Corine Franco

Corine Franco
	Corine Franco with Lyon in 2013
Personal information
Birth name	Corine Cécile Petit
Date of birth	5 October 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth	La Rochelle, France
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Right back ; Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1992–1998	Avenir Maritime Laleu
1998–2001	ES Rochellaise
2001–2002	Soyaux
Senior career*
Years	Team
2002–2008	Soyaux
2008–2018	Lyon
International career‡
2006	France U21
2003–2014	France
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 June 2016 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 March 2014 (UTC)

Corine Cécile Franco (née Petit)^[1] (born 5 October 1983) is a retired French football player who is best known for having played for France and Olympique Lyonnais of the Division 1 Féminine. Franco served as vice-captain of the French club and played as a physical, yet creative defensive midfielder, often acting as a deep-lying playmaker. She was often utilized as a right back at international level.

Franco is one of the most decorated players at club level in women's professional football, having won five European Cups and 10 Division 1 Féminine trophies.^[2]

She competed for France at the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[3]

Club career

Early career

Franco was born on the west coast of France and began her career playing for Avenir Maritime Laleu in her hometown. She later moved to ES Rochellaise before securing a move to D1 Féminine club ASJ Soyaux at the start of the millennium. Franco spent two years in the youth system before making her league debut during the 2002–03 season. In her debut season, she scored four goals. The 2003–04 season saw Franco's opportunities in the team increase as she was given a permanent role in the starting eleven. Over the next four seasons, she appeared in all 22 matches scoring double-digit goals on two occasions. In her final season with Soyaux, she appeared in 19 matches scoring seven goals. Her successful seven-year career gained the attention of defending champions Olympique Lyonnais and Franco eventually secured a move to the club.

Lyon

In Franco's first season with Lyon, she appeared in 19 matches, starting 17, and scored two goals en route to Lyon winning their second straight D1 Féminine title and Franco's first of her career. The 2008–09 season also gave Franco the opportunity to display her talents on the European stage as Lyon were participating in the 2008–09 UEFA Women's Cup.^[4] Lyon cruised through the group stage portion of the tournament and in the knockout rounds, they faced Italian club A.S.D. CF Bardolino. Lyon won the tie 9–1 on aggregate as Franco scoring a goal in both legs. Lyon eventually suffered elimination in the semi-finals to German club FCR 2001 Duisburg.

On 15 October 2010, it was confirmed by Lyon officials that Franco suffered a rupture of her anterior cruciate ligament, as well as her medial meniscus and lateral meniscus in her right knee. She suffered the injury while playing in a UEFA Women's Champions League match against AZ Alkmaar.^[5] Franco missed six months.^[6]

She retired at the end of the 2017—2018 football season,^[7] after having won the domestic league and Champions League titles with Lyon.^[2]

International career

Franco made her international debut on 22 February 2003 in a 2–1 loss to China. She scored her first international goal three days later in a 2–1 victory over the Netherlands. During qualification for the UEFA Euro 2009, she scored one goal against Greece. In the tournament, she appeared in all 4 matches France contested. France reached as far as the quarterfinals losing to the Netherlands 4–5 on penalties with Franco missing her penalty shot. On 23 September 2009, she scored a brace against Serbia in a 2011 FIFA World Cup qualification match. France won the match 7–0. A month later, she scored a goal in another qualification match, this time against Estonia in a 12–0 victory.

Franco made her last international appearance in 2–3 win over Australia on 7 March 2014.^[8]

Career statistics

Club

Statistics accurate as of match played 8 June 2016^[9]

Club	Season	League		Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Soyaux	2002–03	18	4	0	0	0	0	18	4
	2003–04	22	13	0	0	0	0	22	13
	2004–05	22	8	0	0	0	0	22	8
	2005–06	22	12	0	0	0	0	22	12
	2006–07	22	7	0	0	0	0	22	7
	2007–08	19	7	4	2	0	0	23	9
	Total	125	51	4	2	0	0	129	53
Lyon	2008–09	19	2	3	1	6	2	28	5
	2009–10	21	2	4	0	9	1	34	3
	2010–11	5	0	0	0	2	0	7	0
	2011–12	16	2	4	1	8	1	28	4
	2012–13	17	4	5	1	5	0	27	5
	2013–14	15	1	6	3	2	0	23	4
	2014–15	17	0	3	1	6	1	26	2
	2015–16	11	3	3	1	4	0	18	4
	Total	121	14	32	7	38	6	181	27
Career total		246	62	36	9	38	6	310	78

International

(Correct as of 7 March 2014)^[10]

National team	Season	Apps	Goals
France	2002–03	3	1
	2003–04	1	0
	2004–05	0	0
	2005–06	0	0
	2006–07	7	0
	2007–08	6	1
	2008–09	10	2
	2009–10	14	4
	2010–11	8	0
	2011–12	22	2
	2012–13	13	0
	2013–14	1	0
Total		89	11

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	25 February 2003	Stade Municipal de Albi, Albi, France	Netherlands	1–0	2–1	Friendly
2	23 April 2008	Yiannis Pathiakakis Stadium, Ano Liossia, Greece	Greece	0–4	0–5	UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying
3	7 March 2009	Tasos Markou Stadium, Paralimni, Cyprus	England	0–1	2–2	2009 Cyprus Cup
4	10 March 2009	Makario Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	South Africa	3–1	3–2	2009 Cyprus Cup
5	23 September 2009	Stadion NK Inter Zaprešić, Zaprešić, Croatia	Croatia	0–2	0–7	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
6	23 September 2009	Stadion NK Inter Zaprešić, Zaprešić, Croatia	Croatia	0–4	0–7	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
7	28 October 2009	Stade Jules Deschaseaux, Le Havre, France	Estonia	5–0	12–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
8	27 March 2010	Stade de la Libération, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France	Northern Ireland	1–0	6–0	2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
9	14 September 2011	Ness Ziona Stadium, Ness Ziona, Israel	Israel	2–0	5–0	UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying
10	4 July 2012	Stade de la Source, Orléans, France	Romania	5–0	6–0	Friendly
11	29 November 2012	Erdgas Sportpark, Halle, Germany	Germany	1–1	1–1	Friendly