Jared Borgetti

Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría (born August 14, 1973 in Culiacancito, Sinaloa) is a Mexico football (soccer) striker, who currently plays for CF Monterrey in the Primera División de México. Borgetti is the all-time leading goal scorer for the Mexican national football team with 47 goals. A prolific goalscorer at club level, Borgetti is renowned for his heading ability. His paternal grandfather is Italians.

Biography

Club career

Borgetti began his young career with CF Atlas in the Primera División de México on March 6, 1994 debuting in a 3-1 loss over Club América. After two successful seasons, he signed with Santos Laguna, where he claimed three golden boot titles for most goals in the season in his seven year participation with club. With Santos he won 2 league championships. Borgetti later signed a one year contract with promoted team Dorados de Sinaloa, where he stated he wanted to play in his home team, before joining CF Pachuca where he had little activity due to the qualifying games for the World Cup.

In the summer of 2005, Borgetti signed with English club Bolton Wanderers F.C in the FA Premier League . He became the first Mexican player to play for an English club.

He made his official English debut in a 2-0 win over Newcastle United F.C. on August 24, 2005, and scored his first goal for the club during Bolton Wanderers' first-ever UEFA Cup tie on September 15, 2005. He went on to score in the FA Cup, the Carling Cup.

After the 2005-06 season, Borgetti was released by Bolton. He eventually signed with Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad (Jeddah). On Saturday September 9, 2006 Borgetti made his debut, scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory over Saudi team Al-Ta'ee. In December 2006 Borgetti left Al-Ittihad (Jeddah) under a clause stating that he could leave at any time if his family was unable to adapt to Saudi Arabian culture. Teams from the leagues of France, England and Spain showed interest in signing the player.

International stage

On the international stage, Borgetti first played with Mexico on February 5, 1997 against Ecuador national football team. He would not make his mark internationally, however, until the qualification campaign for the 2002 World Cup began in late 2000. After the qualification campaign proved successful for Mexico, Borgetti became a regular starter within the squad and went on to score goals for his country at the Copa América 2001, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and the Copa América 2004.

Borgetti's most successful tournament was the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. He scored three goals against Brazil and Germany and helped Mexico to a fourth place finish, and his skill of scoring from headers drew the attention of football pundits worldwide. He also provided a memorable moment of the tournament when he had to retake a penalty twice against Brazil due to various infractions. It was blocked on the third attempt, but he later scored the winning goal that resulted in a 1-0 upset. After these performances, Borgetti attracted attention from many foreign clubs, and chose a deal with Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Borgetti has enjoyed notable success on both the club and international level. After the qualification campaign for Football World Cup 2006 ended, Borgetti became his country's top goalscorer, surpassing both Luis Hernández (footballer) and Carlos Hermosillo with a record 43 goals in the 87 international appearances

In March 25, 2007 Borgetti came off the bench replacing Omar Bravo in a match against Paraguay national football team. Within 20 seconds, Borgetti scored a goal making the game 1-0. Two minutes he later scored his second goal making the game 2-0. In June 8, 2007 Borgetti played in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup scoring two goals. He also scored a goal in the quarter-finals against Costa Rica national football team. In the final against USA, Borgetti injured himself, and could not go to the 2007 Copa América, where the Mexican national team reached the 3rd place in the Competition against Brazil and Argentina, beating Uruguay national football team in the semifinals of the Copa América.

Return to Mexico

Shortly after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Borgetti expressed his desire to retire from the International stage. He stated that he wanted to make way for the new and younger players that would contribute to the Mexican national football team in the future. However, he has been contacted and reconsidered by the Mexican Federation due to his outstanding play in Monterrey, and is currently in the Mexico squad for the upcoming qualifying matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In mid December 2006, Mexican club, Santos Laguna, showed interest in signing Borgetti and Francisco Fonseca but unfortunately days later, Club America signed Vicente Matias Vuoso on loan to Santos Laguna. Borgetti and Fonseca turned down the club's offer and later announced that he would return to Mexico as a member of Club Deportivo Cruz Azul under a one year contract. In 2007, Borgetti was called upon by Hugo Sánchez to represent Mexico in a series of International friendly matches and tournaments.
On December 21st, 2007 it was official announced that Borgetti will play for the CF Monterrey for the next six months in the Mexican Clausura 2008 tournament. Borgetti, scored his first goal with CF Monterrey in the Clásico Regiomontano against UANL Tigres where Tigres won 3-2. He has been referred to as "caza-goles" which translates to "goal poacher".

Honours

International

Mexico national football team
- CONCACAF Gold Cup - champions 2003, runners-up 2007
- FIFA Confederations Cup - 4th place 2005
- Copa América - runners-up 2001

Club

Santos Laguna
- Primera División de México - Championship Invierno (1996)
- Primera División de México - Championship Verano (2001)

Individual

Primera División de México
- Mexican Footballer of the Year (2000)
- Top-scorer Invierno (2000)
- Top-scorer Verano (2001)