Guillermo Luis Cantú Sáenz (born 12 January 1968) is a Mexican former

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 lea ...

who played at both professional and international levels as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Playing career

Born in

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Coahuila. The city's population is 720,848 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the state of Coahuila. Also Torreón is par ...

, Cantú played professionally for Atlante,

Club León Club León is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in León, Guanajuato, León, Guanajuato, that competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, Mexican football. The club was founded in 1944 ...

and

Atlético Celaya The Club Atlético Celaya was a Mexican football club from Celaya, Guanajuato. The club was formed in 1994 when the two second-division clubs Atletico Cuernavaca (Morelos) and Escuadra Celeste de Celaya (Guanajuato) merged. Another team, Atléti ...

. He spent the prime years of his career at Atlante. During the 1992–93 season, he worked his way into the starting lineup, scoring six goals from midfield as Atlante won the championship. Cantú continued to start regularly for Atlante during the next two years, but his playing time diminished in subsequent seasons because of injuries. He played his final top-division matches with Celaya in 1998 at the age of 30. He also represented

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at international level, earning a total of 4 caps. He made two appearances at the

1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 2nd edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament took place from 10 to 25 July ...

, playing in an 8–0 victory over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and in the 4–0 victory over the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the final. Although he participated in the Gold Cup success, he was unable to break into the plans of coach Miguel Mejia Baron in time to make the squad for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

Coaching and administration

Since his playing career, Cantú has been active in Mexican soccer administration. He was the director of national selections for the

Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

from 2004 to 2009, when he resigned after Mexico failed to qualify for the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

. He also served as president of

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

and

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

, holding the latter post from 2010 to 2012.MedioTiempo
"Dejó Guillermo Cantú a Jaguares"
10 September 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantu, Guillermo 1968 births Living people Footballers from Torreón Men's association football midfielders Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Atlante F.C. footballers Club León footballers Atlético Celaya footballers Mexican football chairmen and investors 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 20th-century Mexican sportsmen