Mexico's miracle man

Then again, the Argentina-born striker who will spearhead Mexico's attack at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germanyâ„¢ is no ordinary footballer. As FIFAworldcup.com learned in an exclusive interview with the Villarreal star, a life that almost never began is about to arrive at the gates of football heaven.

For reasons that quickly become apparent, Guillermo Franco is a strong believer, his faith in Jesus, his own ability and destiny utterly unshakeable. On 25 April, late in the semi-final second leg of the UEFA Champions League, the 30-year-old realised fate had dealt its powerful hand.

Wearing the all-yellow colours of club side Villarreal, the striker rose imperiously above giant Arsenal centre-backs Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure to meet a cross from the right. With goalkeeper Jens Lehmann rooted to the spot and the packed Madrigal stadium waiting for the net to bulge, his flashing header somehow flew the wrong side of the post, crashing against an advertising board behind the goal before rolling back to his feet.

Franco, who had earlier seen a 'goal' disallowed, a golden chance superbly saved and another effort clear the bar by inches, picked up the returning ball, held it to his face as if cupping a human head and screamed his pain. "The ball just wouldn't go in," said Franco, braving the world's press as Juan Roman Riquelme, who had a last-gasp penalty saved, escaped silently behind him.

"Whatever we tried that night, it just wasn't going to happen. I think we could have played for six or seven hours more and still not scored. In football you have to be philosophical."

Fight for life
It is a laudable attitude that has helped Franco master the mental side of the game as other perhaps more talented players have fallen by the wayside. Though strong in the air and a willing runner, Franco's greatest virtue is his tenacious fighting spirit, and this is a quality he has displayed since birth.

Franco himself takes up the story of how, two weeks before his mother, Ada Virginia, was due to give birth, a sudden sensation that something was wrong came upon her and she rushed to see a doctor in the town of Corrientes in north-east Argentina.

"There were no symptoms of illness," said Franco. "My mother said she just had a premonition. She was convinced that her baby was dying and somehow persuaded the doctor to take her to the hospital. There, they discovered that the umbilical cord was wrapped three times around my neck and was strangling me."

An emergency Caesarean operation was carried out and, after surviving - just - in an incubator for two weeks, the baby, christened Guillermo, eventually pulled through. Ada, however, was destined not to bring up the child she saved. Franco's parents divorced when he was four, leaving him to be brought up by grandmother, Eva. "Times were tough," he admitted. "We didn't have much money and I blamed God for not allowing me to have a normal upbringing with a mother and father."

One day, when Franco was nine, he stepped out of a shower, soaking wet, and went to his grandmother's old fridge to grab a drink. As he touched the handle, 120 watts of electricity powered through his body. The boy fell to the ground under the ongoing attack but managed to cry for help. Eva heard, ran to the kitchen and tried to pull the child away from the fridge with one hand, while holding on to a small wooden chair with the other. They were both electrocuted for several minutes but, miraculously - as their local church still testifies - they survived.

"We should have died," said Franco. "Experts came and told us that. They explained my body should have exploded because the surge of power doubles when two bodies are together. The small piece of wood my grandmother held could not have repelled the shock." On the walls of the church in Corrientes, a plaque, telling of the phenomenon, carries the words 'Miracles do happen in life'.

Bright lights beckon
Playing football all day in the streets, the wonder boy was becoming something of a stand-out and, although he returned to live with his father when he was 14, Franco was soon leaving home again when Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo recruited him to their youth programme. Away from his family, the big city presented another emotional challenge. For a time, the teenager lived on a boat anchored off Puerto Madero. Money was in short supply and he suffered terrible nightmares. It was then, at 17, that Franco found God.

"A person approached me in the street, said 'Jesus loves you' and invited me to a meeting," he recalled. "As a teenager, I had a strong character but was a bit cut up and sullen. From that day on, though, I understood God in a different way. It changed me as a person and today I am what I am because of Him."

On 12 May 1996, Franco made his debut for San Lorenzo and, in a six-year stint, went on to win two titles with the unfashionable outfit. As the financial crisis hit Argentina hard, he was handed a ticket out: to play for Monterrey in Mexico. The then 26-year-old striker, now married and with children of his own to support, has never looked back.

Daring, fast and dedicated to the cause, Franco quickly became a fans' favourite, hitting 57 goals in four seasons and helping the club to the title in 2003. It was in his fourth season that Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe enquired whether he would be prepared to wear the Tricolor shirt at international level.

"Mexico has given me everything I have," he explained. "It gave me two daughters, financial stability and the chance to grow up a better person. I thought it was an opportunity to express my gratitude."

Following a high-profile introduction to life in European football in Spain's Primera Division, Franco is hoping to cap a sensational year with success at the FIFA World Cup, where Mexico face Angola, Iran and Portugal in Group D. "It certainly isn't a 'group of death' but I don't think it will be as easy as some people make out," he said. "Players from Iran and Angola will be desperate to honour their country and Portugal have a very talented side."

Mexico have never made it beyond the quarter-finals of a FIFA World Cup. "I don't know why that is," Franco mused. "I mean, there have been good enough players and I don't think we need to change our way of playing to succeed. Sure, there has been some criticism in the press of Ricardo La La Volpe and sometimes he has trouble getting his message across to the players, but there is a good atmosphere in the squad. We are all united. I think we will get past the group stage and could even make the semi-finals and final."

With Cuauhtemoc Blanco, arguably Mexico's best known current player, controversially left out of the squad, the onus to find the net will fall on the Villarreal forward and Jared Borghetti, the country's record scorer.

And should Franco's goals take his adopted country along the path to glory, the player's traditional raised-arm salute to heaven will become a more familiar sight. "My life has been a miracle. If the time is right for me and Mexico, then God will decide."