Darío Javier Franco Gatti (born 17 January 1969) is an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former international footballer. He is the current manager of Gimnasia Jujuy.

Playing career

Club

Franco made his football debut in his native country, briefly playing with

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

before joining

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

winning the

1994 Copa del Rey Final The 1994 Copa del Rey Final was the 92nd final of the Spanish cup competition, the Copa del Rey. The final was played at Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid on 20 April 1994. The match was won by Real Zaragoza, who beat Celta de Vigo in penalty sh ...

and the following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

the

1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final The 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match on 10 May 1995 contested between cup holders Arsenal of England and Zaragoza of Spain. The final was held at Parc des Princes in Paris. It was the final match of the 1994–95 UEFA Cup Wi ...

against incumbent Champions and heavy favourites Arsenal F.C. He arrived in Mexico in 1995 to play for

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

. After three years with the club, he was transferred to Monarcas Morelia, where he won the 2000 championship.

International

He played also for Argentina's national team, and scored two goals in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

, which Argentina won. In the 1993 edition he was selected to replace the banned

Claudio Caniggia Claudio Paul Caniggia (; born 9 January 1967) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as forward or winger. Caniggia played 50 times for the Argentina national team. He appeared in three World Cups, and was a member of both ...

, but was seriously injured in Argentina's first match.

Managerial career

After his playing career ended, Franco became the manager of

Tecos UAG Tecos Fútbol Club (often referred to by its nickname "Tecos") is a Mexican professional Association football, football club associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara AC. It plays its home games in the ''Estadio 3 de Marzo'' (March ...

. The president of the club fired him on Saturday August 18, 2007 after Tecos lost 4-1 to

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whic ...

in their first game of the season and were then beaten 3-0 by

Atlante F.C. Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943. Atlante has won three national league championships, t ...

in their third game. The only point he earned came from a 0-0 draw against Chivas de Guadalajara in the second game. In Clausura 2009, Franco managed

. After their second game, a 4-0 defeat to

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

, Franco was fired and was replaced by

Ricardo La Volpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was in ...

. Between 2010 and 2013, Franco managed

San Martín de San Juan Club Atlético San Martín, mostly known as San Martín de San Juan, is an Argentine football club from the city of San Juan. The team currently plays in the Argentine Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league sy ...

and Instituto. In 2013, Franco signed a contract with

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, but he was fired after six months. He managed Aldosivi in 2013 and

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

in 2014. He departed Defensa y Justicia in 2015 and subsequently became manager of Colón. In 2016, after leaving Colón, he returned to Aldosivi to become the club's manager for the second time. He rejoined Instituto de Córdoba on 1 November 2017.

Personal life

His son Emiliano Franco is a footballer.

References

External links

* *
Club Atlético Monarcas

Profile at LFP.es

Darío Franco
at Soccerway
Darío Franco
at Footballdatabase {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Dario 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Córdoba Province, Argentina Argentine emigrants to Mexico Naturalized citizens of Mexico Association football defenders Argentine footballers Mexican footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players La Liga players Newell's Old Boys footballers Real Zaragoza players Atlas F.C. footballers Atlético Morelia players 1991 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players Copa América-winning players Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Argentine football managers Argentine expatriate football managers Mexican football managers Expatriate football managers in Chile Atlético Morelia managers Tecos F.C. managers Atlas F.C. managers Instituto managers San Martín de San Juan managers Universidad de Chile managers Aldosivi managers Defensa y Justicia managers Club Atlético Colón managers C.D. Olmedo managers