FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile

Jared Borgetti is not just your average striker. Few frontmen can claim to have the goalscoring ability of this lethal penalty-box predator, a man who boasts the best strike rate in the history of the Mexico team – a formidable 37 goals in 73 games. In a career that has taken him from his homeland to Europe, he has proven his all-round finishing skills time and time again.
After his fine form in the FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ qualification campaign, during which he finished top scorer in the CONCACAF region, the Mexican sharpshooter signed for English Premiership outfit Bolton Wanderers. Although he has struggled to adapt to the rugged, combative style of his new team, his goalscoring prowess remains unquestioned at national level.

A product of the prolific Atlas youth team of 1991, Borgetti was tall and slightly built in the early part of his career. His slender physique led many to question his ability to make the grade at international level, and despite seeing some action in the qualifying games for the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Football Tournament, he failed to make the squad that travelled to Spain.

After a luckless two-year spell, Atlas decided to offload the struggling striker to Santos Laguna, a small provincial outfit accustomed to fighting for survival at the bottom of Mexico’s First Division. All that was about to change with the big man’s arrival, however. In his first season at the club, Borgetti settled in straight away and notched a healthy 21 goals in 41 games.

Regular scorer
The free-scoring frontman has never dipped below the 10-goal-a-season mark since then; his most productive year coming in 2000 when he notched 41 goals in 43 games in all competitions. In his seven years with Santos, the one-time minnows claimed two league championships and were Mexican cup runners-up on two occasions. He also finished top of the scoring charts no fewer than three times.

In spite of his club exploits, Borgetti had to be patient before consolidating his place in the national side. His international debut only came in 1997, and although he regularly terrorised defences in the league, he failed to figure in Manuel Lapuente’s plans for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.

Nevertheless, Borgetti has more than made up for his slow start, rarely missing a game for his country in the last six years, a period that has seen four national coaches come and go. He was an ever-present in the qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan, played at the finals themselves, as well as several Copas America, CONCACAF Gold Cups and FIFA Confederations Cups. Now the lanky hitman is now gearing up for Germany 2006, his second FIFA World Cup.

Last year turned out to be another prolific season for Borgetti. The ten goals he scored for Mexico, which came in all shapes and sizes, made him the country’s leading scorer of all time, leaving national legends such as Luis Hernandez, Carlos Hermosillo and Hugo Sanchez trailing in his wake. His 2005 harvest also included some vital strikes, none more so than the unforgettable header that helped Mexico defeat Brazil at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

© 2001-2006 FIFA, All Rights Reserved