Enzo Francescoli

Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (born November 12, 1961 in Montevideo) is a former Uruguayan football player of Italian and Spanish origin, who retired in 1997. He played 72 times for the Uruguay national team between 1982 and 1997, making him the most capped outfield player in Uruguayan international football.^[1]

Club career

His official debut was with the Uruguayan team Montevideo Wanderers. He played several years for River Plate of Argentina where he won five league titles and the Copa Libertadores in 1996 in his two spells with the club.

He also played for the French Racing Club de Paris (Matra Racing Paris at the time), Olympique de Marseille, and the Italian teams Cagliari and Torino.

International career

Francescoli played 72 times for the Uruguay national team scoring 15 goals, between 1982 and 1997. He made appearances at the 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups. He won the Copa América three times with Uruguay in 1983, 1987 and 1995, he also played in the 1989 and 1993 editions of the tournament.

Legacy

He was noted for his grace and fluid abilities on the ball. These qualities would later influence the style of French midfielder Zinedine Zidane, who has stated that Francescoli was his favorite player as a young boy and even named one of his sons Enzo as a homage to him.

Francescoli is known as El Principe (Spanish) or Le Prince (French), which means The Prince. He was named by Pelé as one of the top 100 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Career statistics

Honours

River Plate

• Primera División Argentina: 1985/86
• Apertura: 1994, 1996, 1997
• Copa Libertadores de América: 1996
• Clausura: 1997
• Supercopa Sudamericana: 1997

Olympique de Marseille

• Ligue 1: 1990

National team

• South American Youth: 1981
• Nehim Cup: 1983
• Copa América: 1983, 1987, 1995.
• FIFA World Cup: 2º Round 1986, 1990

Individual honours and achievements

• South American Footballer of the Year 1984
• Topscorer in the Argentine Primera 1985
• Topscorer in the Argentine Primera 1986
• Player of the Year of Argentina 1985
• France Foreign Player of the Year 1990
• Topscorer in the Argentine Primera 1994
• South American Footballer of the Year 1995
• Player of the Year of Argentina1995
• Topscorer in the Argentine Primera 1996
• Foreign Top Scorer for River Plate
• Foreign Uruguayan Top Scorer in Argentina

References

External links

• International statistics at rsssf
• (Spanish) Profile at Tenfield
• Midfield Dynamo's 10 Heroes of the Copa América Enzo Francescoli listed in the top 10

Enzo Francescoli international tournaments v • d • e Uruguay squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Rodríguez • 2 Gutiérrez • 3 Acevedo • 4 Diogo • 5 Bossio • 6 Batista • 7 Alzamendi • 8 Barrios • 9 da Silva • 10 Francescoli • 11 Santín • 12 Alvez • 13 Vega • 14 Pereyra • 15 Rivero • 16 Saralegui • 17 Zalazar • 18 Paz • 19 Ramos • 20 Aguilera • 21 Cabrera • 22 Otero • Coach: Borrás v • d • e Uruguay squad – 1987 Copa América 1 Seré • 2 Díaz • 3 Gutiérrez • 4 Trasante • 5 Saldanha • 6 Peñarol • 7 Alzamendi • 8 Matosas • 9 Báez • 10 Francescoli • 11 Sosa • 12 Pereira • 13 Aguirregaray • 14 Domínguez • 15 Perdomo • 16 Bengoechea • 17 Cócaro • 18 Silvera • 19 Peletti • 20 Dalto • 21 Da Silva • 22 Tuja • Coach: Fleitas v • d • e Uruguay squad – 1989 Copa América 1 Zeoli • 2 Gutiérrez • 3 de León • 4 Herrera • 5 Perdomo • 6 Domíguez • 7 Alzamendi • 8 Correa • 9 Francescoli • 10 Paz • 11 Sosa • 12 Seré • 13 Revelez • 14 Saldanha • 15 Ostolaza • 16 Martínez • 17 Aguilera • 18 Pereira • 19 Da Silva • 20 Bengoechea • Coach: Tabárez v • d • e Uruguay squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Alvez • 2 Gutiérrez • 3 de León • 4 Herrera • 5 Perdomo • 6 Domínguez • 7 Alzamendi • 8 Ostolaza • 9 Francescoli • 10 Paz • 11 Sosa • 12 E. Pereira • 13 Revelez • 14 Pintos Saldanha • 15 Correa • 16 Bengoechea • 17 Martínez • 18 Aguilera • 19 Fonseca • 20 R. Pereira • 21 Castro • 22 Zeoli • Coach: Tabárez v • d • e Uruguay squad – 1993 Copa América 1 Siboldi • 2 Sánchez • 3 Kanapkis • 4 Sanguinetti • 5 Ostolaza • 6 de los Santos • 7 Peletti • 8 Morán • 9 Guerra • 10 Saralegui • 11 Paz • 12 Ferro • 13 Rodríguez Peña • 14 Moas • 15 Cabrera • 16 Gutiérrez • 17 Barrios • 18 da Silva • 19 O'Neill • 20 Herrera • 21 Francescoli • 22 Sosa • Coach: Cubilla v • d • e Uruguay squad – 1995 Copa América Winners (14th title) 1 Alvez • 2 Aguirregaray • 3 Moas • 4 Herrera • 5 Gutiérrez • 6 Adinolfi • 7 Otero • 8 Bengochea • 9 Fonseca • 10 Francescoli • 11 Poyet • 12 Arbiza • 13 Da Silva • 14 Méndez • 15 Saralegui • 16 López • 17 Martínez • 18 Silva • 19 Abeijón • 20 Sosa • 21 Dorta • 22 Ferro • Coach: Núñez