Andrés Guardado

Atlas

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, to Andrés Manuel Guardado and Teresa Hernández, Andrés Guardado began playing professionally for local side Atlas, joining the team's youth system at the age of seven and going on to appear in two full Primera División seasons. He made his league debut on 20 August 2005, in a 3–2 home win against C.F. Pachuca, and on 15 October, scored his first goal against Tigres UANL in a 2–1 away victory. At the end of the tournament, he was voted best rookie. On 19 August 2006, Guardado scored his first professional brace against Club América in a 2–0 home victory, both of them being long-range shots from outside the box. His performances in his second season led him to win back-to-back (Apertura and Clausura) awards for best full-back. In the summer of 2006, press speculation linked Guardado to several Serie A teams as well as Real Madrid, but Deportivo de La Coruña moved quickly and made an offer of €7 million for 75% of his rights. An offer was accepted and the transfer was finalized on 7 July 2007, making him the most expensive ever Mexican player at the time; Atlas retained a 25% sell-on-fee as long as it held the remaining 25% of his rights. Guardado played his final match at the Estadio Jalisco in a friendly against the Argentine champions San Lorenzo de Almagro, featuring 30 minutes. At half-time, he was awarded the club's highest honor, the Athletic Excellence Award.

Deportivo

Guardado was officially introduced on 24 July…

Guardado made his first appearance for Mexico in a friendly match against Hungary on 14 December 2005, four months after his first-team debut with Atlas. He was then called up to represent his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, where he appeared in the 2–1 loss to Argentina in the round of 16, starting as a shifting attacking midfielder/wing-back alongside Ramón Morales but was replaced by Gonzalo Pineda after picking up an injury in the second half; after the departure of manager Ricardo La Volpe, his replacement Hugo Sánchez kept the player in his squad. Guardado's first game under the new manager was an exhibition game against the United States on 7 February 2007, where he came on as a substitute in a 0–2 defeat. On 28 February, in a friendly with Venezuela, he scored his first international goal in Mexico's 3–1 victory. In the final of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Guardado scored the opening goal against the United States. During the second half he collided head-on with Jonathan Spector while both attempted to head the ball, but recovered to play the rest of the match, which ended in a 2–1 loss; he was listed as an Honorable Mention for the competition's All-Tournament Team. He also participated in that year's Copa América, scoring the third goal against Uruguay in the third-place match. Javier Aguirre included Guardado in the roster for the 2010 World Cup. He assisted Rafael Márquez in the opening game of the World Cup against hosts South Africa, in a 1–1…

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 Ángel 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.

In 2014, under Miguel Herrera's improvization, Guardado began to play as a defensive midfielder for the national team. At PSV, manager Phillip Cocu facilitated his positional change as injuries hampered his speed, as the latter began to operate as a central midfielder with box-to-box and deep-lying playmaker qualities; he later took on more defensive duties. Known as 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 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 Márquez as…

Guardado married fellow Guadalajara native Briana Morales in December 2006. In 2011, they divorced. He is an "honorary associate" of the Asociación Mexicana de Futbolistas (Mexican Footballers Association), created in October 2017. An association that its main goal is, according to him, to "create a dialogue with league, federation and club authorities" with the domestic footballers. Much of Guardado's first year at Betis' Estadio Benito Villamarín was captured in the Amazon Prime television documentary series Six Dreams, in which he was one of the stars. On 1 January 2021, it was reported that Guardado tested positive for COVID-19. By 13 January, he recovered.