Kiko (footballer, born 1972)

Francisco Miguel Narváez Machón (born 26 April 1972), known as Kiko, is a Spanish former professional footballer who spent most of his career with Atlético Madrid.[1]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Narváez and the second or maternal family name is Machón.

Kiko
Personal information
Full name Francisco Miguel Narváez Machón
Date of birth (1972-04-26) 26 April 1972
Place of birth Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Centre forward
Youth career
Pueblo Nuevo
1985–1990 Cádiz
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1991 Cádiz B
1991–1993 Cádiz 78 (12)
1993–2001 Atlético Madrid 225 (48)
2002 Extremadura 11 (1)
Total 314 (61)
National team
1991 Spain U19 1 (0)
1992–1994 Spain U21 5 (2)
1991–1992 Spain U23 12 (7)
1992–1998 Spain 26 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

A centre forward with tremendous technical ability and field vision, he possessed nonetheless a poor aerial game despite being almost 190 cm tall. In ten La Liga seasons (also played one year with his main club in Segunda División), he amassed totals of 271 games and 60 goals.

Kiko was a squad member at the 1992 Summer Olympics as the Spain national team won gold, on home soil. Additionally, he appeared at full level in one World Cup and one European Championship.

Club career

Cádiz

Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Province of Cádiz, Kiko's career began with local Cádiz CF, and he first appeared in La Liga on 14 April 1991 in a 2–3 home loss against Athletic Bilbao. Even though he played in only five further matches in the season he was intimately connected with the Andalusia club's fate as, on 9 June, in only 25 minutes of play, he gained a penalty kick and scored an 83-minute winner in a 2–1 home win over Real Zaragoza;[2] the team would miraculously retain their status, after the playoffs against CD Málaga.[3]

Atlético

After two more seasons as an undisputed starter Kiko moved, alongside teammate José María Quevedo to Atlético Madrid, upon Cádiz's 1993 relegation. There, he developed into one of Spain's most important footballers during the 90s, being an instrumental unit in Atlético's historical double in 1995–96, with goals and assists alike.

Atlético was relegated in 2000, but Kiko stayed with the club for a further campaign, not managing any goals in 52 league appearances. He finished out his career with a five-month spell at CF Extremadura also in Segunda División in 2002, teaming up with another longtime league player, Pier.[4][5]

International career

Kiko was capped 26 times for Spain, and scored four goals. His debut came on 16 December 1992, in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Latvia where he played the full 90 minutes.[6]

Kiko took part in UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup. He scored once against Bulgaria in the latter tournament, during a 6–1 thrashing, though this did not count for anything as Spain were knocked out in the group stage.[7]

Previously, Kiko represented the country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He scored a last-minute winner against Poland in the final, a 3–2 victory, his second of the game.[8][9]

International goals
Source:[10]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.15 November 1995Martínez Valero, Elche, Spain North Macedonia1–03–0Euro 1996 qualifying
2.7 February 1996Insular, Las Palmas, Spain Norway1–01–0Friendly
3.24 September 1997Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia Slovakia0–11–21998 World Cup qualification
4.24 June 1998Félix Bollaert, Lens, France Bulgaria6–16–11998 World Cup

Honours

Club

Atlético Madrid

International

Spain U23

Spain U21

References
  1. Kiko Narváez, el poeta del área (Kiko Narváez, the poet of the box) Archived 13 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Atlético Madrid Fansite, 20 October 2009 (in Spanish)
  2. "El Cádiz dribla el descenso" [Cádiz dribble relegation]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 10 June 1991. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  3. "El Cádiz consuma el milagro" [Cádiz work miracle]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 20 June 1991. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  4. "Kiko y Pier fichan por el Extremadura" [Kiko and Pier sign for Extremadura]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 5 January 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  5. "Kiko se retira porque no tiene la cabeza en el fútbol" [Kiko retires because his mind is not in football]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 March 2002. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  6. "Cinco goles para un triunfo vital de la selección" [Five goals for national team vital win]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 17 December 1992. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  7. "Spain beats Bulgaria 6–1 but fails to qualify". Sports Illustrated. 24 June 1998. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  8. "Supervivientes de oro" [Golden survivors]. El País (in Spanish). 25 February 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  9. El triunfo en el fútbol, broche de oro para España en Barcelona 92 (Football win, icing on the cake for Spain in Barcelona 92) Archived 20 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Dame Un Silbidito, April 2010 (in Spanish)
  10. "Kiko". European Football. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  11. "La Roja de 1992, nuestra medalla de oro Olímpica" [1992's La Roja, our Olympic gold medal] (in Spanish). Antena 3. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.