Rommel Fernández
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez | ||
| Date of birth | 15 January 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | El Chorrillo, Panama | ||
| Date of death | 6 May 1993 (aged 27) | ||
| Place of death | Albacete, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Plaza Amador | |||
| Atlético Panamá | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1985–1987 | Alianza | ||
| 1987–1991 | Tenerife | 123 | (47) |
| 1991–1993 | Valencia | 21 | (2) |
| 1992–1993 | → Albacete (loan) | 18 | (7) |
| National team | |||
| 1986–1992 | Panama | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez (15 January 1966 – 6 May 1993) was a Panamanian footballer who played as a striker.
The second Panamanian to play in Europe, he spent almost his entire professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 104 games and 32 goals – 162/56 both major levels combined – in representation of four different teams. In 1993 he died in a car accident, at the age of just 27.
Club career
Fernández was born in the Panama City neighborhood of El Chorrillo. In 1987 the 21-year-old signed for CD Tenerife in Spain from Alianza, scoring a career-best 18 goals in his second season as the Canary Islands side promoted to La Liga for the second time in its history; in the following years he also netted in double digits as the club retained its top division status – in the 1989–90 campaign he was named Best South American Player in the Spanish League and, the following year, was voted best Ibero-American player in the competition by news agency EFE, receiving the Trofeo EFE.[1]
Nicknamed The Panzer,[2] Fernández moved to Valencia CF in 1991, but was used mostly as a backup in his only season, scoring just two goals. Subsequently he joined Albacete Balompié on loan, helping the Castile-La Mancha team retain its first division status in its second season ever and scoring his 50th league goal in the process, against former club Tenerife.
Car accident
On 6 May 1993, after returning from a meal with his Albacete teammates, Fernández died victim of a car accident just outside Albacete, after losing control of his car and hitting his head with a tree. His cousin Ronny Rojo was also travelling with him, but emerged unharmed.[3]
International career
Fernández represented Panama numerous times, making his debut in the late 80's. In 1986, during a trip with the national team to Spain to participate in the Mundialito de la Emigración, a tournament where Tenerife played a select squad of players with Spanish ancestry, he played well enough to be offered a contract by the hosts.
Fernández's last match with Panama was a 1–5 defeat in Costa Rica for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, on 23 August 1992.
Legacy
Estadio de la Revolución was renamed Estadio Rommel Fernández, in Fernández's honour.[4][5]
References
- ↑ Forlán, segundo uruguayo que gana el Trofeo EFE (Forlán, second Uruguayan to win the EFE Award); EFE, 24 October 2005 (Spanish)
- ↑ Rommel Fernández: 22 años sin 'El Panzer' (Rommel Fernández: 22 years without 'El Panzer'); Vavel, 5 May 2015 (Spanish)
- ↑ Rommel Fernández, trece años fallecimiento en accidente tráfico (Rommel Fernández, thirteen years of fatal traffic accident), Deportes.com, 5 May 2006 (Spanish)
- ↑ Rivas, Raúl (5 May 2008). "Remodelación del Estadio Rommel Fernández" [Improvement works on Estadio Rommel Fernández] (in Spanish). Panamagazine. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ↑ Altamirano, Patricio (6 February 2013). "Estadio Rommel Fernández abrirá sus puertas a las 4 p. m." [Estadio Rommel Fernández to open gates at 4 p. m.] (in Spanish). Al Día. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
External links
- Rommel Fernández profile at BDFutbol
- Rommel Fernández at National-Football-Teams.com
- Rommel Fernández – FIFA competition record
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