Matías Fernández

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Matías Fernández
Personal information
Full name	Matías Ariel Fernández Fernández
Date of birth	May 15, 1986 (1986-05-15) (age 22)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Supporting striker / Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Villarreal CF
Number	14
Youth clubs
1998-2004	Unión La Calera Colo-Colo
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004-2006 2007-	Colo-Colo Villarreal CF	112 (57) 049 (4)
National team2
2005-present	Chile	019 0(4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 6 April 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Matías Fernández (born on May 15, 1986, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a Chilean football player, who currently plays for Spanish club Villarreal CF. He is also known by several nicknames such as Mati, El Pelusa, and Matigol.

Fernández is an attacking midfielder, a playmaker, fantastic dribbler. and a free kick specialist. He can also play as a striker or centre forward, if required. Before leaving to Villarreal CF he was awarded the South American Footballer of the Year 2006 for his campaign with Chilean club Colo-Colo.

[edit] Early life

Born in the Caballito neighbourhood in Buenos Aires to Argentine mother Mirtha and Chilean father Humberto^[1], they moved when Matías was four to La Calera, Chile. Fernández had been referred to as a young Maradona by a neighbour after watching a game of his. Fernández has two brothers, Ezequiel and Nazareno. Fernández says he considers himself Chilean since he moved to Chile at age 4 and doesn't remember anything from those first four years of his life.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Colo-Colo

He began with the youth squads of Colo-Colo at the age of 12. His debut in first division came on August 1, 2004, against archrival Universidad de Chile. A week later he scored his first two goals against Cobresal. In the same season, "Matigol" scored a spectacular goal against O'Higgins, which immortalized him to fans^[2]. He would go on to score a total of eight goals in Clausura tournament of 2004, and was named best young player of the season. In the 2006 Apertura tournament, Fernández helped Colo-Colo capture their 24th title. In December of the same year he helped Colo-Colo reach the final of the Copa Sudamericana 2006, where they lost to CF Pachuca of Mexico, scoring nine goals in six games for the tournament. He left Colo-Colo on a high note winning the 2006 Clausura tournament and he was named the South American Footballer of the Year.

[edit] Villarreal CF

On October 18, 2006, Fernández was signed by Spanish side Villarreal CF for a fee of 8.7m euros to give Villarreal a more offensive flair. The transaction was made before he received the "South American Player of the Year" award (which explains the lower price of his fee). Despite reports that Real Madrid and Chelsea were also interested, he agreed to terms with Villarreal and arrived at Valencia airport on December 27, 2006. He debuted in January 7, 2007, against Valencia. Villarreal's coach, Manuel Pellegrini, is also Chilean. Matias Fernandez has a buyout clause of €50 million euros, but has failed to break into the first team many times.

[edit] International

Fernández captained the Chilean team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship for Chile scoring a goal in the 7-0 victory over Honduras even though he was powerless when Chile lost 0-7 to Spain. Despite that defeat, the team managed to pass to the next round by finishing as one of the top third place teams. Subsequently they lost to Netherlands and were eliminated from the competition. Even though the team left the tournament quickly, Fernández impressed with his play on the field alongside Nicolas Canales, Carlos Villanueva, and Jose Pedro Fuenzalida.

Fernández has represented the Chile national football team at the under-17, under-20, and adult levels. He played in Chile's last game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) schedule, replacing Luis Jiménez. He has scored four goals with the adult squad, three against Peru and one against Venezuela.

His traditional jersey number is 14, which he wore in Colo-Colo, the U-17 and U-20 National Teams, and the adult National Team from Copa América 2007 on. This has lead some fans to write his name as "MAT14S". He currently wears number 14 in Villarreal.

[edit] Personal

He likes to lead his team on the field by example. He is known for his free kicks, powerful shots, great vision, and magnificent ball handling.^{[citation needed]} He has been compared to fellow Chilean David Pizarro. ^[3]

[edit] Achievements

• Chilean Apertura 2006 (Colo-Colo)
• Chilean Clausura 2006 (Colo-Colo)
• South American Footballer of the Year - 2006 (El Pais - Uruguay)

[edit] References

1. ^ "Chileno, pero hijo del Diez" - Olé sports nespaper. (Spanish)
2. ^ "Goal Against O'Higgins" - YouTube
3. ^ http://www.familia.cl/deporte/matias_fernandez/matias2.htm - Familia.cl (Spanish)

[edit] External links

• Matías Fernández career stats and news at the Global Football Database

v • d • e Chile squad - Copa América 2007 1 Bravo • 2 Ormeño • 3 Rocco • 4 Fuentes • 5 Riffo • 6 Cabión • 7 Tello • 8 Suazo • 9 Navia • 10 Valdivia • 11 González • 12 Peric • 13 Vargas • 14 Fernández • 15 Contreras • 16 Iturra • 17 Sanhueza • 18 Meléndez • 19 Jara • 20 Fierro • 21 Villanueva • 22 Lorca • Coach: Acosta