Francisco Javier Acuña Víctor (born 19 January 1988) is a Mexican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Liga de Expansión MX The Liga de Expansión MX, also known as Liga de Desarrollo (Liga BBVA Expansión MX for sponsorship reasons), is a Mexican football league founded in 2020 as part of the Mexican Football Federation's "Stabilization Project", which has the prima ...

club

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

Club career

UANL

Acuña developed with the youth squads of

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...

. In 2008, he made his debut with the reserves in the Primera División A, making eight appearances that season. He later made his

Mexican Primera División The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in al ...

debut for UANL on 19 October 2008 as a substitute in a 4–1 win over

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, and scored his first professional goal in the 90th minute of the same match. He also made two appearances for UANL in the

2009 InterLiga The 2009 InterLiga was the 6th edition of the tournament that determined the last two Mexican spots in the 2009 Copa Libertadores. Venues Qualification The eight qualified teams were the eight best-positioned teams in the 2008 Apertura gene ...

. In the 2009–10 season, Acuña made ten league appearances, scoring two goals. The following year, he played his first full season of professional football, making 27 league appearances and scoring four goals. He also appeared in the second leg of UANL's Clausura Liguilla series against

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

. In the 2011–12 season, Acuña saw a sharp reduction in playing time, making only seven league appearances and two in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

, as well as one appearance in the Apertura Liguilla against

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 the first half of the 2012–13 season, he made two league appearances and two appearances in

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

before being loaned out until the end of the season.

Loan to San Luis

On 6 December 2012, Acuña was loaned to

San Luis San Luis (Spanish for "Saint Louis") may refer to: Places Argentina * San Luis Province * San Luis, Argentina, capital of San Luis Province Belize * San Luis, Belize, in Orange Walk District Colombia * San Luis, Antioquia, a town and municipality ...

until the end of the season. He made ten league appearances and three in the

Copa Mexico The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

for San Luis that year.

Loan to Morelia

In 2014, he went on loan to Monarcas Morelia, where he made two league appearances and one in the

that season.

Atlético Ottawa

On 30 March 2020, Acuña signed with Canadian Premier League side Atlético Ottawa. He made his debut in Ottawa's inaugural match on August 15 against

York9 York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histo ...

Necaxa

On 5 January 2021, Acuña returned to Mexico, signing with

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

side

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club in Liga MX based in the city of Aguascalientes. It plays in the Estadio Victoria. History Foundation (Light and Power Comp ...

Personal life

Acuña was nicknamed "El Messi" throughout his career, a nickname he would later say generated unrealistic high expectations.

Career statistics

Honours

Tigres UANL *

: Apertura 2011

References

External links

* 1988 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Sonora Sportspeople from Hermosillo Mexican expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Canada Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Canada Tigres UANL footballers San Luis F.C. players Atlante F.C. footballers Atlético Morelia players Club Puebla players Lobos BUAP footballers Atlético Ottawa players Club Necaxa footballers Liga MX players Ascenso MX players Canadian Premier League players Mexican footballers {{Mexico-footy-midfielder-stub