Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo (born 2 October 1959), known as Luis Fernandez, is a French

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former player who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. Fernandez spent most of his playing career for

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

. He earned 60 international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scored 6 goals for the France national team between 1982 and 1992, and was part of their teams that won

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

and came third at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

. Fernandez managed PSG in two spells, winning several domestic and European honours. He also managed

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

and

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

in France, and

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los L ...

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

and

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

Playing career

Club career

Fernandez was born in Tarifa, Spain, and moved to France with his parents at age nine. He began playing football at the AS Minguettes and became a naturalized French citizen in 1981. He signed his first professional contract at age 19 with

. After the elimination from the

, and just after he had won the Division 1 championship with PSG, Fernandez made the decision to join Jean-Luc Lagardère's team

Racing Club de Paris Racing Club de France Football (, also known as Racing Paris, RCF Paris, Matra Racing, Racing Club, or Racing) is a French association football club based in Colombes, a suburb of Paris. Racing was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline spo ...

. However, in spite of a team that was strong on paper, the club and Fernandez did not succeed, and he left Racing after three seasons. From Racing, Fernandez joined

in 1989, a more modest club. At club level, Cannes was relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue ...

at the end of the 1991–92 season, but Fernandez decided to remain with the club and end his career when his contract expired. A few weeks, however, Cannes named Fernandez its manager, and so he finished the season as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

, leading Cannes back to Division 1 at the end of the season. He then retired from playing professionally to become a full-time manager.

International career

Fernandez quickly established himself as an expert in winning the ball, but also capable of precise passing, and at the end of 1982, he was called up for the France national team and debuted against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 10 November 1982. At age 23, Fernandez was immediately an important part of the team that only months earlier had been semi-finalists of the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 ...

. He formed the national midfield with such French national greats as Jean Tigana in the central midfield, and the offensive players Alain Giresse and

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, a ...

, a midfield that became known as the "magic square". With the national team, Fernandez won

at home in France, and reached the semi-final of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Fernandez was still a part of the French national team in spite of a declining physique. Not a starting player under new national team manager Michel Platini, Fernandez would play the role of a late joker, with the job to clinch a result at the end of the match. Fernandez took part in

Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark national football team, Denmark won the 19 ...

, where France were eliminated in the group stage, and Fernandez decided to end his international career.

Managerial career

Cannes

After Cannes' promotion to Division 1, Fernandez continued his work at the club and led it to

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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

qualification. He was named

Manager of the Year Manager of the Year may refer to: * Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award * League Managers Association Manager of the Year * Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association footba ...

at the end of the 1993–94 season, on grounds of Fernandez's alluring philosophy of offensive tactics with a use of young players. The profile of Fernandez particularly interested Paris Saint-Germain. Despite winning Division 1 and having a good run in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, PSG failed to play attractive football, partly because of Portuguese manager Artur Jorge, who applied a more rigid strategic system. The board of PSG saw in Fernandez the ideal manager to reform the image of the club.

Paris Saint-Germain

In the

1994–95 UEFA Champions League The 1994–95 UEFA Champions League was the 40th edition of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the third since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League. The tournament was won by Ajax of the Netherlands with a late goal in t ...

, Fernandez's PSG reached the semi-finals by eliminating an

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

side led by

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a p ...

. In the same year, his team also picked up the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

against

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a French association football club founded in 1906, based in the c ...

and the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

against

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastiais ( co, Sporting Club di Bastia, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a Corsican association football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of French f ...

. Despite then losing

David Ginola David Ginola-Ceze (born 25 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer who has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit. A former forward, Ginola played football for ten seasons in France before moving from Paris Saint-G ...

and George Weah, PSG won their first European honour, the

1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The 1995–96 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was won by Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 in the final against Austrian entrants Rapid Wien in Brussels on 8 May 1996. The 1995–96 season also saw the return of Yugoslav clubs on the international s ...

against

Rapid Vienna Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade'' ...

Athletic Bilbao

Fernandez had four seasons in charge of

in Spain's

from 1996 to 2000. In 1997–98, he led the team to

qualification as runners-up to Barcelona.

Return to Paris Saint-Germain

After turning down the vacant position at rivals

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club p ...

the previous month, Fernandez returned to PSG in December 2000, succeeding the sacked

Philippe Bergeroo Philippe Bergeroo (born 28 January 1954) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. For France, he earned a total number of three international caps during the late 1970s, early 1980s. He was a member of the French s ...

at the 12th-placed club. By finishing 9th, the team qualified for the

2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Aston Villa, Paris Saint-Germain and Troyes. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ...

