Juan Francisco Palencia Hernández (born 28 April 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager.

Club career

Cruz Azul

Palencia trained with the Cruz Azul youth system at age 13 and made his debut in the

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

(First Division) in 1994 at age 21. After finishing the 1995–1996 season with highly anticipated performances, Palencia was awarded the "Rookie of the Year Award", for most outstanding young player in the First Division. Palencia would go on to play seven seasons, captaining and scoring 91 goals for Mexico City's Club Deportivo Cruz Azul, and leading them to two championship titles in the CONCACAF Tournaments of 1996 and 1997, one championship title in the First Division in 1997, and second place 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 ...

of 2001. After finishing second place to

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

in the Copa Libertadores, Palencia departed from Cruz Azul at the end of the 2000–2001 season and went to Spain (on loan) to play for RCD Espanyol in La Liga, where he played 35 matches and scored six goals. After his one-year contract expired, Palencia returned to Mexico in late 2002 to play one more season with his old club, Cruz Azul.

Guadalajara

In late 2003, Palencia joined another club of Mexican football, this time to the "All Mexican Team", Club Deportivo Guadalajara. He continued on with his success displaying his excellent form, taking the team into the semi-finals of the 2005

tournament and registering 5 goals.

Chivas USA

Palencia was originally slated to join C.D. Chivas USA for the start of their inaugural season, but he enjoyed so much success with Guadalajara that his arrival to the United States team was delayed until August 19, 2005. In his American debut, he promptly displayed his fine form and scored two goals. In 2006, Palencia was the team captain of Chivas USA and was also the highest paid player in MLS at that time, earning US$1,360,000 a year.

UNAM Pumas

In January 2007, Palencia signed to UNAM Pumas. Palencia had another opportunity to play in the Copa Libertadores on May 3 and 8 of 2007. Club Toluca signed him on loan for a couple of games to reinforce its squad against Corporación Nuevo Cúcuta Deportivo in both matches of the Round of 16. Unfortunately for Toluca, Cúcuta Deportivo won the first match at home 5–1, even though Toluca scored first on the very first minute of the game. This match was followed by a 2-0 Toluca victory over Cúcuta Deportivo, also starting Palencia. Toluca was eliminated from the tournament and Palencia did not have another opportunity to play in Latin America's biggest club championship event due to retirement.

International career

Palencia made his international debut for the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified consec ...

on June 8, 1996, against Bolivia national team at the U.S. Cup tournament in Dallas, Texas, scoring the winning goal. Palencia played in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta, taking his side to the quarterfinals where they were defeated by Nigeria, the eventual winners. He was a member of the national team for the 1996, 1998 and 2003 Gold Cup tournaments and the 1999 Confederations Cup tournament, where he helped Mexico win all four competitions. Palencia also played in two FIFA World Cups, France'98 and Korea-Japan 2002, but could only help his team reach the "Round of 16" of the tournaments before being eliminated. He has also represented his country in three

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 ...

tournaments in 1997, 1999 and 2004, as well as two Confederations Cup appearances in 1997 and 1999. In 2006, the veteran striker missed out on selection in Mexico's 23 man squad for the World Cup. On February 7, Palencia was called up by coach Hugo Sánchez to represent his country and play a friendly game against the United States. The Mexicans lost the match 0–2. However, Palencia played against Paraguay on March 25 and Ecuador on March 28, Mexico winning both matches and Palencia score a goal.

Managerial career

Palencia started his managerial career with Sant Cugat Juvenil in Spain. On 11 June Palencia was presented as Mazatlán's manager for the 2020–21 season.

Career statistics

International goals

, - , 1 , , rowspan="2", 14 December 1997 , , rowspan="2", King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia , , rowspan="2", , , align=center, 1–0 , , rowspan="2" align=center, 5–0, , rowspan="2",

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first Confederations Cup to be organised by FIFA. The tournament had previously been played in 1992 and 1995 as the King Fahd Cup. This edition of the tournament was hosted by Saudi Arabia, as with the previ ...

, - , 2 , , align=center, 2–0 , - , 3 , , 4 February 1998 , , Network Associates Coliseum,

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, United States , , , , align=center, 3–1 , , align=center, 4–2 , ,

1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Los Angeles, Miami, and O ...

, - , 4. , , 24 February 1998 , , Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, United States , , , , align=center, 1–3 , , align=center, 2–3, ,

Friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

, - , 5 , , 17 July 1999 , , Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay , , , , align=center, 1–0 , , align=center, 2–1, ,

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There was no qualifying for the final tournament. Mexico and Japan were invited to ...

, - , 6 , , 29 July 1999 , , Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico , , , , align=center, 1–0 , , align=center, 1–0, ,

1999 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. It was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the final. Mexico be ...

, - , 7 , , 13 February 2000 , , Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States , , , , align=center, 4–0 , , align=center, 4–0, ,

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

, - , 8 , , 11 November 2001 , , Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico , , , , align=center, 2–0 , , align=center, 3–0, ,

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America ...

, - , 9 , , 16 May 2002 , , 3Com Park at Candlestick Point, San Francisco, United States , , , , align=center, 1–0 , , align=center, 1–0, , Friendly , - , 10 , , 19 June 2004 , , Alamodome, San Antonio, United States , , , , align=center, 10–0 , , align=center, 10–0, ,

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South Americ ...

, - , 11 , , 28 March 2007 , , McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, United States , , , , align=center, 1–0 , , align=center, 4–2, , Friendly , - , 12 , , 10 October 2009 , , Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico , , , , align=center, 3–0 , , align=center, 4–1 , ,

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

Honours

Cruz Azul *

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 ...

: Invierno 1997 * Copa México: 1996–97 * CONCACAF Champions Cup:

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

UNAM *

: Clausura 2009, Clausura 2011 Mexico *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

* CONCACAF Gold Cup:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

References

External links

* * * * *
Pumas Blog: December 2006 (Palencia article)
* *
Francisco Palencia at FootballDatabase.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palencia, Francisco 1973 births Living people Footballers from Mexico City Association football forwards Club Universidad Nacional footballers Chivas USA players Cruz Azul footballers C.D. Guadalajara footballers Liga MX players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Mexico international footballers RCD Espanyol footballers 1997 Copa América players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Olympic footballers of Mexico Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Liga MX managers Mexican football managers