Francisco Cecílio Velázquez (born 10 January 1975), nicknamed ''Panchito'', is an Argentine retired

roller hockey Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. It can be played with traditional roller skates (quad skates) or with inline skates and use either a ball or puck. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 cou ...

player. As a forward, he is remembered as one of the greatest roller hockey players, being often compared to his idol António Livramento and called "the Maradona of hockey" by his fans.

Player career

Velázquez started playing roller hockey at the age of 4 in Club Atlético Social San Juan as a goalkeeper, following the footsteps of his father, a former goalkeeper of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

between 1966 and 1974. By the age of 16 he reached the first division of Argentine hockey. As a senior, he played in his hometown for Social San Juan, Deportivo Union Estudiantil, Concepción Patín Club and Sindicato Empleados de Comercio, in Angola for

Primeiro de Agosto Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto is a multisports club from Luanda, Angola. The club, founded 1 August 1977, is attached to the Angolan armed forces, which is its sponsor. Its main team competes in men's football, and its professional basketball t ...

, in Italy for

Follonica Follonica () is a town and ''comune'' (township) of province of Grosseto in the Italian region of Tuscany, on the Gulf of Follonica (''Golfo di Follonica''), about northwest of the city of Grosseto. History It was founded in 1834 by Grand Duke Le ...

, in Spain for Voltregà and

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, in Portugal for Benfica. The last time he represented Argentina was at the 2005

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, as a captain. On 19 February 2010, after four years and a half without practicing and training, the 35 years old Panchito returned to competitive hockey for the Torneo Apertura de San Juan but only for one year so that his children, Francisco and Nazarena, could watch him playing and to put an end to his career at Sindicato, a club where he was later joined by his younger brother Mariano Ernesto Velazquez who had left Follonica.

Benfica

Velázquez expressed his affection for Benfica in several interviews by stating that he became a fan of the Portuguese club, calling it a religion and naming his farm "Las Marys" to "La Gloriosa" in allusion to the club's nickname ''O Glorioso''. Panchito also said that would be a dream to see his son playing for Benfica with "his" number 7. He and his brother joined Benfica in 2000 and played there together until 2003.

Honours

Club

Estudiantil * Roller Hockey South American Club Championship: 1993, 1994 Barcelona * CERH Continental Cup: 1997 * FIRS Intercontinental Cup: 1998 *

OK Liga The OK Liga is the Spanish rink hockey league. History The league was founded in 1969 as División de Honor as an expansion to all the Spanish territory of the Catalan Championship. Until 1971 teams from outside Catalonia did not join the competi ...

: 1997–98 * Lliga Catalana: 1997–98 Concepción * Roller Hockey South American Club Championship: 1999 Benfica *

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02 * Portuguese Supercup: 2001–02, 2002–03 Sindicato Empleados de Comercio *Torneo Apertura de San Juan: 2010

Country

Argentina * Nations Cup: 1993 * World Championship – A: 1995 * Roller Hockey Pan American Games: 1995

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velazquez, Francisco 1975 births Living people Argentine roller hockey players S.L. Benfica (roller hockey) Sportspeople from San Juan, Argentina Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Angola