Francisco Avilán Cruz (27 August 1947 – 5 February 2021) was a Mexican

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 ...

and football manager.

Early life

Born in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, Mexico, Avilán's father was an amateur footballer and his brother, Arnulfo, played for

. His other brother, Pedro, played in the Mexican second division. He followed in the footsteps of his brother Arnulfo when he joined

in 1958.

Club career

Avilán was handed his first team debut by Uruguayan manager Roberto Scarone in 1964 against Club Deportivo Nacional, helping Monterrey to a 2–0 win. He remained with Monterrey until 1970, when he had a short stint with

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

, before returning to Monterrey. He signed with

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

before retiring in 1974.

International career

He was called up to the

Mexico national football team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in men's international association football, football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation, Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (). It has been a member of FIFA since 1929 and c ...

on several occasions, making two appearances between 1971 and 1972. In doing so, he became the first Monterrey player to represent Mexico.

Managerial career

Avilán returned to Monterrey at the end of the 1970s, initially managing the youth sector, which included future Mexican internationals Francisco Javier Cruz, Héctor Becerra and

Missael Espinoza Eduardo Missael Espinoza Padilla (born 12 April 1965) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career A versatile player capable of lining up in the attack or on the right side of midfie ...

. After studying football management in Yugoslavia, Avilán was named manager of Monterrey in 1984. With signings such as

Guillermo Muñoz Guillermo Muñoz Ramírez (born 20 October 1961) is a Mexican former football defender, who was nicknamed "El Turbo". He has 20 caps for the Mexico national team between 1987 and 1993, and on the squad at the 1993 Copa América. He made hi ...

, he led Monterrey to the México 86 title, the first in the club's history. While serving as manager of the

Mexico national under-20 football team The Mexico national under-20 football team represents Mexico in association football at the under-20 age level, and is controlled by the Mexican Football Federation (FMF), the governing body of football in Mexico. The team has won the CONCACAF ...

, it was found Mexico had knowingly fielded four overage players at the

1988 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament The 1988 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was held in Guatemala, although it has also been reported that the tournament was held in Trinidad and Tobago. It also served as qualification for the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship. This edition of the ...

. The scandal, known as

Cachirules The Cachirules scandal was a 1988 association football scandal in which the Mexican Football Federation (FEMEXFUT) was found to have knowingly used at least four overage players (Gerardo Jiménez, José de la Fuente, José Luis Mata, and Aurelio ...

, saw several Mexican officials banned from football for life; however, Avilán himself received no sanction, and said that if he had known these players were overaged, he would not have selected them. Avilán returned to management in 2008, when he was named manager of Jaguares de Chiapas on an interim basis.

Death

Avilán died in February 2021, following a bout of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Career statistics

International

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avilán, Francisco 1947 births 2021 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers Footballers from Monterrey Men's association football forwards C.F. Monterrey players Atlas F.C. footballers C.D. Guadalajara footballers C.F. Monterrey managers Tigres UANL managers Jaguares F.C. managers Mexican expatriate football managers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Honduras Expatriate football managers in Honduras 20th-century Mexican sportsmen