, and won the final on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

against

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

. In March 2003, after the decline from a good start that saw PSG top in October, Fernandez announced that he would retire at the end of the season. In the game before the announcement, his club won ''

Le Classique Le Classique (, The Classic) is the rivalry between French professional football clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille. The duo are the two most successful clubs in French football, and the only French teams to have won major Eur ...

'' 3–0 at Marseille's Stade Velodrome.

Espanyol

On 4 November 2003, Fernandez was hired by

, who were situated in last place in the league table with five points from ten games, and had sacked

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

. He saved them from relegation with a 2–0 home win over

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

in the final game of the season, with both goals in the last 20 minutes.

Al-Rayyan & Beitar Jerusalem

In 2005, Fernandez was briefly in charge of Al-Rayyan of the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promoti ...

before switching to Israel's Beitar Jerusalem in November. He took the team to third place and

qualification in his only season.

Real Betis

Fernandez joined

midway through the

2006–07 La Liga The 2006–07 La Liga season, the 76th since its establishment, started on 27 August 2006 and finished on 17 June 2007. Real Madrid won La Liga on the better head-to-head against Barcelona in one of its most thrilling seasons to date. Celta de V ...

season and Betis' centenary season. However, he was released on 10 June 2007 following a 5–0 loss at the

Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

with just one match remaining in Betis' relegation threatened season. Including

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

matches, Fernandez led Betis for 26 matches, winning 5, drawing 16 and losing 7. His tenure lasted from 27 December 2006 to 10 June 2007.

Stade de Reims

Fernandez joined

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2018. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Au ...

halfway through the 2008–09 season. Reims were playing in

, the second tier of French football, but Fernandez was unable to avoid relegation. He was replaced in June 2009 by

Marc Collat Marc Collat (born 24 May 1950) is a Martinican-French professional football former player who is the head coach of Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and ...

Israel

On 21 March 2010, Fernandez was appointed manager of the Israel national team on an 18-month contract effective 1 May. He vowed to only have Israelis on his coaching team. The following February, he was suspended for an outstanding debt to Al-Rayyan. In December 2011, his contract was allowed to expire after failure to qualify for

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

, and

Eli Guttman Israel "Eli" Guttman (or Gutman, he, אלי גוטמן; born 24 February 1958) is an Israeli former football player and manager who most recently managed Maccabi Haifa, before officially announcing his retirement from the football world, stating ...

succeeded him.

Guinea

On 29 April 2015, Fernandez signed a 20-month contract with the Guinea national team, with the option of an extension. He left by mutual consent on 24 May 2016, due to disputes within the

Guinean Football Federation The Guinean Football Federation (French: ') is the governing body of football in Guinea. It was founded in 1959, affiliated to FIFA and to CAF in 1962. It organizes the national football league and the national team. References External links ...

Honours

Player

Paris Saint-Germain *

French Division 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

: 1985–86 *

: 1981–82, 1982–83 France *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Artemio Franchi Cup Artemio is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Artemio Franchi (1922–1983), Italian football administrator *Artemio Lomboy Rillera (1947–2011), the Roman Catholic bishop of San Fernando de La Union, Philippines * Artemio Panga ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Individual *

French Player of the Year __FORCETOC__ The French Player of the Year is an association football award presented annually by the French magazine ''France Football'' since 1959. Originally, only French players playing in France were eligible, but from 1996 French players play ...

: 1985 * Étoile d'Or: 1986

Manager

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 1994–95 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

: 1995–96 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Luis 1959 births Living people People from Campo de Gibraltar Sportspeople from the Province of Cádiz French footballers France international footballers Spanish football managers Spanish footballers Spanish emigrants to France French people of Spanish descent Association football midfielders Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Racing Club de France Football players AS Cannes players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players UEFA European Championship-winning players AS Cannes managers Paris Saint-Germain F.C. managers Athletic Bilbao managers RCD Espanyol managers Al-Rayyan SC managers Beitar Jerusalem F.C. managers Real Betis managers Stade de Reims managers Israel national football team managers Guinea national football team managers La Liga managers Ligue 1 managers Ligue 2 managers Qatar Stars League managers French expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Israel Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Guinea