Darío Franco

Darío Franco

Personal information
Full name	Darío Javier Franco Gatti
Date of birth	(1969-01-17) 17 January 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Cruz Alta [es], Argentina
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Almirante Brown (manager)
Youth career
	Newell's Old Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1991	Newell's Old Boys	100	(4)
1991–1995	Zaragoza	91	(7)
1995–1997	Club Atlas	85	(11)
1998–2004	Morelia	241	(19)
International career
1991–1994	Argentina	22	(6)
Managerial career
2006	Morelia
2006–2007	Tecos UAG
2008–2009	Club Atlas
2010–2011	San Martín de San Juan
2011–2012	Instituto
2013	Universidad de Chile
2013–2014	Aldosivi
2014–2015	Defensa y Justicia
2015–2016	Colón
2016–2017	Aldosivi
2017–2018	Instituto
2019	San Luis de Quillota
2020	Olmedo
2022–2023	Gimnasia Jujuy
2023	Binacional
2023–	Almirante Brown
Medal record Men's football Representing  Argentina Copa América Winner 1991 Chile Winner 1993 Ecuador FIFA Confederations Cup Winner 1992 Saudi Arabia CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions Winner 1993 Argentina
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Darío Javier Franco Gatti (born 17 January 1969) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Almirante Brown.

Playing career

Club

Franco made his football debut in his native country, briefly playing with Newell's Old Boys before joining Spain's Real Zaragoza winning the 1994 Copa del Rey Final and the following season the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against incumbent Champions and heavy favourites Arsenal F.C. He arrived in Mexico in 1995 to play for Atlas. After three years with the club, he was transferred to Monarcas Morelia, where he won the 2000 championship.

International

He played also for Argentina's national team, and scored two goals in the 1991 Copa América, which Argentina won. In the 1993 edition he was selected to replace the banned Claudio Caniggia, but was seriously injured in Argentina's first match.^{[citation needed]}

Managerial career

After his playing career ended, Franco became the manager of Tecos UAG. The president of the club fired him on Saturday August 18, 2007 after Tecos lost 4–1 to Pachuca in their first game of the season and were then beaten 3–0 by Atlante F.C. in their third game. The only point he earned came from a 0–0 draw against Chivas de Guadalajara in the second game. In Clausura 2009, Franco managed Atlas. After their second game, a 4–0 defeat to Cruz Azul, Franco was fired^{[citation needed]} and was replaced by Ricardo La Volpe.

Between 2010 and 2013, Franco managed San Martín de San Juan and Instituto.^[1] In 2013, Franco signed a contract with Universidad de Chile, but he was fired after six months.^[1] He managed Aldosivi in 2013 and Defensa y Justicia in 2014.^[1] He departed Defensa y Justicia in 2015 and subsequently became manager of Colón. In 2016, after leaving Colón, he returned to Aldosivi to become the club's manager for the second time.^[1] He rejoined Instituto de Córdoba on 1 November 2017.^[2]

Honours

As Player

Newell's Old Boys

• Argentine Primera División: 1990-91
• Copa Libertadores runner-up: 1988

Real Zaragoza

• Copa del Rey: 1993-94
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1994-95

Monarcas Morelia

• Liga MX: 2000

Argentina

• Copa América: 1991, 1993
• CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 1993

As Manager

Universidad de Chile

• Copa Chile: 2012-13

Personal life

His son Emiliano Franco is a footballer.^[3]

References

External links

• Darío Franco (Darío Javier Franco Gatti) – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (archived) (in Spanish)
• Darío Franco at National-Football-Teams.com
• Club Atlético Monarcas (in Spanish)
• Profile at LFP.es
• Darío Franco coach profile at Soccerway
• Darío Franco at FootballDatabase.eu