Franco Daniel Jara (born 15 July 1988) is an Argentine 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, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Be ...

. Jara is the all-time leading scorer for

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

Club career

Born in

Villa María Villa Maria or Villamaria may refer to: Places * Villa María, Córdoba, a city in Córdoba, Argentina * Villa de María del Río Seco, another town in Córdoba, Argentina * Villamaría, Caldas, Colombia a town and municipality * Villa Maria (Lon ...

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, Jara made his professional debut with

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

, first appearing in the Primera División in a 0–1 home loss against

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

on 23 May 2008. He scored his first goal for the club on 10 April of the following year, in a 1–1 draw at

Club Atlético Colón Club Atlético Colón de Santa Fe (), commonly referred to as Colón de Santa Fe , is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina. The football team plays in the second Division of the Argentine football league system, the Primera Nacional. It was ...

. On 30 January 2010, Jara signed a five-year deal with Portuguese champions

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

for a transfer fee of €5.5 million, effective for the beginning of

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. He scored in his second official game, a 1–2 home loss to Académica de Coimbra on 15 August, and finished his first season with 43 competitive appearances (11 goals). Jara was loaned to newly promoted

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

in late August 2011, moving to

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

alongside several other Benfica teammates. On 21 July of the following year, still owned by the latter, he joined

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

, and the same happened in the 2013–14 campaign, this time with

Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

. On 24 January 2015, Jara signed for two and a half years with

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major Sports club, multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýnde ...

in a €1.5 million transfer fee. His

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

debut occurred on 1 February in a 2–0 away win over Veria FC. He scored his first goal two months later, in a 3–1 victory at Panthrakikos FC. On 23 May 2015, Jara intercepted a backward pass inside the area in the last minute of the first half of the final of the

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, helping the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

-based team to a record 27th conquest after defeating Skoda Xanthi F.C. 3–1 at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

. On 9 September, he joined Mexican club C.F. Pachuca on a free transfer. He scored a career-best 17 times while at the service of the latter side in 2015–16's

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

, helping them win the

Clausura The ' () and ' () tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is ...

tournament, adding six in eight matches for the champions of the following season's

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

and being voted the competition's best player. Jara signed for

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

of the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

on 21 January 2020, with the deal being made effective in July. On 10 January 2023, Jara and Dallas mutually agreed to terminate his contract at the club. On 11 January 2023, Jara signed a contract with

while he was a free agent.

International career

On 19 January 2010, Jara was called up to the Argentina national team for a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

with

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on the 27th. The game finished 3–2, and he scored the match-winning goal. Jara earned his second

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

on 10 February 2010, in a 2–1 win against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Personal life

On 10 September 2014, Jara suffered a car accident and crashed into a tree, but did not suffer major injuries.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

, - , 1, , 26 January 2010 , , Ingeniero Hilario Sánchez,

San Juan, Argentina San Juan () is the capital and largest city of the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, province of San Juan Province (Argentina), San Juan in the Cuyo (Argentina), Cuyo region, located in the Tulúm Valley, west of the San Juan River (A ...

, , , , align=center , 3–2 , , align=center , 3–2 , , Friendly , ,

Honours

Benfica *

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

: 2014–15 *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Olympiacos *

: 2014–15 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2014–15 Pachuca *

: Clausura 2016 *

: 2016–17 Individual *

Golden Ball: 2016–17

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jara, Franco 1988 births Living people People from Villa María Footballers from Córdoba Province, Argentina Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Arsenal de Sarandí footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers La Liga players Granada CF footballers Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Liga MX players C.F. Pachuca players Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) FC Dallas players Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen