Paco Alcácer

Paco Alcácer
Alcácer playing with Spain in 2015
Personal information
Full name Francisco Alcácer García
Date of birth (1993-08-30) 30 August 1993
Place of birth Torrent, Spain
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Borussia Dortmund
(on loan from Barcelona)
Number 9
Youth career
2000–2003 Monte-Sión
2003–2005 Torrent
2005–2009 Valencia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Valencia B 64 (42)
2010–2016 Valencia 93 (30)
2012–2013 → Getafe (loan) 20 (3)
2016– Barcelona 37 (10)
2018– → Borussia Dortmund (loan) 3 (6)
National team‡
2009 Spain U16 3 (0)
2009–2010 Spain U17 11 (14)
2011 Spain U18 3 (5)
2011–2012 Spain U19 16 (7)
2013 Spain U20 7 (3)
2013 Spain U21 1 (0)
2014– Spain 14 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 October 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2018

Francisco "Paco" Alcácer García (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpako alˈkaθeɾ]; born 30 August 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for German club Borussia Dortmund, on loan from Barcelona, and the Spain national team.

Having come through the Valencia youth ranks, he started playing with the first team in 2010, and became a regular following a loan at Getafe, totalling 43 goals in 118 games. In 2016, he signed for Barcelona for €30 million.

Alcácer won the European Championship twice with Spain's under-19 side, and made his senior international debut in 2014.

Club career

Valencia

Born in Torrent, Valencian Community, Alcácer was a product of Valencia's youth system. He made his senior debut in the 2009–10 season aged only 16, scoring three goals in 15 games with the reserve side and suffering relegation from Segunda División B. On 11 November 2010 he appeared in his first match with the first team, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–1 home win against UD Logroñés (7–1 on aggregate) in the Copa del Rey.[1]

On 12 August 2011, after Alcácer had netted the third and final goal in a 3–0 friendly win over Roma and was leaving the Mestalla Stadium accompanied by his parents, his father fell to the ground after suffering a heart attack. Despite 30 minutes of efforts by medics to revive him, the 44-year-old died,[2] and the player returned to training less than one week after, for "therapy purposes".[3] He made his La Liga debut on 14 January 2012, coming on as a substitute for Sofiane Feghouli for the last 20 minutes of a 0–1 away loss against Real Sociedad.[4]

Alcácer in action for Getafe in 2013

Alcácer went on loan to Getafe for 2012–13,[5] his first official game being against Deportivo La Coruña where he played 20 minutes in an eventual 1–1 away draw.[6] He scored his first goal in the top division on 7 January 2013 at Rayo Vallecano, in a 1–3 loss.[7] After returning to Valencia, he scored first goal for his parent club on 3 October, during an away game against Kuban Krasnodar in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League campaign.[8]

Alcácer scored his first league goal for Los Che on 25 January 2014, in a 2–2 home draw against Espanyol.[9] He grabbed another the following matchday, scoring the 3–2 winner at the Camp Nou against Barcelona.[10]

On 10 April 2014, Alcácer scored the first hat-trick of his professional career, helping Valencia overturn a 0–3 first-leg deficit to beat Basel 5–0 at home and qualify for the semi-finals of the Europa League.[11][12] It was his 14th competitive goal of the season, and his seventh in continental competition;[13][14] this European haul made him the edition's second-highest scorer after compatriot Jonathan Soriano, who netted eight for Red Bull Salzburg.[15]

On 17 August 2014, Alcácer scored the first goal in a 2–1 home win over Milan for the Orange Trophy, through a long-range shot,[16] and was assigned the number ′9′ jersey for 2014–15, previously worn by Hélder Postiga. On 9 December, near the end of a 1–1 draw at Granada, he was given a straight red card for striking Juan Carlos;[17] on 27 January 2015, it was revealed that he extended his contract until 2020 and his buy-out clause had been raised to €80 million.[18]

On 7 November 2015, Alcácer and Daniel Parejo scored twice each in a 5–1 win away to third-place Celta.[19] The following 21 January, the former was stripped of his captaincy in favour of the latter by manager Gary Neville, after a poor run of results.[20]

After three months without a goal, Alcácer broke his barren spell with a hat-trick in a 4–0 home win over Eibar on 20 April 2016.[21] He finished the campaign with 15 across all competitions, in an eventual 12th-place finish.[22]

Barcelona

On 30 August 2016, Alcácer signed for Barcelona for €30 million on a five-year deal,[23] and on the same day Munir El Haddadi went in the other direction on loan, to be replaced by the former as the team's fourth-choice forward behind Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez.[24] He made his debut on 10 September in a 1–2 home loss to Alavés, making only eight passes in 66 minutes before being substituted by Suárez.[25]

Alcácer scored his first official goal for the Blaugrana on 21 December 2016, helping with the fifth in a 7–0 home win over Hércules to see his team qualify for the round-of-16 in the Spanish Cup.[26] The following 4 February, he netted a first league goal for his new team in a 3–0 home win over Athletic Bilbao, starting in place of the rested Suárez.[27]

