Francisco "Paco" Pavón Barahona (born January 9, 1980 in Madrid) is a Spanish footballer who currently plays for Real Zaragoza, as a central defender.

His name became associated with the Los Galácticos policy when Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez promised to build a team full of Zidanes and Pavones - expensive high profile recruits like Zinedine Zidane and youth team graduates like Pavón.^[1]

[edit] Football career

Pavón progressed through the ranks at Real Madrid, starting with the junior side Tendillo, until he established himself with the B side. He then made his La Liga debut against Athletic de Bilbao at the Bernabéu, on October 6, 2001. Shortly after that 2–0 win, he would seal a seven-year deal with the club,^[2] going on to make a further 27 league appearances, also adding the 2002 Champions League.

In the subsequent two seasons, Pavón played an additional 51 league contests, scoring a rare goal on May 8, 2004, in a 2–3 home loss to RCD Mallorca. His role would diminish drastically onwards, as the defender made no competitive appearances whatsoever during 2006–07.

On April 25, 2007, media speculation indicated that Pavón was close to agreeing a four-year deal with Premier League club Bolton Wanderers, rejoining former teammate Iván Campo, but nothing came of it. He eventually put pen-to-paper a four-year deal with Real Zaragoza on July, after his release from Real Madrid,^[3] but appeared in just eight league games through 2007–08, as the Aragon side was relegated.

In 2008–09's Segunda, Pavón netted his first goal for Zaragoza, in a 2-1 home win over Real Murcia, also relegated the previous season; he contributed much more consistently as the team immediately promoted.

[edit] Honours

• UEFA Champions League: 2001–02
• Intercontinental Cup: 2002
• UEFA Super Cup: 2002
• Spanish League: 2002–03, 2006–07
• Spanish Supercup: 2003

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile