Giovanni Francesco Zacharias Franken[1] (born 14 November 1977) is a retired footballer who played as a midfielder and head coach of the under-21 team of ADO Den Haag.
He represented Netherlands Antilles at international level, earning 8 caps between 2004 and 2008,[3][6] which included 7 games in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.[7]
Coaching career
In the 2010–11 season, Franken was in charge of RVVH's women's team, while still playing for the club's first team.[8] After one season, he gained promotion to the best women league in the Netherlands.[9] At the end of the 2010-11 season, he also retired as an active player.[10] Ahead of the 2011–12 season, he took charge of RVVH's reserve team[10]
From 2013 to 2018, Franken was in charge of RVVH's first team. In October 2013 he was also appointed manager of the Aruba national football team,[1] combining it with his coaching position at RVVH.[11] He left this position in August 2015.[12]
On 4 January 2018, it was announced that Franken would take charge of Achilles Veen from the 2018–19 season.[13] After seven months, Franken left the club by mutual agreement on 25 January 2019.[14][15]
On 20 February, Franken was appointed interim manager of FC IJsselmonde for the rest of the season.[16] In June 2015, Franken joined ADO Den Haag as manager for the U15 squad.[17] In the 2020-21 season, he took charge of the U18 squad.[18] In June 2021 it was confirmed, that Franken had been promoted to the first team staff as assistant coach to ADO manager Ruud Brood.[19] In March 2022, he took over as caretaker manager after Brood had been dismissed, almost leading the club to promotion in the play-offs.[20][21] From the 2022–23 season, Franken was put in charge of ADO's under-21 team.[22]
