Joffre Guerrón

Joffre David Guerrón Méndez (; born 28 April 1985), commonly known as Joffre Guerrón, is an Ecuadorian professional footballer for Ecuadorian Serie A club Barcelona Sporting Club.

A right winger, his key attributes are his explosiveness and potence. A strong and accurate finisher with good aerial presence, Guerron can also play as a striker. Besides his native Ecuador, he has played in countries such as Argentina, Spain, Brazil, China and Mexico. He was awarded as the 2008 and 2015 Copa Libertadores MVP.

Nicknamed ''Dinamita'' (Spanish for dynamite), he is also known among fans for his humbleness and love to Latin music such as reggaeton and salsa.

Early life

Joffre David Guerrón Méndez, was born in a small Ecuadorian village called Ambuquí at the Imbabura Province, a place where other important figures of Ecuadorian football have emerged, players such as Édison Méndez, Agustín Delgado, Ulises de la Cruz and Giovanny Espinoza.

Club career

Youth career

Guerrón made his debut in the top Ecuadorian division with SD Aucas at the very young age of 16. He was then transferred to Argentine club Boca Juniors where he played in the lower divisions of the team; however he never got a chance to debut with the senior team. In 2006, he returned to Ecuador, this time to Liga, at the request of the then manager, Juan Carlos Oblitas.

LDU Quito

In 2007, Guerrón began to hold a starting 11 position, with the new manager Edgardo Bauza. Guerron would finish the 2007 Serie A season as champion, bringing the club its 9th league title.
He impressed and dazzled many with his speed and talent as well as his pace in the 2008 Copa Libertadores with LDU Quito, scoring against Libertad of Paraguay with an individual play, and also against Estudiantes de La Plata, where Guerron took the ball individually past several defenders and shot the football very powerfully past the small space left on the goal-keeper's left side. Guerron in the semi-final versus Club America received a long pass from Jayro Campos on the right side of the field, dribbled past his defender to send the ball past Guillermo Ochoa and leave it for Luis Bolanos to just head the ball in, resulting in an important 1–1 away result. After drawing to America 0–0 at home, Liga reached the final where Guerrón played an important role in the victory over Fluminense, scoring a goal in the first leg, then putting in an energetic performance before scoring LDU's third goal in the 3–1 penalty shootout victory. He was member of the team that won Copa Libertadores in 2008, Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito. He was chosen by FIFA, through an election, as the best player of the 2008 Copa Libertadores.

Getafe

On 6 June 2008, that Guerrón joined Getafe for four years at a price of €4 million. He made his league debut on 31 August 2008, starting against Sporting de Gijón, and was taunted by fans of Sporting de Gijón. Several parts of the stadium could be heard making monkey noises and other degrading taunts against him. As a result, Swiss club teammate Fabio Celestini condemned the racist supporters in a later press conference calling them idiots and also praising Guerrón's attitude throughout the match, although it was suggested that Joffre did not know the insults were directed at him. Gijón was fined a modest sum for the incident.

Cruzeiro

Guerrón signed for Cruzeiro on loan from Getafe for one season. Cruzeiro paid around €1 million and could sign him on a permanent basis at the end of the season for €3 million. In his 2009 season, he played 15 league games, scoring two goals in two victories against Santo Andre and Sport Recife. On 4 February, in a 2010 Copa Libertadores match, he scored a goal in 7–0 win against Bolivian club Real Potosi. For the 2010 season, he played in only four league matches, scoring only once against Guarani in a 2–2 draw.

Atlético Paranaense

In July 2010, Guerrón joined the Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense for a transfer fee of €907,000.
After playing for Paranaense for two seasons, he became the teams icon and top goalscorer.

Beijing Guoan

Guerrón made his a goalscoring debut for his new club, with a signature bicycle kick. He scored his first league goal on 20 October, in a 2–0 away win against Qingdao Jonoon. He ended his season with 13 games played, and 2 goals scored.

On his league debut for the 2013 Chinese Super League, he scored a goal backwards, in a 4–1 home win against Shanghai East Asia F.C. On 5 April, Guerrón scored the only goal in an away win against Jiangsu Sainty. On 23 April, in an AFC Champions League group match against Korean giants Pohang Steelers, Guerron scored the opening goal in a 2–0 home win. On 1 June, Guerrón scored a chipped goal in a 4–0 home win over Liaoning Whowin. On 22 June, he scored in a 2–1 away loss to Hangzhou. A week later on 26 June, Guerrón scored in a 3–0 home win over Shandong Luneng. On 7 July, he scored his sixth goal of the season against Shanghai SIPG, in a 3–0 away win. Then a week later on 14 July, Guerrón scored another goal in a 3–1 home win against Wuhan Zall. On 25 August he scored in a 4–0 home win over Dalian Aerbin. On 5 October, Guerrón scored in a 1–1 away draw against Liaoning Whowin. On 18 October, Guerron scored in a 1–1 home draw against Hangzhou.

