Francisco Higuera

Francisco Higuera Fernández (born 30 January 1965) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder – sometimes, he could operate as a forward.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Higuera and the second or maternal family name is Fernández.

Francisco Higuera
Personal information
Full name Francisco Higuera Fernández
Date of birth (1965-01-30) 30 January 1965
Place of birth Escurial, Spain
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
Mallorca
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1988 Mallorca 174 (27)
1988–1997 Zaragoza 276 (63)
1997–1998 Puebla 34 (7)
1998–2000 Xerez 53 (1)
Total 537 (98)
International career
1982 Spain U16 1 (0)
1983 Spain U18 3 (0)
1992–1995 Spain 6 (1)
Managerial career
2013–2014 Xerez
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nicknamed Paquete,[1] he appeared in 367 La Liga games over 12 seasons (76 goals), in representation of Mallorca and Zaragoza.

Club career

Higuera was born in Escurial, Province of Cáceres.[2] After playing youth football with RCD Mallorca he made his senior debut at only 17, in a 3–0 Segunda División home win against Deportivo de La Coruña on 10 October 1982, and finished his first season with 16 matches and two goals as the Balearic Islands club promoted to La Liga. His first appearance in the top flight occurred on 24 September 1983 in a 3–0 loss at Atlético Madrid, and he went on to experience two relegations from that tier with the team.[3]

In summer 1988, Higuera signed with Real Zaragoza, being ever-present for the Aragonese.[4] In the 1993–94 campaign he scored a career-best 12 goals and converted the decisive penalty in the shootout victory over RC Celta de Vigo in the Copa del Rey final,[5] later being instrumental in their 1995 conquest of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, often partnering Juan Esnáider, Miguel Pardeza and Gus Poyet in attack (they recorded, in 1994–95, an impressive 5–4 away defeat of FC Barcelona in the Supercopa de España).[6][7]

Higuera decided to have an abroad experience in 1997 at the age of 32, and joined Mexico's Puebla FC, being accompanied by Pardeza in the adventure.[8] He returned home after one season, signing with Xerez CD of Segunda División B and retiring in 2000.[2]

After serving as general manager to the Andalusians for several seasons,[9] Higuera switched to another modest club in 2009, Lorca Deportiva CF, also in that capacity.[10]

International career

Higuera earned six caps for Spain, the first arriving on 15 January 1992 in a friendly against Portugal where he replaced the injured Emilio Butragueño early into the 0–0 draw in Torres Novas.[11]

International goal
Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Higuera goal.
List of international goals scored by Francisco Higuera
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
17 September 1994Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus Cyprus1–02–1Euro 1996 qualifying[12]

Honours

Zaragoza

References
  1. Giménez, Paco (27 March 2009). "'Paquete' Higuera: "El Zaragoza tendrá que estar los 95 minutos en tensión"" ['Paquete' Higuera: "Zaragoza will have to be in tension for 95 minutes"]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  2. "What became of...? 'Paquete' Higuera". La Liga. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  3. Gandía, Antonio (27 May 2018). "Un artista al que llamaban «Paquete»" [An artist they called "Paquete"] (in Spanish). Antonio Gandía. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  4. Gascón, Javier (8 January 1992). "Pardeza e Higuera, tal para cual" [Pardeza and Higuera, cut from the same cloth] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  5. "Un gol de Francisco Higuera en el décimo penalti dio la Copa del Rey a los aragoneses" [A goal by Francisco Higuera in the tenth penalty gives King's Cup to Aragonese]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 21 April 1994. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  6. Aguilar, Francesc (31 August 1994). "El Barça paga un precio muy alto" [Barça pay a heavy price]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. "¿Qué fue de 'los héroes de París'?" [What happened to the 'heroes of Paris'?]. Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 4 May 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  8. "España y Puebla, un romance añejo" [Spain and Puebla, old romance] (in Spanish). Medio Tiempo. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  9. Ramírez, A. (16 December 2013). "Francisco 'Paquete' Higuera: "Tras ganar la Recopa empezaron a retirarnos, fue algo rarísimo"" [Francisco 'Paquete' Higuera: "After winning the Cup Winners' Cup people started retiring us, it was very strange"]. El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  10. Re, Pedro (23 April 2009). "'Paquete' Higuera asume el reto de la dirección deportiva del Lorca" ['Paquete' Higuera takes on challenge of Lorca's sporting direction]. La Verdad (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  11. Miranda, José Carlos (16 January 1992). "España no pasa de mediocre" [Spain can only be mediocre]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  12. Archs, Jordi (8 September 1994). "Chipre hace sufrir a España" [Cyprus make Spain suffer]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
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