Matías Ariel Fernández Fernández (; born 15 May 1986) is a Chilean former 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 played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He was known for his

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills, also being a free kick specialist. After starting out at

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

, he spent several seasons with Villarreal,

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, having moved to Europe in 2006. He also played professionally in Mexico and Colombia. Fernández was elected South American Footballer of the Year in 2006 and appeared for the Chile national team in the 2010 World Cup and three

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments, winning the 2015 edition of the latter tournament.

Early life

Fernández was born in the Caballito neighbourhood in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

to Argentine mother Mirtha and Chilean father Humberto. He moved to La Calera, Chile, at the age of 4.

Club career

Colo-Colo

Fernández began with the youth squads of

at the age of 12. His debut in the Primera División came on 1 August 2004 against Club Universidad de Chile, and a week later he scored his first two goals, against Cobresal. Fernández would go on to net a total of eight goals in the 2004 '' Clausura'', and was named best young player of the season. In the 2006 ''Apertura'' he helped his team capture their 24th title and, in December of the same year, he helped them reach the final of the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

, lost to C.F. Pachuca of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, by scoring nine times in six games for the tournament. He left on a high note, winning the 2006 ''Clausura'' tournament and the South American Footballer of the Year award.

Villarreal

In late October 2006, Fernández was signed by Spanish club

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 ...

for a fee of €8.7 million, joining compatriot

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

who was the coach. The transaction was made before he received the "South American Player of the Year" award and, despite reports that

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and Chelsea were also interested, he agreed to terms and arrived at the

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

airport on 27 December; on 7 January 2007 he made his

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 ...

debut in a 0–1 home loss against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

, scoring his first competitive goal three months later in the 3–0 league win at Gimnàstic de Tarragona. Despite having had a buyout clause of €50 million inserted in his contract, Fernández failed to achieve significant playing time during his first three seasons, but still contributed 30 matches and three goals in 2007–08 as the side finished a best-ever runners-up. On 10 May 2009, he scored from a penalty kick in a 3–3 away draw against eventual champions

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

Sporting CP

On 1 July 2009, after being deemed surplus to requirements by new Villarreal manager

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

, Fernández joined

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

on a four-year contract, for €3.65 million, with a further €500,000 payable depending on appearances. Villarreal would retain 20% of the profit on any future sale of the player. Fernández scored his first goal for his new team on 27 October 2009, in a 1–1 draw at Vitória de Guimarães, adding another the following week also in the Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

, at home against C.S. Marítimo (again 1–1). 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 ...

he netted once more, in injury time of the ''Lions 3–0 victory over Everton in the

round of 16 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 ...

(4–2 on aggregate). Fernández remained an important attacking unit in 2011–12, under both Domingos Paciência and his successor Ricardo Sá Pinto. He scored three of his four league goals against U.D. Leiria, two in the 3–1 home win and the game's only in the second match through a free kick in the 101st minute – the game had been interrupted for nine minutes due to floodlights malfunction.

Fiorentina

On 27 July 2012, Fernández transferred to Italian club

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

for about €3.1 million, plus €1.5 million bonuses. During his spell at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, he was consistently bothered by physical problems. Fernández moved to fellow

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

team

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

on 31 August 2016, on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan deal with an option to buy. He made his debut on 6 November, coming off the bench in the 2–1 away victory over U.S. Città di Palermo.

Later years

On 4 September 2017,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Fernández signed with

Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

. On 4 February 2019 he joined

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

defending champions

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, capital of the department of Atlantic ...

on a one-year contract, scoring a late equaliser on his debut 12 days later after coming on as a second-half substitute in the 1–1 home draw with

Rionegro Águilas Rionegro () is a city and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia, located in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The official name of the city is Ciudad Santiago de Arma de Rionegro. Rio Negro means "Black River" in Spanish, as the city ...

