Daniel Márcio Fernandes (born 25 September 1983) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for Maltese club

Gudja United F.C. Gudja United Football Club is a Malta, Maltese professional football (soccer), football club from the south-eastern village of Gudja that currently plays in the Maltese Premier League. Gudja United plays in blue and white striped jerseys. Their ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He moved frequently in his club career, representing teams in Portugal, Spain, Germany, Greece, Romania, the Netherlands, the United States, Norway and Malta. Internationally, Fernandes played for Canada at under-20 level before switching allegiance to Portugal, and was called up for their senior team at the

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Early life

The son of a Portuguese father and a

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n mother, Fernandes was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, being raised in

East Vancouver East Vancouver (also called "East Van" or "the East Side") is a region within the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Geographically, East Vancouver is bordered to the north by Burrard Inlet, to the south by the Fraser River, and to the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. His first club was the Vancouver Olympics.

Club career

Early days

In 2000, aged 17, Fernandes returned to the land of his father and joined

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

's youth system. In his first two years as a senior he only managed to appear for the reserves, his second team being

Celta de Vigo B Real Club Celta de Vigo, S.A.D. "B" is a Spanish football team based in Vigo, Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1927, it is the reserve team of Celta Vigo and competes in the Primera Federación – Group 1. They pl ...

in Spain. In January 2003, the Galicians loaned Fernandes to

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

SSV Jahn Regensburg Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V., commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The club is based on a gymnastics club founded in 1886 a ...

, but again failed to appear officially for the main squad, returning in June to Celta and being released from contract.

PAOK

After a successful trial, Fernandes signed with PAOK FC, totalling four

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

games in his first two seasons. In 2005, the team's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

– and former player –

Giorgos Kostikos Georgios Kostikos (Greek: Γεώργιος Κωστίκος; born 26 April 1958) is a Greek former professional footballer. Playing career Club Kostikos began playing football with Pierikos in 1975, and two years later he was acquired by PAOK. H ...

took over after coach

Nikos Karageorgiou Nikos Karageorgiou ( gr, Νίκος Καραγεωργίου; born 8 December 1962) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Club career Karageorgiou began his football career at his local village football club Aetos Eratino ...

was dismissed following a bad string of results. He immediately replaced ageing

Kyriakos Tohouroglou Kyriakos Nektarios Tohouroglou (Greek: Κυριάκος Τοχούρογλου; alternatively spelt Tochouroglou) is an Australian former soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper. Biography Tohouroglou was born on 13 August 1972 in Sydney to par ...

in his starting XI with the Portuguese. Despite many problems both inside and outside the pitch, PAOK managed to finish in sixth place in the 2005–06 campaign, with Fernandes making 27 appearances as the

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

club qualified for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, only to be disqualified shortly after for irregularities. He remained first choice for the remainder of his spell.

VfL Bochum

On 23 May 2008, after extensive negotiations, PAOK accepted an offer from

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...

, who signed Fernandes for a fee of approximately

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

1.2 million, with the player reuniting at the German side with former teammate

Marcin Mięciel Marcin Mięciel (born 22 December 1975) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a striker. His trademark was the bicycle kick. Career Born in Gdynia, Mięciel started his football career at Wisła Tczew for which he played un ...

. Fernandes made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut on 16 August 2008, in a 1–0 away loss against

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the D ...

. He only missed three league matches in his first season, as the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

team retained their top-division status after finishing 14th. In 2009–10, Fernandes was relegated to the bench by

Philipp Heerwagen Philipp Heerwagen (born 13 April 1983) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designa ...

and, on 18 January 2010, he was loaned to

Iraklis Thessaloniki F.C. Gymnastic Club Iraklis Thessaloniki Football Club ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής Θεσσαλονίκης) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. As of 2022, t ...

until the end of the campaign. In the summer, he signed on loan with another Greek side, Panathinaikos FC, who retained an option to buy. Fernandes moved to

Panserraikos F.C. Panserraikos Football Club ( el, Πανσερραϊκός 1964), the ''All-Serres Football Club'', is a Greek football club based in Serres in Central Macedonia, Greece. Panserraikos is one of the most important and well-supported clubs in north ...

in January 2011, again on loan. He appeared sparingly as the team were relegated from the top tier, and was released by Bochum in June.

