Corine Cécile Franco ( née Petit) (born 5 October 1983 in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

) is a retired French football player who is best known for having played for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Olympique Lyonnais of the

Division 1 Féminine The Division 1 Féminine, shortened as D1 Féminine or D1F, and currently known as D1 Arkema for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in France. Run by the French Football Federation, the league is contested by twel ...

. Franco served as

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the r ...

of the French club and played as a physical, yet creative

defensive 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 boundari ...

, often acting as a

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

. She was often utilized as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

at international level. Franco is one of the most decorated players at club level in women's professional football, having won five European Cups and 10 Division 1 Féminine trophies. She competed for

France at the 2012 Summer Olympics France at the Olympics, France competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, between 27 July and 12 August 2012. French athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era. The French Olympic Committee sent a total of 330 ath ...

Club career

Early career

Franco was born on the west coast of

and began her career playing for Avenir Maritime Laleu in her hometown. She later moved to ES Rochellaise before securing a move to D1 Féminine club ASJ Soyaux at the start of the millennium. Franco spent two years in the youth system before making her league debut during the 2002–03 season. In her debut season, she scored four goals. The 2003–04 season saw Franco's opportunities in the team increase as she was given a permanent role in the starting eleven. Over the next four seasons, she appeared in all 22 matches scoring double-digit goals on two occasions. In her final season with Soyaux, she appeared in 19 matches scoring seven goals. Her successful seven-year career gained the attention of defending champions Olympique Lyonnais and Franco eventually secured a move to the club.

Lyon

In Franco's first season with Lyon, she appeared in 19 matches, starting 17, and scored two goals en route to Lyon winning their second straight D1 Féminine title and Franco's first of her career. The 2008–09 season also gave Franco the opportunity to display her talents on the European stage as Lyon were participating in the

2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Cup 2008–09 is the eighth edition of the UEFA Women's Cup football club tournament (since rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League), the most important trophy in European club football. The first qualifying round started o ...

. Lyon cruised through the group stage portion of the tournament and in the knockout rounds, they faced

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

club

A.S.D. CF Bardolino Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Women Hellas Verona, known as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a women's football club based in Verona, Italy, currently playing in Serie B. Founded in 1995, the team won the Serie A championship five times a ...

. Lyon won the tie 9–1 on aggregate as Franco scoring a goal in both legs. Lyon eventually suffered elimination in the semi-finals to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

club

FCR 2001 Duisburg FCR 2001 Duisburg (full name: ''Fußballclub Rumeln 2001 Duisburg'') was a German women's football club from Duisburg. The first team played in the Bundesliga. They originate from a women's team formed in 1977 under the umbrella of FC Rumeln-Kald ...

. On 15 October 2010, it was confirmed by Lyon officials that Franco suffered a rupture of her

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

, as well as her

medial meniscus The medial meniscus is a fibrocartilage semicircular band that spans the knee joint medially, located between the medial condyle of the femur and the medial condyle of the tibia.Platzer (2004), p 208 It is also referred to as the internal semi ...

and

lateral meniscus The lateral meniscus (external semilunar fibrocartilage) is a fibrocartilaginous band that spans the lateral side of the interior of the knee joint. It is one of two menisci of the knee, the other being the medial meniscus. It is nearly circula ...

in her right knee. She suffered the injury while playing in a

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

match against

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

. Franco missed six months. She retired at the end of the 2017—2018 football season, after having won the domestic league and Champions League titles with Lyon.

International career

Franco made her international debut on 22 February 2003 in a 2–1 loss to China. She scored her first international goal three days later in a 2–1 victory over the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. During

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

, she scored one goal against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. In the tournament, she appeared in all 4 matches France contested. France reached as far as the quarterfinals losing to the

4–5 on penalties with Franco missing her penalty shot. On 23 September 2009, she scored a brace against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

in a 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

qualification match Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. France won the match 7–0. A month later, she scored a goal in another qualification match, this time against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

in a 12–0 victory. Franco made her last international appearance in 2–3 win over Australia on 7 March 2014.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of match played 8 June 2016''

International

:''(Correct as of 7 March 2014)''FRANCO Corine
, French Football Federation, accessed 8 June 2011

International goals

Honours

Club

;Lyon *

: Winner 2008–09, 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016—2017, 2017—2018 *

Coupe de France Féminine A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

: Winner 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

: Winner

, 2011–12, 2015–16, 2016—2017, 2017—2018

International

;France *

Cyprus Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in t ...

: Winner

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Corine 1983 births Living people French women's footballers France women's international footballers Sportspeople from La Rochelle Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players ASJ Soyaux-Charente players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of France Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Division 1 Féminine players Footballers from Nouvelle-Aquitaine