Jose Andres Guardado Hernandez (born 28 September 1986) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Mexico national team.
Popularly known as Principito (Spanish for Little Prince), Guardado came through the youth ranks at Atlas, making his professional debut in 2005 before signing with Spain's Deportivo two years later, where he spent five seasons. In 2012 he joined Valencia, with brief loan stints at Bayer Leverkusen and PSV, before permanently joining the latter club in 2015 and winning two Eredivisie titles. He returned to Spain two years later with Real Betis, where he has since made over 175 appearances.
A Mexican international since 2005, Guardado represented the country in four World Cups, four Gold Cups – winning the 2011, 2015 and 2019 tournaments – two Copa Americas and two Confederations Cups. He is the most-capped player in the history of the national team with 178 appearances, and joint tenth on the all-time scorer list with 28 goals.
Guardado started his career as a winger at Atlas, occasionally playing as a left-back. He was mainly deployed in the former position at Deportivo by Miguel Angel Lotina, and changed to the latter after moving to Valencia. When played as a winger, he was an incisive and quick footballer, known to play deep into the field, take on defenders one-on-one and provide accurate crosses, managing to score for both club and country.
A creative player with excellent vision, Guardado is also a technically proficient player known for establishing the tempo of his team. He also has good passing and dribbling skills, also being proficient at free kicks, penalties and holding up the ball. He also possesses a powerful and accurate shot from distance, and is also capable of aiding his team defensively due to his work rate and stamina; additionally, he was described as playing closer to the "Iberian midfielder archetype," focused on possession in the center of the field, winning the ball back with smart positioning instead of tackles and then pushing it forward.
Guardado has cited his compatriot and national teammate Rafael Marquez as an influence in his playing style and leadership. |
