Manuel Henriques Tavares Fernandes

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Manuel Fernandes
Personal information
Full name	Manuel Henriques Tavares Fernandes
Date of birth	February 5, 1986 (age 21)
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Nickname	Manelelê
Playing position	Central/Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Everton (on loan from Benfica)
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004- 2006-2007 2007	Benfica → Portsmouth (loan) → Everton (loan)	67 (3) 10 (0) 05 (1)
National team2
2005-	Portugal	2 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:49, 24 March 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 31 January 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Manuel Henriques Tavares Fernandes (born 5 February 1986 in Lisbon), called Manuel Fernandes (pron. IPA: [mɐnu'ɛɫ fɨɾ'nɐ̃ðɨʃ]) for short, is a Portuguese football (soccer) player who plays in midfield for Everton.

Contents 1 Clubs 1.1 Benfica 1.2 Portsmouth 1.3 Everton 2 Facts 3 Notes 4 External links

[edit] Clubs

Manuel Fernandes is a product of Benfica's youth system who made his first-team debut during the 2003/04 season, under then-coach José Antonio Camacho. A defensive midfielder, he made an immediate impression on both Camacho and the Benfica supporters, scoring in only his second game for the Eagles. In 2003 he was part of the Portugal team that reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-17 World Championship before going down to Spain.

[edit] Benfica

He became a regular first team player in the centre of midfield alongside Petit in the 2004/05 season. Under the guidance of Italian manager Giovanni Trapattoni he helped Benfica to win the Superliga. An influential season saw Manuel Fernandes miss just five games as Benfica lifted the championship trophy for the first time in 11 years. He also made seven appearances in the UEFA Cup before the Lisbon outfit were eliminated in the Round of 32 by eventual winners PFC CSKA Moscow.

Having represented Portugal at every level from Under-15 upwards, he made his full international debut in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland in February 2005. A month later, in his second match as a senior player, Manuel Fernandes opened his international goalscoring account by scoring the first goal in a 4-1 friendly win against Canada.^[1]

During the 2005/06 pre-season, Manuel Fernandes was taken to surgery in Munich due to an inguinal hernia and was assisted by the famous doctor Ulrike Muschaweck.^{[citation needed]}

In the UEFA Champions League 2005-06, Manuel Fernandes scored the equalising goal in a draw at Villarreal CF in the group stage^[2] before Benfica were knocked out in the Quarter-finals by eventual winners FC Barcelona.

In May 2006, Manuel Fernandes played all three games for Portugal U21 in the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. However, his country was knocked out at the group stages, losing twice and winning only one match.

[edit] Portsmouth

Fernandes signed on loan to Portsmouth with a deal agreed for a permanent transfer of approximately £7 million if he fully recovered from his groin injury. A transfer was first proposed in late July 2006 but could not be concluded as Fernandes was still suffering from the injury and failed a club medical. In an unusual move, Benfica allowed the player to be treated at Portsmouth in the hope that he would regain fitness before the September 1st transfer deadline. After five weeks at the club, it was projected that he still needed two months recovery and so the initial loan deal with a future fee was agreed.

Fernandes made his Portsmouth debut in the League Cup away to Mansfield Town. He scored from outside the area after just 5 minutes and Portsmouth won 2-1. He went on to make sporadic appearances for the club throughout the first half of the season, with Sean Davis and fellow Portuguese international Pedro Mendes the preferred midfield pairing. It was later revealed by Pompey manager Harry Redknapp that if Fernandes were to make 3 consecutive appearances, it would trigger a clause in which Portsmouth were obligated to sign the player for £12m. Because of the high transfer fee, Portsmouth revealed in December that unless Benfica were to compromise on the fee they would not make the transfer permanent. Fernandes returned to Benfica in the winter transfer window.

[edit] Everton

In January 2007, Fernandes joined Everton F.C. on loan until the end of the season.^[3] The deal was complicated by Fernandes being part owned by a third party agency, but he eventually made an assured debut for his new club in the 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on February 10th 2007 and has quickly become something of a fans favourite at Goodison. He scored his league debut goal on February 24th against Watford.

[edit] Facts

Manuel Fernandes' strong positional sense and tight marking are so impressive that Chelsea manager José Mourinho is known to be a keen admirer. Mourinho went as far as to compare his young compatriot to Claude Makélélé, stating that the Portuguese midfielder was better than the Frenchman at the same age.^{[citation needed]} In the wake of these comparisons, many Benfica and Portugal fans have nicknamed Fernandes Manelelê.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• BBC profile
• Manuel Henriques Tavares Fernandes Tactical Formations at Football-Lineups.com

• Manuel Fernandes career stats at Soccerbase

Everton F.C. - Current Squad
1 Wright | 2 Hibbert | 3 Naysmith | 4 Yobo | 6 Arteta | 7 Van der Meyde | 8 Johnson | 9 Beattie | 11 McFadden | 15 Stubbs | 16 Lescott | 17 Cahill | 18 Neville | 19 Valente | 21 Osman | 22 Vaughan | 23 Pistone | 24 Howard | 26 Carsley | 28 Anichebe | 30 Ruddy | 36 Boyle | 37 Fernandes | 38 Anderson | 41 Viðarsson | Manager: Moyes