José Carlos "Zlatan" Fernández Piedra (born 14 May 1983 in

Trujillo, Peru Trujillo (; qu, Truhillu) is a city in coastal northwestern Peru and the capital of the Department of La Libertad. It is the third most populous city and center of the List of metropolitan areas of Peru, third most populous metropolitan area of P ...

) is a

Peruvian Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century; Peruvian p ...

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 as a

center forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

for

Peruvian Primera División The Peru First Division (; ''First Division'') —known as Liga 1 Betsson for sponsorship reasons and officially as Liga 1 — is the top flight of association football in Peru. It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since 1966, when ...

club

Carlos A. Mannucci Carlos A. Mannucci, known simply as Mannucci, is a professional football (soccer), football club based in Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo, La Libertad Region, La Libertad, Peru. The club is the most important in the city having represented Trujillo, Peru ...

. He is

nicknamed A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Zlatan" because of his physical resemblance to

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

footballer

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

Club career

Fernández began his playing career in early 2000 with local club Defensor Taller de Laredo. Then in 2002 he transferred to

Sport Coopsol Trujillo Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego is a Peruvian football club, based in the city of Trujillo, La Libertad. It was founded on August 30, 1995. The club changed its name to Sport Coopsol Trujillo in 2001. History Deportivo Universidad Privada ...

. Fernández made his official debut in the Torneo Descentralizado on 22 September 2002 in round 11 of the 2002 Torneo Clausura. His debut match was played at home in the Mansiche Stadium against

Coronel Bolognesi Coronel Bolognesi Fútbol Club is a Peruvian football club located in the city of Tacna. Originally founded on 18 October 1929, It was named after Francisco Bolognesi. Years later, a second branch of the club called Club Sport Bolito, was founded ...

, which ended in a 4–0 loss for Coopsol Trujillo. José Carlos scored his first official goal in the Descentralizado on 1 December 2002 in a league match against

Alianza Atlético Club Alianza Atlético de Sullana is a Peruvian association football, football club, located in the city of Sullana, Piura region, Piura. The club was founded in 1920 and promoted to the Primera División Peruana, Peruvian Primera División in 198 ...

in round 21 of the Clausura season. He scored in the 80th minute, but it was not enough as Alianza Atlético won 4–2 in Trujillo. He finished his first season in the top-flight with 15 appearances and 3 goals. However, Coopsol Trujillo finished in 12th place and were relegated to the

Copa Perú The Copa Perú is a football tournament in Peru. Despite its name, it is not entirely an elimination-cup competition involving all Peruvian clubs, but rather a series of league tournaments leading to an elimination tournament, with regional leagu ...

division. Then in 2003 he joined Lima based club

Sport Coopsol Sport Coopsol was a Peruvian football club, playing in the city of Lima. History Sport Coopsol was founded in 2000 when business group "Grupo Cooperativa Solar (Coopsol)" acquired the club Telefunken 20, which last played in the 1999 Segunda D ...

, which at the time was participating in the Peruvian Second Division. There he would win his first silverware as he helped Sport Coopsol win the 2003 Peruvian Second Division championship. Sport Coopsol won promotion to the First Division but instead decided to sell their spot to newly formed club

Club Deportivo Universidad de San Martín de Porres Club Deportivo Universidad San Martín de Porres, commonly known as USMP, is a Peruvian football club based in the city of Lima. The club was founded in 2004 as a joint stock company, the first in Peru. In just their first season, the club beg ...

. As a result, Fernández transferred to Universidad San Martín for the

2004 Torneo Descentralizado The 2004 Torneo Descentralizado (known as the Copa Cable Mágico for sponsorship reasons) was the eighty-eighth season of Peruvian football. A total of 14 teams competed in the tournament, with Alianza Lima as the defending champion. Alianza Li ...

season. He then went on to have stints at 4 other Peruvian clubs:

Club Deportivo Universidad César Vallejo Club Deportivo Universidad César Vallejo is a Peruvian football club located in Trujillo. The club was founded on January 6, 1996 and was promoted in 2003, through the Copa Perú, to the Peruvian First Division and relegated in 2005. In 2007, ...

FBC Melgar Foot Ball Club Melgar, known simply as FBC Melgar or Melgar, is a Peruvian Association football, football club based in Arequipa, Peru. It is one of Peru's oldest football teams, founded on 25 March 1915 by a group of football enthusiasts from A ...

, and

Cienciano Club Sportivo Cienciano is a professional football club based in Cusco, Peru that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División. The club was founded in 1901 by a group of students of the ''Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco'' (National S ...

. He spent two years playing in Europe. First with the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

team

FC Chornomorets Odessa FC Chornomorets Odesa ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Odesa. The club's home ground is the 34,164 capacity Chornomorets Stadium opened in 1935 and rebuilt in 2011. According to the club's website, it ...

, where he stayed 4 months, playing in 2 games and totaling 19 minutes. Then on 30 May 2008, Fernández signed a contract with

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

, which ended on 10 February 2009. It was announced at the same time that Fernández moved back to his home country, to play for

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, popularly known as Alianza Lima or simply Alianza, is a Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. It is widely known for having one of the most historical and successful football teams i ...

. He played in the

2012 Copa Libertadores The 2012 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2012 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized ...

and scored decisive goals for his club. Finally, in October he played for the Argentine club

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

. Unfortunately he didn't make any goal because he had a serious injury that left him for several months. In 2013, he moved to the Peruvian team

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica ...

to play the

2013 Copa Libertadores The 2013 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2013 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 54th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organiz ...

and

Peruvian First Division Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest in th ...

International career

International goals

Honours

Club

;

: * Peruvian Second Division:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Copa Bicentenario The Copa Bicentenario is a football competition in Peru played by the Association football, football clubs of the Peruvian Primera División, Liga 1 and Peruvian Segunda División, Liga 2. It was founded in 2019 by the Peruvian Football Federation ...

; Runner Up

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Jose Carlos 1983 births Living people People from Trujillo, Peru Peruvian footballers Peru international footballers Peruvian expatriate footballers Association football forwards Sport Coopsol Trujillo footballers Club Deportivo Universidad de San Martín de Porres players Club Deportivo Universidad César Vallejo footballers FBC Melgar footballers Coronel Bolognesi footballers Cienciano footballers FC Chornomorets Odesa players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players Club Alianza Lima footballers S.D. Quito footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Sporting Cristal footballers Real Garcilaso footballers Sport Huancayo footballers Peruvian Primera División players Ukrainian Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Ecuador Expatriate footballers in Argentina Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina