Francisco (footballer, born 1962)


Francisco Javier López Alfaro, known simply as Francisco, is a Spanish retired football central midfielder and manager.

Club career

Francisco was born in Osuna, Province of Seville, Andalusia. During his career he represented hometown's Sevilla FC and RCD Espanyol, playing in 436 La Liga matches. He finished his first season in the competition with 20 games – all starts – and one goal, helping the former club to the seventh position.
In the 1992–93 campaign, Francisco experienced top flight relegation with the Catalans, but achieved promotion in the immediate year always as an important first-team element. He retired at the end of 1996–97, aged nearly 35.
Francisco began working as a manager with Espanyol's youth sides, then proceeded to coach Coria CF, Real Jaén, CF Extremadura, UE Figueres and first division's CD Numancia. In July 2006, he joined Segunda División B's CF Badalona.
Midway through the 2008–09 campaign, Francisco was sacked as coach of CD Atlético Baleares also in the third level. Subsequently, he was appointed at the third team of Sevilla in Tercera División.

International career

Francisco earned 20 caps and scored one goal for Spain, and was selected for both the UEFA Euro 1984 and the 1986 FIFA World Cup tournaments. His debut came on 27 October 1982 in a 1–0 win against Iceland, for the former competition's qualifiers.

International goals

Honours

Player

;Espanyol