Franco Acosta Machado (5 March 1996 – 6 March 2021) was a Uruguayan professional footballer who played as a striker.
Club career
Born in Montevideo, Acosta joined Centro Atlético Fénix's youth setup in 2009, aged 13. On 23 November 2013, he made his first team debut, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 home loss against Liverpool F.C. for the Primera División championship.[1]
Acosta scored his first professional goal on 16 February 2014, netting the second in a 3–0 away win against Racing Club de Montevideo.[2] On 1 July he agreed to a deal with S.C. Braga,[3] but returned to Fénix in September.[4]
Acosta was eventually included in the main squad and appeared in eight matches, scoring once. On 19 January 2015, he signed a 5+1⁄2-year contract with Villarreal CF, being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.[5]
On 15 January 2018, Acosta joined Segunda División B team Racing de Santander on loan until the end of the season.[6] Acosta was then loaned out to Plaza Colonia for the 2019 season.[7] He left Villarreal at the end of 2019 and remained without a club until 10 August 2020, when he signed with Atenas de San Carlos.
Death
On 6 March 2021, a day after his 25th birthday, Acosta disappeared after trying with his brother to swim across the Arroyo Pando, located in the Department of Canelones, Uruguay. Two days later, on 8 March 2021, his body was found, and was declared dead at the scene.[8]
References
- ^ Liverpool sigue de buena racha (Liverpool keeps the good run) Archived 31 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Ovación, 23 November 2013 (in Spanish)
- ^ Contragolpe y eficacia, el gran argumento de Fénix para ganarle 3:0 a Racing (Counterattack and efficiency, the great plot of Fénix to defeat Racing by 3–0) Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Tenfield, 16 February 2014 (in Spanish)
- ^ Sp. Braga: Franco Acosta é reforço e já está em Portugal (Sp. Braga: Franco Acosta is an addition and is already in Portugal); Mais Futebol, 1 July 2014 (in Portuguese)
- ^ Fénix: Franco Acosta recupera y podría ser utilizado (Fénix: Franco Acosta returns and could be utilized) Archived 7 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Tenfield, 24 September 2014 (in Spanish)
- ^ Un delantero de proyección (A forward of showing) Archived 12 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine; Villarreal's official website, 19 January 2015 (in Spanish)
- ^ González, Roberto (15 January 2018). "El Racing abre el mercado con el uruguayo Franco Acosta". Cadena SER (in European Spanish). Retrieved 16 January 2018.
- ^ Plaza suma dos refuerzos más para el primer equipo Archived 19 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, plazacolonia.com.uy, January 2019
- ^ Observador, El. "Encontraron el cuerpo de Franco Acosta, que había desaparecido en el arroyo Pando". El Observador. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
External links
- Villarreal official profile (in Spanish)
- Franco Acosta – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Franco Acosta at Soccerway
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