Paco Llorente

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Paco Llorente

| image =

| fullname = Francisco Llorente Gento

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|5|21|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Valladolid, Spain

| height = 1.80 m

| position = Winger

| currentclub =

| youthyears1 = 1982

| youthyears2 = 1983

| youthyears3 = 1984–1985

| youthclubs1 = Urbis

| youthclubs2 = Real Madrid

| youthclubs3 = Móstoles

| years1 = 1985–1986

| years2 = 1986–1987

| years3 = 1987–1994

| years4 = 1995–1998

| clubs1 = Atlético Madrileño

| clubs2 = Atlético Madrid

| clubs3 = Real Madrid

| clubs4 = Compostela

| caps1 = 31

| caps2 = 29

| caps3 = 106

| caps4 = 72

| totalcaps = 238

| goals1 = 5

| goals2 = 3

| goals3 = 6

| goals4 = 2

| totalgoals = 18

| nationalyears1 = 1986

| nationalyears2 = 1986–1987

| nationalyears3 = 1987

| nationalteam1 = Spain U21

| nationalteam2 = Spain U23

| nationalteam3 = Spain

| nationalcaps1 = 5

| nationalcaps2 = 3

| nationalcaps3 = 1

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalgoals2 = 0

| nationalgoals3 = 1

| club-update =

| nationalteam-update =

}}

Francisco "Paco" Llorente Gento (born 21 May 1965) is a Spanish former footballer who played mostly as a right winger.

He amassed La Liga totals of 207 games and 11 goals over the course of 13 seasons, with Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Compostela.

Club career

Llorente was born in Valladolid, Castile and León. After a brief youth passage at Real Madrid he signed with neighbours Atlético Madrid, being fairly used over two seasons. In summer 1987, he re-joined Real.[https://www.jotdown.es/2013/10/guillermo-ortiz-paco-llorente-o-la-ultima-jugarreta-de-ramon-mendoza-a-vicente-calderon/ Guillermo Ortiz: Paco Llorente o la última jugarreta de Ramón Mendoza a Vicente Calderón (Guillermo Ortiz: Paco Llorente or Ramón Mendoza's last move on Vicente Calderón)]; Jot Down, October 2013 (in Spanish)

Also being able to appear as a forward, Llorente found it difficult to break into the starting XI, with Míchel preferred in his natural position and Hugo Sánchez and Emilio Butragueño up front. His moment of glory came during the second leg of the second round of the 1987–88 European Cup with Madrid facing elimination at FC Porto, as he appeared from the bench to provide two assists for Míchel after powerful flank runs which evoked memories of his uncle Francisco Gento, star winger of the 1950s and 60s.[https://elpais.com/diario/1987/11/05/deportes/563065211_850215.html La sangre de Gento salvó al Madrid en Oporto (Gento's blood saved Madrid in Porto)]; El País, 5 November 1987 (in Spanish)[https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/1997/diciembre/08/deportes/realbernabeu.html Medio Oporto en el Santiago Bernabéu (Half Porto at the Santiago Bernabéu)]; El Mundo, 8 December 1997 (in Spanish)

In 1989–90, after the arrival of John Toshack as coach, Llorente found his playing time drastically cut; in his later years with the club, with Benito Floro at the helm, he even saw some time as right-back.[https://elpais.com/diario/1994/12/29/deportes/788655602_850215.html Paco Llorente, a punto de fichar por el Compostela (Paco Llorente, about to sign with Compostela)]; El País, 29 December 1994 (in Spanish) He retired in 1998 after four top-flight seasons with lowly SD Compostela, aged 33.[https://elpais.com/diario/1994/12/30/deportes/788742011_850215.html Paco Llorente y Pedro Riesco, nuevos jugadores del Compostela (Paco Llorente and Pedro Riesco, new players of Compostela)]; El País, 30 December 1994 (in Spanish)

International career

Llorente played once for Spain, against Albania for the UEFA Euro 1988 qualifiers on 18 November 1987, scoring one of the five without response in Seville.[https://elpais.com/diario/1987/11/19/portada/564274802_850215.html España se clasificó para la fase final de la Eurocopa de fútbol (Spain qualified for European Football Championship finals)]; El País, 19 November 1987 (in Spanish) He did not make the cut for the final stages in West Germany, however.

Personal life

Llorente hailed from a sporting family. Other than his uncle, his three brothers were also professionals: José Luis (1959) and {{ill|Antonio "Toñín"|es|Toñín Llorente}} (1963) played top-level basketball for well more than one decade (including at Real Madrid), while the youngest, Julio, made nearly 400 overall official appearances during his career as a defender, coinciding with Paco at Real from 1988 to 1990.[https://baloncesto.as.com/baloncesto/2003/01/10/mas_baloncesto/1042264901_850215.html Fallece María Antonia Gento, madre de la saga Llorente (María Antonia Gento, mother of the Llorente saga, dies)]; Diario AS, 10 January 2003 (in Spanish)

The nephew of legendary Real Madrid footballer Francisco Gento, his son Marcos also played for the club.[https://www.abc.es/realmadrid/noticias/20151022/abci-marcos-llorente-gento-grosso-201510211738.html Marcos Llorente, heredero de Gento, de Grosso, de Paco, de Julio, de «You» (Marcos Llorente, heir of Gento, of Grosso, of Paco, of Julio, of "You")]; ABC, 22 October 2015 (in Spanish) His father-in-law Ramón Grosso did the same.[https://www.espn.com/soccer/atletico-madrid/story/4074154/llorente-lives-up-to-family-legacy-in-madrid-except-hes-doing-it-for-atleticonot-real Llorente lives up to family legacy in Madrid... except he's doing it for Atletico, not Real]; ESPN, 14 March 2020