Enzo Francescoli

Born in 1961, Enzo Francescoli was part of the golden generation of football players that amazed the world with their skills and style of play. Considered to be one of the best players in Uruguayan history, Enzo Francescoli was nicknamed “El Principe” (The Prince) because of his elegant style of playing football. Playing 73 times for the Uruguay national team, Enzo Francescoli is considered to be one of the biggest legends of his country.

Biography

Early Days

Though his career eventually flourished, his early days were not as successful. The first team that he professionally played for was Montevideo Wanderers, and Enzo spent two years building his reputation and improving his football skills at that club. In 1981, while standing out for his performance as a midfielder on Uruguay's youth national team, he was considered for a contract with some of Uruguay's biggest teams such as Penarol and River Plate. Ultimately, these teams turned him down for being too thin. Soon after, though, his big break came when he signed with River Plate of Argentina.

During his first year in River Plate, he and the team as a whole struggled a lot. In that period, he changed his position many times until finally, the coach decided to position him up front. His situation started to turn around, and he was able to showcase his abilities. His performance in Argentina caught the attention of several European teams, so he went to France, where he spent the next four years. He left River Plate with a record of 113 games and 68 goals.

Latter Days

In 1986, RC Paris signed Francescoli, and he shined in his first season by becoming the top scorer of the league despite being a new player and having little time to adjust to the conditions of the game in France. When it was time for World Cup 1986 in Mexico the expectations on him was huge, but the other teams was warned and gave him small room and Uruguay didn’t advanced from their group.

His performance in club football remain however on the highest level and he was formally recognized for his performance in 1987 when he was elected as the best player from a foreign country playing in France.

Around that time, Juventus offered Francescoli a spot on their team, but surprisingly, Francescoli refused, and he stayed with RC Paris until 1989. He transferred to Olympique Marseille after spending three years in RC Paris, gaining his first title there. However, he did not stay with them long because in 1990, after his astounding performance at the World Cup (held in Italy), Francescoli signed with Cagliari where he would stay for three years. During those three years, he played 98 games and scored 17 goals.

Cagliari was not the only team that Enzo Francescoli played for during his time in Italy. In 1993, he received an offer from Torino FC, which he surprisingly accepted. Spending only one year with Torino, Francescoli scored three goals in the 24 games that he played during that year. However, in 1994, Francescoli decided that he wanted to return to Argentina, and in the same year, he was once again wearing the River Plate jersey. Being already considered a legend of the team, Enzo enjoyed the respect of both teammates and fans.

The best moment of his career was perhaps the International Cup played in 1996. Reaching the finals, Enzo Francescoli and the other players of River Plate had an opportunity to carve their names in the history books for winning two International Cup titles. Unfortunately, Juventus managed to stop them. However, that loss was soon followed by two huge wins in 1997 when he helped his team win two titles in four days, making him one of the best players in River Plate history. Soon after, Enzo Francescoli announced his retirement, refusing a million-dollar offer to stay due to injuries and his health.

Conclusion

It can be said that Enzo Francescoli's career for the national team was more successful than his club career, but playing in teams such as River Plate, RC Paris and others made him the legend he is today. Throughout his career in the national team, Francescoli played 73 games with 17 goals, which is enough to be considered as one of the greatest players from Uruguay. In fact, after his performance in the 1990 World Cup, Uruguay would not get further in the World Cup for 20 years.

By Martin Wahl

References:
http://www.topendsports.com/athletes/football-soccer/francescoli-enzo.htm
http://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/players-coaches/do-you- remember/people=189880/index.html
http://www.national-football-teams.com/player/14170/Enzo_Francescoli.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzo_Francescoli
http://persona.rin.ru/eng/view/f//34715/enzo-francescoli
http://sportslens.com/interview-with-enzo-francescoli/7064/#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay_at_the_FIFA_World_Cup
http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/uruguay/world-cup/feature/top-10-uruguayan-footballers-of-all-time_156514.html