Andrés Guardado

José Andrés Guardado Hernández (born September 28, 1986 in Guadalajara, Jalisco) is a Mexico international football (soccer) who plays as a Midfielder for Deportivo de La Coruña in La Liga. He is known for his long-distance left-foot strikes and pace.

Club career

F.C. Atlas

Guardado started playing professionally in F.C. Atlas, and made his Primera División de México debut in August 2005 at 18 years old, in a 3-2 victory over CF Pachuca in Guadalajara, Jalisco. He eventually became a very important player for Atlas, and would go on to play 64 games with the side, scoring 6 goals. In the summer of 2006, press speculations linked Guardado to several Italian Serie A teams, the Spain club Real Madrid, and Portugal club SL Benfica. Madrid offered a deal which would send Guardado on loan to Real for 2 years for around €400k per year. Atlas rejected the offer on the basis that Guardado was one of the team's gems and they would only sell him for at least €5m. However, Deportivo de La Coruña moved quickly and made an offer of €5.25m, for 75% of his rights which in turn will be worth a total of €7.0m. The Mexican side accepted the offer and the transfer was finalized on July 7, 2007. Atlas remained entitled a 25% sell-on-fee as long as they held the remaining 25% of his rights. He stated his happiness with the agreement, with a preference to move to Spain, as he would not have to learn any additional languages or cope with a non-Hispanic culture.

Deportivo La Coruña

He was officially presented on July 24, with the team giving him the number 18 which he also used in the Mexico national football team. Miguel Ángel Lotina, coach of Deportivo, stated that Guardado was a key player, and admired his talent and character.

A key player throughout the majority of La Liga 2007-08, an injury prevented Guardado from playing the final two months, as Depor achieved a mid-table final position, enough to claim a spot in the Intertoto Cup, with subsequent UEFA Cup qualification, which marked Guardado's debut in European football.

International career

Guardado made his first international appearance for Mexico national football team in a friendly match against Hungary national football team on December 14, 2005, just four months after his first team debut for Atlas. Displaying his stupendous form, Guardado was called up to represent his country in the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. He played his first World Cup match against Argentina national football team in the round-of-16 2-1 loss 2-1 in extra time. Mexico coach (sport) Ricardo Lavolpe was sacked shortly after the finals, but his replacement, Hugo Sánchez, kept Guardado in the setup.

Guardado played in Mexico's first friendly under Sánchez against his country's CONCACAF rival United States men's national soccer team. His introduction from the bench saw the game turn in Mexico's favour and, although the match resulted in a 2-0 loss. Guardado cemented his place in the nation's subsequent starting XI.

On February 28, 2007, in a friendly match against Venezuela national football team, Guardado scored his first goal for Mexico. Upon Mexico reaching the 2007 Gold Cup Final of the 2007 Gold Cup Guardado scored the opening goal against the United States, however the goal was for naught as for the first time ever, the US came from behind to beat Mexico, 2-1, thus retaining their Gold Cup trophy. The third came against Uruguay national football team for the third spot in 2007 Copa América, on July 15.

Club career statistics

Honours

Individual

- F.C. Atlas:
- - Primera División de México: Best rookie (Apertura 2005); Best defender (football) (Apertura 2006, Clausura 2007)
- Deportivo de La Coruña:
- - Deportivo player of the year, La Liga 2007-08