Fansided

Juan Francisco Palencia is Mazatlan’s new coach

By Jahir M. Martinez

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 23: Juan Francisco Palencia, Coach of Lobos BUAP gestures during the 8th round match between America and Lobos BUAP as part of the Torneo Clausura 2019 Liga MX at Azteca Stadium on February 23, 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images)
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 23: Juan Francisco Palencia, Coach of Lobos BUAP gestures during the 8th round match between America and Lobos BUAP as part of the Torneo Clausura 2019 Liga MX at Azteca Stadium on February 23, 2019 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images) /
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Mazatlan FC has their first head leader that will direct the team from the bench are for the Apertura 2020. With Juan Francisco Palenica, Mazatlan will search to be a competitive team in the upcoming tournament in the Liga MX.

The COVID-19 isn’t the news that is circling around the Liga MX at the moment but overall the start of the “new” team, Mazatlan FC, has taken headlines. Causing a lot of controversy in recent weeks when it became official that they would take over club Monarcas Morelia and move it to their city of Mazatlan, Sinaloa. As reported by @TUDNMEX on Twitter, they announced the arrival of Mazatlan’s new head coach Juan Francisco Palencia, saying “Now it’s official” as the head coach arrived in Mazatlan.

Mazatlan FC has displayed their new logo, colors, stadium, and most recently their new coach. So who is their head coach? Juan Francisco Palencia was a player that stood out throughout his career playing for Cruz Azul, Espanyol, Chivas, Chivas USA as well with UNAM but most importantly being a role player with the national team of Mexico playing over 80 competitive games for El Tri and participating in two World Cups, 1998 and 2002.

But as a coach in the Liga MX, Palencia has yet made an impact with the teams he manages on the field. Coaching Pumas UNAM and then Lobos BUAP, which have been rollercoaster rides for Palencia with his only highlight during his coaching career being his time with Pumas UNAM taking the team into the Liguilla but losing to Tigres and coming up short in the tournament.

The task now could be even harder for Palencia to make Mazatlan FC a relevant team for the Apertura 2020 that will start in late July as it was made official by the league a few days ago. All of the odds will be against Palencia as the stakes will be high and they are viewed as the team that once was Monarcas Morelia. We will watch and see how far the tight jeaned coach can take them.

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