Fernando "Fer" Niño Rodríguez (born 24 October 2000) is a Spanish 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 lea ...

who plays as a forward for

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The original Burgos CF (1936), Burgos CF was dissolved in 1983 after becoming Insolven ...

Club career

Villarreal

Niño was born in

Rota, Andalusia The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Its surface area is 84 km2 and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located near the city of ...

, and joined

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

's academy in 2016 from Balón de Cádiz CF in his native region. He made his senior debut with the former's C team on 24 August 2019, starting in a 3–0

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

away win against CF Recambios Colón. Niño scored his first league goal on 26 October 2019, opening the 5–0 home rout of UD Benigànim. The following 22 January, when he still had not even appeared for the reserves, he made his first-team debut by coming on as a second-half substitute for Pau Torres in a 3–0 away victory over

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

in the

round of 32 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. Niño played his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

match on 25 January 2020, in a 2–1 win at

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

; replacing Carlos Bacca in the 88th minute, he scored the winner the following minute. On 12 November, he renewed his contract until 2024. He contributed five appearances to their victorious campaign in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, netting against

Maccabi Tel Aviv FC Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club (; ''Moadon Kaduregel Maccabi Tel Aviv'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from Tel Aviv and part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Tel Aviv Sport Club. Founded in 1906 in Jaffa as t ...

(group phase, 4–0) and

FC Red Bull Salzburg Fußballclub Red Bull Salzburg, commonly known as simply Red Bull Salzburg, is an Austrian professional Association football, football club based in Wals-Siezenheim, that competes in the Austrian Bundesliga, the top flight of Football in Austria ...

(round of 32, 2–0). In a pre-season friendly against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in August 2021, Niño broke Wesley Fofana's leg with a late challenge, apologising for the action the following day on social media. Later that month, he was loaned to

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

for the season. Back to the Estadio de la Cerámica for 2022–23, Niño was assigned back to the B team, now in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

Burgos

On 22 June 2023, Niño signed a three-year contract with

also in the second tier.

International career

Niño made his debut for the Spain under-21 side on 31 May 2021, in a 2–1

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

defeat of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the quarter-finals of the 2021 UEFA European Championship. His first goals came on 3 September, when he scored a brace in the 4–1 win over

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

for the 2023 European Championship qualifiers; his Villarreal teammate Yeremy Pino added the other two.

Personal life

Niño's father, also named Fernando, was also a footballer. A

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he spent most of his career with Mallorca.

Career statistics

Honours

Villarreal *

: 2020–21

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nino, Fer 2000 births Living people People from Rota, Andalusia 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Cádiz Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Villarreal CF C players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players RCD Mallorca players Burgos CF footballers UEFA Europa League–winning players Spain men's under-21 international footballers