Jared Borgetti Echeverría (born August 14, 1973 in Culiacan,
Sinaloa) is a Mexican football striker currently playing for
English side Bolton Wanderers F.C., whom he joined in the summer
of 2005 for £900,000. His move to the Reebok Stadium made
Borgetti the first Mexican international ever to play in the
English Premier League, and besides making history, Borgetti has
enjoyed notable success on the international stage. After the
qualification campaign for Germany 2006 ended, Borgetti became
his country's top goalscorer, surpassing both Luis Hernandez and
Carlos Hermosillo with a record 37 goals in the 60 international
appearances he has made for the Mexican National Team.
Borgetti's career debuted with CF Atlas of the Mexican First
Division on March 6, 1994. After two unsuccessful seasons,
however, Borgetti then transferred to Santos Laguna, where he
claimed three scoring titles in his seven years there. Borgetti
afterwards transferred to his hometown team, Dorados de Sinaloa
for one year before landing himself in CF Pachuca. It was with
CF Pachuca that Borgetti became the second most prolific striker
in the world in 2005.
On the international stage, Borgetti first played with Mexico on
February 5, 1997 against Ecuador. He would not make his mark
internationally, however, until the qualification campaign for
the Football World Cup 2002 began in late 2000. After the
qualification campaign proved successful for Mexico, Borgetti
became a regular within the squad and went on to score goals for
his country at the 2001 Copa América, the 2002 World Cup, and
the 2004 Copa América.
Borgetti's shining moment, nonetheless, would not come until the
2005 Confederations Cup, where the lofty striker scored three
goals against Football Superpowers Brazil and Germany and helped
lead Mexico to a respectable fourth place finish. After his
outstanding performances against some of the worlds best teams,
Borgetti attracted attention from many foreign clubs, namely
German and Saudi Arabian ones, but rejected their set of offers.
Instead, Borgetti opted for a more finacially humble deal with
Bolton Wanderers F.C., and in doing so, became the first Mexican
to play in the FA Premier League. He made his official English
debut in a 2-0 win over Newcastle United on August 24, 2005, and
on Thursday September 15, 2005, during Bolton Wanderers' first-ever
UEFA Cup appearance in 111 years, Borgetti scored his first goal
for the club, when in injury time, he snuck a goal past
Lokomotiv Plovdiv's goalkeeper to give Bolton the win and change
the score to 2-1.
This goal poacher has now scored in all tournaments Bolton is
involved, the FA Cup, UEFA Cup, Carling Cup, and now the
Premiership.
Nicknamed the Desert Fox (El Zorro del Desierto), the tall and
gangly striker is best known for his stupendous, yet lethal,
headers.
His paternal grandparents are Italian. |