Filling in for the suspended Suárez, Alcácer played the full 90 minutes in the domestic cup final, scoring Barcelona's last goal in the 3–1 defeat of Alavés.[28] On 5 November 2017, he netted a brace in a 2–1 home win against Sevilla that kept his team four points clear at the top of the league table.[29] He scored his first goal for the club in the UEFA Champions League one month later, helping to a 2–0 group stage win over Sporting CP.[30]

On 28 August 2018, Alcácer joined Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund on a season-long loan with an option to buy for €30 million at the end of the season.[31] He made his debut on 14 September, replacing Maximilian Philipp midway through the second half of the home fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt and scoring the final 3–1 for the hosts.[32] He added five goals in his next two matches, both also from the bench: two late goals to seal a 4–2 win at Bayer Leverkusen,[33] and a hat-trick in a 4–3 win over Augsburg at the Westfalenstadion in which he won the game with a free kick in the last minute.[34]

International career

Alcácer warming up for Spain U19 in 2012

Alcácer represented Spain at all youth levels. With the under-17 side, he reached the final at the 2010 UEFA European Championship, playing alongside Valencia teammate Juan Bernat and being crowned the competition's top scorer with six goals, his 14 including qualifiers setting a new record;[35] additionally, he won the European Under-19 Championship twice, in 2011 and 2012.

On 29 August 2014, Alcácer was named by full side manager Vicente del Bosque in a 23-man squad for matches against France and Macedonia in September,[36] making his debut on 4 September after replacing Diego Costa midway through the second half of an eventual 0–1 friendly loss to the former.[37] Profiting from Costa's injury, four days later he made his first start, against Macedonia at the Estadi Ciutat de València, scoring his team's second goal in a 5–1 victory for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers and also providing the assist for Sergio Busquets' third;[38] in their next qualifier, away to Slovakia on 9 October, the substitute scored an 82nd-minute equaliser, although Spain went on to lose 1–2.[39]

A year later to the day, as a first-half replacement for the injured Álvaro Morata, Alcácer scored twice in a 4–0 win over Luxembourg which sealed qualification,[40] and he finished the qualification campaign with five goals, the most by a Spanish player.[41] He was not selected for the final tournament in France, however.[42]

In October 2018, amidst a good start to his spell at Dortmund and more than two years after his last international appearance, Alcácer was called back by new manager Luis Enrique for the games against Wales and England.[43] He scored a brace in the first match, a 4–1 friendly victory in Cardiff.[44]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 October 2018[45][46]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Valencia 2010–11 La Liga 001000—10
2011–12 300000—30
2013–14 2363111[lower-alpha 1]7—3714
2014–15 321143—3614
2015–16 3413329[lower-alpha 2]0—4615
2016–17 100000—10
Total 9330116207—12443
Getafe (loan) 2012–13 La Liga 20331—234
Total 20331—234
Barcelona 2016–17 La Liga 206423[lower-alpha 3]000278
2017–18 174322[lower-alpha 3]11[lower-alpha 4]0237
Total 37107451105015
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 2018–19 Bundesliga 360011—47
Total 360011—47
Career total 1534921112691020169
Notes
  1. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ Seven appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. ↑ Appearances in Supercopa de España

International

As of 11 October 2018[47]
Spain
YearAppsGoals
201453
201563
201620
201700
201812
Total148

International goals

As of 11 October 2018 (Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Alcácer goal)[47]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 September 2014Ciutat de València, Valencia, Spain Macedonia2–05–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
2.9 October 2014Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia Slovakia1–11–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
3.12 October 2014Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg Luxembourg2–04–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
4.11 June 2015Reino de León, León, Spain Costa Rica1–12–1Friendly
5.9 October 2015Las Gaunas, Logroño, Spain Luxembourg2–04–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
6.3–0
7.11 October 2018Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Wales1–04–1Friendly
8.3–0

Honours

Club

Barcelona[48]

