Fernando Sánchez Cipitria (born 12 September 1971), known simply as Fernando, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mostly as a left midfielder, currently manager of Chinese Champions League club Xinjiang Silk Road Eagle.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fernando Sánchez Cipitria | ||
| Date of birth | 12 September 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Xinjiang Silk Road Eagle (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Real Madrid | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1992 | Real Madrid C | ||
| 1992–1995 | Real Madrid B | 68 | (2) |
| 1992–1993 | → Leganés (loan) | 26 | (3) |
| 1995–1997 | Valladolid | 78 | (18) |
| 1997–1999 | Betis | 60 | (4) |
| 1999–2003 | Deportivo La Coruña | 33 | (3) |
| 2001–2002 | → Osasuna (loan) | 30 | (2) |
| 2002 | → Hannover 96 (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2003 | → Córdoba (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| Total | 303 | (33) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998 | Spain | 2 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2007 | Laguna | ||
| 2008–2009 | Collado Villalba | ||
| 2019–2020 | Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard | ||
| 2024– | Xinjiang Silk Road Eagle | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He appeared in 201 La Liga matches over seven seasons (27 goals), for four clubs.
Club career
editFernando was born in Madrid. An unsuccessful youth graduate from Real Madrid, he made his La Liga debut with Real Valladolid in the 1995–96 season, with the side being coached by a young Rafael Benítez and also featuring former Real Madrid Castilla teammates José Luis Santamaría and Alberto Marcos.[2]
In the following campaign, with Fernando scoring a career-best 11 goals, the Castile and León team qualified for the UEFA Cup after finishing seventh.[3] Subsequently, he signed with Real Betis, posting two respectable top-flight seasons and netting his only goal in the UEFA Cup on 3 November 1998 in a 3–0 second-round home win over Willem II.[4]
Fernando joined Deportivo de La Coruña for 1999–2000, and appeared in 19 games for the Galicians in their first-ever championship title.[5] He would, however, soon be deemed surplus to requirements, and served three consecutive loans until his retirement at 32: he played the first part of the 2002–03 campaign at Hannover 96 in Germany alongside teammates Jaime (also with him at Real Madrid) and José Manuel,[6][7] but soon grew unsettled and returned to Spain.[8]
International career
editFernando earned two caps for the Spain national team over the course of two months.[9] His first arrived on 28 January 1998, as he came on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Guillermo Amor in a 1–0 away friendly loss against France.[10]
Coaching career
editAfter retiring, Fernando focused on youth training.[8] In 2012, he joined Evergrande Football School founded by Guangzhou Evergrande, where he worked as technical director and head coach.[11]
Fernando joined Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard's youth side in the 2018 season,[12] and was promoted to the first team on 1 January 2019.[13] On 8 February 2024, he took on the role as manager of Chinese Champions League club Xinjiang Silk Road Eagle.[14]
References
edit- ^ "Fernando" (in German). Kicker. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ Velasco B., Ángel (5 January 2016). "La primera destitución de Rafa Benítez" [Rafa Benítez's first dismissal] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Alvarado, Arturo (16 June 1997). "Vuelve el 'Europucela'" ['Europucela' is back]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "El Betis pasó ronda las dos veces que empató la ida fuera en Europa" [Betis advanced the two times they drew first leg away in Europe]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). 15 February 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Jian, Zhao (28 March 2024). "Un excampeón de La Liga aspira a revitalizar el fútbol en Xinjiang" [Former La Liga champion looking to revitalise football in Xinjiang]. People's Daily (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Pastor, Francisco (22 January 2004). "Fernando se aferra al fútbol" [Fernando hangs on to football]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ "Spanische Begegnungen" [Spanish moves] (in German). Hannover 96. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
- ^ a b "Fernando S. Cipitria: "Conozco a Víctor, es un gran míster"" [Fernando S. Cipitria: "I know Víctor, he's a great coach"]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). 3 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Sierra, Joel (26 September 2016). "Los 20 internacionales españoles más insólitos" [The 20 most unexpected Spanish internationals] (in Spanish). Sphera Sports. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Román, Rogelio (29 January 1998). "Se acabó la racha" [Streak over]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ^ Zhe, Tang (30 March 2012). "Real Madrid system coming to Guangzhou academy soon". China Daily. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ 前西班牙国脚费尔南多接过新疆天山雪豹足球队教鞭 [Former Spanish international Fernando took over as coach of the Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard football team] (in Chinese). Sina Sports. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ 新疆官方宣布西班牙籍新主帅上任 曾担任恒大足校青训总监 [Xinjiang officially announced that the new Spanish manager and former youth director at Evergrande took office.] (in Chinese). Tencent QQ. 1 January 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ "新疆丝路雄鹰俱乐部成立！会员制俱乐部，主帅拥有皇马DNA" (in Chinese). Sohu. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
External links
edit- Fernando at BDFutbol
- Betisweb stats and bio (in Spanish) at archive.today (archived 30 September 2013)
- Fernando at fussballdaten.de (in German)
- Fernando at National-Football-Teams.com
- Fernando at EU-Football.info