Cluj and Twente

On 16 August 2011, Fernandes joined Romania's CFR Cluj. He was released after five months, in which he played just two games. Fernandes moved teams and countries again on 17 January 2012, signing a two-year contract with

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

and competing with

Nikolay Mihaylov Nikolay Borislavov Mihaylov ( bg, Николай Бориславов Михайлов; born 28 June 1988) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Levski Sofia, where he is also the captain, and the Bulgarian natio ...

for the no.1 position. He spent the following seasons on loan, with

OFI Crete FC OFI Crete Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Ηρακλείου 1925, ''Club of Fans of Heraklion 1925''), is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is a par ...

and Panthrakikos FC.

North America

On 3 August 2015, Fernandes moved to the

San Antonio Scorpions The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadiu ...

on loan from Twente. After the former ceased operations following the

2015 NASL season The 2015 North American Soccer League season was the 48th season of Division II soccer in the United States and the fifth season of the North American Soccer League. It was contested by eleven teams including two from Canada. Jacksonville Armada ...

, he joined manager Alen Marcina as both signed with Rayo OKC on 2 February 2016.

Return to Europe

For the second consecutive time, Fernandes' American club folded, and he signed for Norwegian

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

team Lillestrøm SK on a one-year deal in January 2017. In May he failed a doping test when he tested positive for dextroamphetamine, and was frozen out of the squad while his representatives appealed on the basis that the drug was prescribed medicine for his

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

and worthy of a medical exemption. On 1 July 2018, the 34-year-old Fernandes returned to Portuguese club football for the first time in 16 years, joining

S.C. Farense Sporting Clube Farense, simply known as Farense, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Faro in the district of the same name and the region of Algarve. Founded in 1910, the club will play the 2021–22 season in the Liga Portugal ...

for their upcoming season back in

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

. He made his debut for the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

ans – his first professional appearance in the country – on 11 August, in a 1–0 home win over

F.C. Famalicão Futebol Clube de Famalicão, commonly known as Famalicão, is a Portuguese association football, football club from Vila Nova de Famalicão. Founded on 21 August 1931, its senior team currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top tier of Portugu ...

. Fernandes' side achieved promotion to the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

at the end of the following campaign, but he played no league matches in the process. In August 2020, he signed a one-year contract with Tarxien Rainbows F.C. of the Maltese Premier League. At its conclusion, he joined

Birkirkara F.C. Birkirkara Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Birkirkara, on the island of Malta. The club was formed in 1950, following the amalgamation of Birkirkara United and Birkirkara Celtic. Birkirkara currently play in ...

in the same league.

International career

Fernandes won caps for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at under-20 level. He then changed to play for the country of his father,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and made his under-21 debut in 2006. Fernandes received his first senior call-up in November 2006, as third goalkeeper behind Ricardo and Quim. In May of the following year, he was selected for a

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, making his debut in the latter after replacing Quim in the 66th minute of a 1–1 draw. On 11 February 2009, Fernandes played his second international match, substituting Eduardo at the hour-mark of a 1–0 win against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In May 2010 he was named in the 23-man squad for that year's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, but did not appear in the tournament held in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

CFR Cluj *

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

: 2011–12 Individual * PAOK MVP of the Season: 2007–08

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Daniel 1983 births Living people Canadian people of Czech descent Canadian people of Portuguese descent Portuguese people of Czech descent Canadian soccer players Portuguese footballers Soccer players from Edmonton Men's association football goalkeepers Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto B players S.C. Farense players Celta de Vigo B players Bundesliga players SSV Jahn Regensburg players VfL Bochum players Super League Greece players PAOK FC players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players Panathinaikos F.C. players Panserraikos F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players Panthrakikos F.C. players Liga I players CFR Cluj players FC Twente players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players San Antonio Scorpions players Rayo OKC players Eliteserien players Lillestrøm SK players Maltese Premier League players Tarxien Rainbows F.C. players Birkirkara F.C. players Gudja United F.C. players Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Romania Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Malta Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Norway Doping cases in association football Portuguese sportspeople in doping cases