Pável Pardo Segura (; born 26 July 1976) is a Mexican former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. Pardo spent most of his career playing with

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier ...

and is the fourth most capped player in the history of the

Mexico national football team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified con ...

. Pardo participated in two World Cups (1998 and 2006), won two

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

s and won the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

with Mexico in 1999.

Club career

Pardo started his football career in 1993 with Atlas de Guadalajara, and later played with

Tecos UAG Tecos Fútbol Club (often referred to by its nickname "Tecos") is a Mexican professional football club associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara AC. It plays its home games in the '' Estadio 3 de Marzo'' (March 3 Stadium, named for ...

before joining

. He is regarded as one of the best players in Mexico since the 1990s, having achieved great success with Club América, where he won the Mexican ''Torneo de Verano'' 2002, ''Torneo de Clausura'' in 2005 and the

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Americ ...

tournament in 2006. After participating with Mexico in high-profile tournaments, namely the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winners ...

and the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, both of which were held in Germany, Pardo began to attract attention from a number of international clubs. Rumors linked him with River Plate of Argentina and

Recreativo Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

of Spain, however Pardo was unable to reach an agreement with either club. Following the World Cup, Pardo joined

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

, for a sum of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1 million, the same club that purchased Pardo's national teammate,

Ricardo Osorio Ricardo Osorio Mendoza (born 30 March 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Early career Born in Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca, Osorio made his debut in the Primera División de México in 2001� ...

. Pardo scored his first goal for Stuttgart in a 16 September 2006 league contest and win against

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

. On 19 May 2007, Stuttgart won the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...

with Pardo, who appeared in 33 complete games, serving as one of the pillars of the team. He was voted the fifth-best player in his first season in Germany. In the 2007–08 season, his second year at Stuttgart, he established himself as one of the leading players, due to his constant and solid performances and also because, at 32, he was one of the older players in the otherwise young ''VfB'' side. Therefore, he earned the nickname ''el comandante'' or ''el jefe'' in the team. In January 2009, he returned to Club América for a fee of US $600,000. PavelPardo

In July 2011, Pardo revealed he would be signing with a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

team after América allowed him to terminate his contract with them and thus sign on a free transfer with MLS, and signed with the Chicago Fire on 26 July 2011. Pardo re-signed with Chicago for the 2012 season on 18 January 2012. On 19 January 2013, Pardo announced his retirement from football.

International career

Pardo made his international debut for

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

in 1996, playing in the U.S. Cup tournament, against the USA. Since then, Pardo has captained his country in several occasions and played important roles for the national team for many years, helping his country to winning the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one ...

tournaments and the

1999 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. It was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the final. Mexico be ...

. He played in France 98, as well as the

1997 Copa América Bolivia hosted the Copa América for the second time in its 38th edition. It was held from 11 to 29 June. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There is no qualifying for the final tournament. All South Americ ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and the mentioned 2005 Confederations Cup and 2006 World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, Pardo was sent off in the match between

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

and

. Referee

Hugh Dallas Hugh Dallas MBE (born 26 October 1957) is a Scottish former football referee. He officiated at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998 and 2002; he was appointed fourth official for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final. Dallas also officiated at the 19 ...

was criticised for his actions during the game after he also sent off

Gert Verheyen Gert Verheyen (; born 20 September 1970) is a Belgian retired footballer and manager, who was last in charge of Oostende. In a 20-year professional career, he was mainly associated with Anderlecht and Club Brugge (especially the latter), scor ...

. On 21 June 2007, he played in the 2007 Gold Cup, helping Mexico earn second place. The day after the game he announced that he would not go to

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The ...

because he needed some rest. The national side eventually ended up in third place in that tournament. On 20 August 2008, he helped Mexico to a 2–1 win over Honduras at home in their first World Cup qualifier match at

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of Association football, football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of a ...

, scoring a brace in the 72nd and 75th minute respectively after trailing 1–0. He was called up to play again against Honduras after missing the squad due to injury or call-ups from VfB Stuttgart.

Player profile

Pardo was a well-rounded defensive player. He started playing as a right back, but he could double as a left back, and was also often deployed in the defensive midfield position, especially later in his career. He was often his team's designated set piece taker, as he was an excellent crosser. Many of his goals came from free kicks (either direct shots or undeflected inswinging crosses) and penalties. A leader on the field, he often served as captain for the teams he played for.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pardo goal.''

Honours

América *

Mexican Primera División The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in ...

: Verano 2002, Clausura 2005 *

Campeón de Campeones ''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...

: 2005 *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

VfB Stuttgart *

: 2006–07 Mexico *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

Individual *

Full-back of the Tournament: 1996–97, Invierno 1997 *

Defensive Midfielder of the Tournament: Clausura 2003,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

– 05, Apertura 2005 *

Special Recognition Award: Clausura 2007 *

All-Tournament Team:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pardo, Pavel Living people 1976 births Mexican footballers Association football midfielders Association football defenders Association football fullbacks Mexico international footballers FIFA Century Club Atlas F.C. footballers VfB Stuttgart players Club América footballers Tecos F.C. footballers Chicago Fire FC players Liga MX players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1997 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 2004 Copa América players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Mexico Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games