; he was named

player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

. On 18 December 2019, Fernández returned to Colo-Colo by agreeing to a one-year deal with the option for a further season. The 36-year-old announced his retirement on 14 February 2023, after 11 months in the same league with

Deportes La Serena Club de Deportes La Serena S.A.D.P., is a Chilean football club based in the city of La Serena, Coquimbo Region. The club was founded 9 December 1955 and plays in the second division of the Chilean football league. Their home games are play ...

International career

Fernández captained the Chile team at the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

, scoring a goal in the 7–0 rout of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. Despite a second-round exit to

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

he displayed overall good football, playing alongside

Nicolás Canales Nicolás Sebastián Canales Calas (, born 27 June 1985) is a Chilean former professional footballer who plays for as a striker. Club career Early career Canales debuted with Universidad de Chile where he won the Apertura in 2004 and reached th ...

, Carlos Villanueva and

José Pedro Fuenzalida José Pedro Fuenzalida Gana (; born 22 February 1985) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a right winger. Club career A product of the Universidad Católica youth set-up, Fuenzalida was promoted to the first-adult team i ...

. Also a former under-17 international, Fernández quickly established as an integral part of the full side, netting five times and appearing for the nation at the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

. After featuring prominently in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualification campaign, he was selected for the finals in South Africa, playing – and starting – in the group stage against

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

(both 1–0 wins), in an eventual last-16 exit. In May 2014, Fernández underwent an ankle surgery on his right foot, thus being unable to participate in that year's World Cup. He was included in the Chilean squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the opening match, a 2–0 win over

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago; after having come as a 75th-minute substitute for

Jorge Valdivia Jorge Luis Valdivia Toro (, born 19 October 1983) is a Chilean national and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Product of Colo-Colo youth ranks, Valdivia had an impressing loan spell at Universidad de Concep ...

, he was one of four players on target in the final against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, which ended 4–1 in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Fernández was initially named in the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

squad, but had to withdraw through injury and was replaced by

Mark González Mark Dennis González Hoffmann (born 10 July 1984) is a Chileans, Chilean former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He played top flight football in Chile, Russia, Spain, Brazil and England. He was descr ...

as the nation again won the tournament.

Post-retirement

In December 2024, Fernández graduated as a

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 beg ...

at (National Institute of Football, Sports and Physical Activity of Chile).

Personal life

Fernández married his Chilean wife in March 2013, but the couple's first child had already been born in late 2008. He was fined for

speeding Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, expre ...

when he was driving from

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

, to witness the baby's birth. Before moving to Europe, Fernández was often compared to compatriot

David Pizarro David Marcelo Pizarro Cortés (born 11 September 1979) is a Chilean former professional Association football, footballer who last played as a midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Universidad de Chile. He is usually deployed as a Midfie ...

, who spent most of his professional career in Italy.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honours

Colo-Colo *

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

: 2006 Apertura, 2006 Clausura *

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

runner-up:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Sporting CP *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

runner-up: 2011–12 Fiorentina *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

runner-up: 2013–14 Milan *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Necaxa *

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

: Clausura 2018 *

Supercopa MX Supercopa MX () was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Copa MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. Initially played in a two-legged and later with a single final match. It w ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Junior *

: 2019–I Chile *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual * South American Footballer of the Year: 2006

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Matias 1986 births Living people Argentine emigrants to Chile Naturalized citizens of Chile Sportspeople of Argentine descent Argentine sportspeople of Chilean descent 21st-century Chilean sportsmen Chilean men's footballers Footballers from Buenos Aires Men's association football midfielders Chilean Primera División players Colo-Colo footballers Deportes La Serena footballers La Liga players Villarreal CF players Primeira Liga players Sporting CP footballers Serie A players ACF Fiorentina players AC Milan players Liga MX players Club Necaxa footballers Categoría Primera A players Atlético Junior footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Chile men's international footballers 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players Copa América–winning players Chilean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Spain Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Italy Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Colombia South American Footballer of the Year winners