Francisco Silva

Francisco Andres Silva is a Chilean professional footballer who was born on February 11, 1986 in Quillota, Chile. He plays at the position of defensive midfielder for the Argentine club Independiente and Chile National Football Team.

Background

In 2000, Silva joined Universidad Catolica(UC) to begin his youth career when he was just 14 years old where he later commenced his senior career with them in 2005. In the same year, he was immediately loaned to Deportes Ovalle where he he didn't play any game and moved back to UC. It took him too long for scoring his first goal which came on November 7, 2009 in 4-1 winning game over Universidad Concepcion.

Debut

Silva made his debut with the Belgian team on January 22, 2011 in a 1-1 draw match against the USA at Home Depot Center.

Rise to glory

On June 26, 2016 Silva gained much popularity after he scored the winning goal in the 4-3 penalty shootout win against Argentina in the Copa America Centenario final. After that he also moved to Cruz Azul where he played 45 games where he scored seven goals.

Low points

For 2015-16 Mexican Premier League, Silva played with Chiapas where he appeared in 28 games without scoring any goal. This affected his selection in Chile's squad for 2015 Copa America as he was not selected for it earlier but later got into the squad due to an injury to Edson Puch.

Club career

Francisco Silva began his club career with Universidad Catolica(UC) in 2000 at the age of 14 and played with them till 2013. During this time, he made two transfers on loan to Deportes Ovalle and Osasuna in 2005 and 2007 respectively. But after his return to UC, he became their integral part where his first goal came on November 7, 2009 In a 4-1 home win over Universidad Concepcion.

In summer 2010, Silva tried to move to Lecce but due to his reductions in the non-EU registration quota, the deal collapsed as the club had already signed Ruben Olivera.

On January 22, 2013 Silva was loaned back to La Liga strugglers CA Osasuna where he made his debut on February 2 as he came in the second half as a substitute in a 1-0 home win over Celta de Vigo. On March 8, he scored his first goal for Osasuna in a 1-2 loss at Real Betis.

Silva was again transferred to Club Brugge KV in a season long deal with a buyout clause.

Records

Silva was part of the Universidad Catolica squad that won the Primera Division de Chile in 2010 and Copa Chile in 2011; club Brugge squad that won the Belgian Cup in in 2014-2015 and Chile squad that won the Copa America in 2015 and 2016.