. He was then called-up to represent his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, where he appeared in the round-of-16 1–2 loss against Argentina; coach Ricardo Lavolpe's contract expired and was not renewed, but his replacement Hugo Sánchez kept the player in his setup.

Guardado's first game under the new manager was against the United States: his introduction from the bench saw the game turn in Mexico's favor, but the game eventually ended with a 0–2 loss.^[13] On 28 February 2007, in a friendly with Venezuela, he scored his first international goal.^[14]

In the final of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Guardado scored the opening goal against the United States. During the second half, he collided head-on with opposing right back Jonathan Spector while both attempted to head the ball, but managed to recover to play the rest the of the match, which again ended in loss to the CONCACAF rivals, now 1–2.^[15] He also participated in that year's Copa América, netting the third goal against Uruguay, during the third-place match.^[16]

Guardado assisted FC Barcelona's Rafael Márquez in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup against hosts South Africa, in a 1–1 draw.^[17] He appeared in three out of four games, in another last-16 exit at the hands of Argentina.

On 12 June 2011, Guardado scored two goals in a 4–1 win over Costa Rica in the 2011 Gold Cup.^[18] He found the net again in the final, in a 4–2 success against the United States, as Mexico retained the continental tournament.^[19][20]

International goals

Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	28 February 2007	Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States	Venezuela	1–0	3–1	Friendly
2.	24 June 2007	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	United States	1–0	1–2	2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup
3.	14 July 2007	Estadio Olímpico, Caracas, Venezuela	Uruguay	3–1	3–1	2007 Copa América
4.	8 June 2008	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Peru	2–0	4–0	Friendly
5.	21 June 2008	Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás, Mexico	Belize	2–0	7–0	2010 World Cup qualification
6.	6 September 2008	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Jamaica	1–0	3–0	2010 World Cup qualification
7.	5 September 2009	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San José, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	3–0	3–0	2010 World Cup qualification
8.	13 May 2010	Reliant Stadium, Houston, United States	Angola	1–0	1–0	Friendly
9.	26 March 2011	Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, United States	Paraguay	2–0	3–1	Friendly
10.	12 June 2011	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Costa Rica	2–0	4–1	2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
11.				3–0
12.	25 June 2011	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States	United States	2–2	4–2	2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
13.	4 September 2011	Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, Barcelona, Spain	Chile	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Statistics

Club

As of 15 May 2012

International

As of 29 February 2012

Honours

Club

Deportivo

• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008
• Segunda División: 2011–12

International

Mexico

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2011

Individual

Atlas

• Best rookie: Apertura 2005
• Best wingback: Apertura 2006, Clausura 2007

Deportivo

• Player of the Year: 2007, 2008

References

External links

• Deportivo official profile (Spanish)
• Andrés Guardado stats at Medio Tiempo.com (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• Andrés Guardado at National-Football-Teams.com
• 2010 FIFA World Cup profile
• Andrés Guardado – FIFA competition record
• Transfermarkt profile

Mexico squads v t e Mexico squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Sánchez 2 Suárez 3 Salcido 4 Márquez (c) 5 Osorio 6 Torrado 7 Sinha 8 Pardo 9 Borgetti 10 Franco 11 Morales 12 Corona 13 Ochoa 14 Pineda 15 Castro 16 Méndez 17 Fonseca 18 Guardado 19 Bravo 20 García 21 Arellano 22 Rodríguez 23 Pérez Coach: La Volpe v t e Mexico squad – 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Runners-up 1 O. Sánchez 2 Magallón 3 Salcido 4 Márquez 5 Osorio 6 Torrado 7 Medina 8 Pardo 9 Borgetti 10 Blanco 11 Morales 12 Corona 13 Ochoa 14 Pinto 15 Castro 16 Lozano 17 Fonseca 18 Guardado 19 Bravo 20 Arce 21 Castillo 22 Rodríguez 23 Bautista Coach: H. Sánchez v t e Mexico squad – Copa América 2007 Third Place 1 O. Sánchez 2 Magallón 3 Pinto 4 Márquez (c) 5 I. Castro 6 Torrado 7 Medina 8 Correa 9 Landín 10 Blanco 11 Morales 12 Cacho 13 Ochoa 14 Pineda 15 J. Castro 16 Lozano 17 Bautista 18 Guardado 19 Bravo 20 Arce 21 Castillo 22 Rodríguez Coach: H. Sánchez v t e Mexico squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Pérez 2 Rodríguez 3 Salcido 4 Márquez (c) 5 Osorio 6 Torrado 7 Barrera 8 Castro 9 Franco 10 Blanco 11 Vela 12 Aguilar 13 Ochoa 14 Hernández 15 Moreno 16 Juárez 17 dos Santos 18 Guardado 19 Magallón 20 Torres Nilo 21 Bautista 22 Medina 23 Michel Coach: Aguirre v t e Mexico squad – 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Winners (6th title) 1 Ochoa (Michel) 2 Rodríguez (Reynoso) 3 Salcido 4 Márquez (c) 5 Osorio 6 Torrado 7 Barrera 8 Castro 9 de Nigris 10 dos Santos 11 Reyna 12 Talavera 13 Zavala 14 J. Hernández 15 Moreno 16 Juárez 17 Sinha (Aguilar) 18 Guardado 19 Dueñas (Fabián) 20 Torres Nilo 21 Bermúdez (Mier) 22 E. Hernández 23 Orozco Coach: de la Torre