Tigres UANL

On 13 July 2014, Guerrón joined Liga MX side Tigres UANL. On 26 July, he made his official debut with Tigres, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for Édgar Lugo on the 4–2 victory of Tigres over Club León at the Estadio Universitario in the second match of the team in the Apertura 2014 tournament. He scored his first goal via penalty-kick in an Apertura 2014 Copa MX game against Estudiantes de Altamira in the victory of 4–0 at the Estadio Universitario on 29 July. On 16 August, Guerrón scored his first goal in a League game, on the 1–1 draw against Puebla FC, at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc. On 27 September, he scored the second goal for the 3–2 victory against C.F. Pachuca at the Estadio Hidalgo, with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area. On 25 October, he scored a goal in the Clásico Regiomontano against C.F. Monterrey, for a 2–2 draw at the Estadio Tecnológico. On 22 November, he scored the first goal of the 2–1 victory against Club Toluca at the Estadio Universitario. In the "liguilla" (play-offs), he scored the goal of the 1–1 draw against Pachuca in the away game at the Estadio Hidalgo on 26 November. In the home game of the finals against Club América on 11 December 2014, Guerrón scored the goal of the 1–0 victory. On 7 February 2015, he scored the goal of the 1–0 home win over Puebla FC. He scored one goal in the 3–0 home victory against Pumas UNAM on 28 February. On 14 March, Guerrón scored the second goal of the 2–1 home victory against Pachuca FC. On 4 April, he scored the third goal of the 3–1 home victory over Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. He scored the second goal for the 3–1 victory over Querétaro FC at the Estadio Corregidora on 24 April. On 13 May, he scored the goal of the 1–1 against Santos Laguna in the quarterfinals of the play-offs. Tigres became champion of the Apertura 2015 season, but Guerrón, playing as the substitute of Jürgen Damm, scored only two goals in the season and played only one game of playoffs.

Copa Libertadores 2015

Finishing as second place of the Apertura 2014 tournament, Tigres got a ticket to play in the Copa Libertadores 2015 as "Mexico 1". On 18 February 2015, he scored two goals of the 3–0 victory against Juan Aurich at the Estadio Universitario. He scored the 1-1 goal against River Plate on 5 March, at El Monumental. On 17 March, he scored a goal against Club Deportivo San José in the 4–0 home victory. Tigres lost the finals against River Plate and Guerrón was named the MVP of the Cup.

Cruz Azul

On 15 December 2015, Guerrón joined Liga MX side Cruz Azul for two years.

Pumas UNAM

On 7 June 2017, Club Universidad Nacional confirmed the signing of "Dinamita" Guerrón.

International career

Guerrón has represented Ecuador on a youth level, even scoring against Panama's U-20 team in a friendly match. He was called up for the first two 2010 World Cup qualifiers in October 2007 against Venezuela and Brasil and more recently against Argentina and Colombia. And has been called up for a starting position for the next games of the South American Qualifiers playing right middle. He is considered to be one of Ecuador's most promising players and has already won several caps for the senior national team. Coach Reinaldo Rueda has called Guerron back for international duty for World Cup qualifier matches.

Personal life

He is a brother of Raúl Guerrón who participated for Ecuador in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He is married and has one son. Guerrón is admired by his fans for his humility and love to Latin music, he has been seen in humble sectors of several cities singing and dancing with fans.

Career statistics

Honours

;LDU Quito
*Serie A (1): 2007
*Copa Libertadores (1): 2008

;Tigres UANL
*Liga MX (1): Apertura 2015

Individual
*Copa Libertadores ''Best Player (2): ''2008, 2015
* Copa MX top scorer : Clausura 2016 Copa MX

Notes

References

Joffre Guerrón will not be part of los Rayados

External links

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Guerrón's player card of FEF's website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerron, Joffre
1985 births
Living people
People from Ibarra Canton
Footballers from Imbabura Province
Men's association football wingers
Ecuadorian men's footballers
21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen
Ecuador men's international footballers
L.D.U. Quito footballers
S.D. Aucas footballers
Getafe CF footballers
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players
Club Athletico Paranaense players
Beijing Guoan F.C. players
Tigres UANL footballers
Cruz Azul footballers
Club Universidad Nacional footballers
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Liga MX players
Chinese Super League players
Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Expatriate men's footballers in China
Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico
Copa Libertadores–winning players