International

Spain U19

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "A octavos (4–1)" [To the round-of-16 (4–1)] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Picó, Diego (13 August 2011). "Fallece el padre de Paco Alcácer a las puertas de Mestalla" [Paco Alcácer's father dies just outside Mestalla]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Picó, Diego (18 August 2011). "Alcácer vuelve a entrenarse como terapia para superar la pérdida" [Alcácer returns to training as therapy to ovecome loss]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Griezmann guides Sociedad to victory". ESPN Soccernet. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Alcácer, cedido al Getafe con cláusula de partidos" [Alcácer, loaned to Getafe with match clause]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 28 August 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  6. ↑ Piñeiro, Miguel (1 September 2012). "El Deportivo de La Coruña empata ante el Getafe en un partido vertiginoso" [Deportivo de La Coruña draw against Getafe in frantic match]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Rayo build momentum". ESPN FC. 7 January 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Patient Valencia claim Kuban success". UEFA. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Aldunate, Ramiro (25 January 2014). "El 'Huracán Pizzi' se queda en temporal" ['Hurricane Pizzi' reduced to a storm]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  10. ↑ Aldunate, Ramiro (1 February 2014). "El Barça se pega un tiro en el pie" [Barça shoot themselves in the foot]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  11. ↑ Ramírez, Delfín (10 April 2014). "Alcácer inspires historic Valencia comeback". UEFA. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Alcácer: "Sin los compañeros los goles no los podríamos marcar"" [Alcácer: "Without the teammates one could not score goals"]. Marca (in Spanish). 11 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Paco Alcácer, el 'killer' del área" [Paco Alcácer, the killer of the box] (in Spanish). Valencia CF. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Castilla, Alonso (12 April 2014). "Paco Alcácer, el niño que soñaba con el fútbol en una cuna llena de balones" [Paco Alcácer, the boy who dreamed about football in ball-filled cradle]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Eight-goal Soriano is Europa League top scorer". UEFA. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "El Valencia se lleva el Naranja" [Valencia take Orange]. Super Deporte (in Spanish). 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  17. ↑ Liceras, Ángel (7 December 2014). "Success ordena el despropósito" [Success the father of all disarrays]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "Paco Alcácer, renovado hasta 2020" [Paco Alcácer, renewed until 2020]. Super Deporte (in Spanish). 27 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  19. ↑ "Valencia's Paco Alcácer and Dani Parejo on the double to beat Celta Vigo". The Guardian. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  20. ↑ Maston, Tom (21 January 2016). "Neville replaces Valencia captain Parejo after poor results". Goal. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "Alcácer pone fin con tres goles a tres meses de sequía de cara a puerta" [Alcácer ends a three-month goal drought with three goals] (in Spanish). Eurosport. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "Alcácer, con 15 tantos, máximo goleador del equipo por tercer año consecutivo" [Alcácer, with 15 goals, top team scorer for third year in a row]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 14 May 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  23. ↑ "Paco Alcácer signs for FC Barcelona". FC Barcelona. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  24. ↑ "Is Paco Alcacer really better than Munir El Haddadi for Barcelona?". Goal. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  25. ↑ "Difícil debut de Paco Alcácer con el FC Barcelona ante el Alavés" [Paco Alcácer's difficult debut for Barcelona against Alavés]. Sport (in Spanish). 10 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  26. ↑ "Arda Turan hat trick fuels Barcelona; Sevilla score nine in Copa del Rey win". ESPN FC. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  27. ↑ "Messi happy to be substituted as Alcacer & Vidal step up for rotated Barca". Goal. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  28. 1 2 "Barcelona 3–1 Alavés". BBC Sport. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  29. ↑ Bell, Arch (4 November 2017). "Alcacer's double does it for Barca". Marca. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  30. ↑ Sharma, Rik (5 December 2017). "Barcelona 2–0 Sporting Lisbon: Paco Alcacer strikes as Catalans march into knockout phase unbeaten – 5 talking points". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  31. ↑ "Loan with option to buy: BVB commits Paco Alcácer". Borussia Dortmund. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  32. ↑ "Neuzugang Alcacer trifft, Götze sitzt wieder nur auf der Bank" [Debutant Alcacer scores, Götze sits again only on the bench] (in German). Welt. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  33. ↑ "Bundesliga round-up: Borussia Dortmund go top with comeback win over Bayer Leverkuse". Sky Sports. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  34. ↑ "Paco Alcacer scores hat trick as Dortmund beat Augsburg in thriller". ESPN. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  35. ↑ Saffer, Paul (2010). "England end wait in style". UEFA. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  36. ↑ "These are the players called up for the matches against France and Macedonia". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  37. ↑ "France 1–0 Spain". BBC Sport. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  38. ↑ Jenson, Pete (8 September 2014). "Spain 5–1 Macedonia: David Silva stars as reigning champions get their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign off to a winning start". Daily Mail. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  39. ↑ Hunter, Graham (9 October 2014). "Slovakia's Stoch strikes late to end Spain run". UEFA. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  40. ↑ "Champions Spain through after Luxembourg stroll". UEFA. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  41. ↑ "Euro 2016 draw: Guide to the 24 finalists in France". BBC Sport. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  42. ↑ "Diego Costa and Juan Mata left out of Spain's provisional Euro 2016 squad". The Guardian. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  43. ↑ Garcia, Adriana (4 October 2018). "Barcelona's Jordi Alba overlooked for Spain squad for 'sporting reasons' – Luis Enrique". ESPN. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  44. ↑ "Paco Alcacer scores twice as dominant Spain demolish Wales in Cardiff". ESPN. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  45. ↑ "Paco Alcácer". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  46. ↑ Paco Alcácer at ESPN FC
  47. 1 2 "Paco Alcácer". European Football. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  48. ↑ "Paco Alcácer". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  49. ↑ "Crónica del República Checa-España, 2–3" [Czech Republic-Spain match report, 2–3] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  50. ↑ "La sub'19, campeona de Europa" [The under-19s, European champions]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). 15 July 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  51. ↑ "Technical report" (PDF). UEFA. p. 13. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
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