Roberto Eladio Fernández Roa, also known as Gato Fernández, (born 9 July 1954) is a retired
football 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 ...
from
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
. He was
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...
ped 78 times for the
Paraguay national football team
The Paraguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Paraguay) represents Paraguay in men's international Association football, football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya ...
in an international career that lasted from 1976 to 1989. He was also a member of the Paraguayan team that won the 1979
Copa América.
rsssf: Copa América 1979
/ref> He earned the nickname "El Gato" (The Cat) for his outstanding stretching saves.
Club career
Fernández began his career, debuting professionally, at the age of 17 for Club River Plate of Paraguay. Some of his clubs include Cerro Porteño
Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...
, Deportivo Cali, RCD 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 ...
, Internacional
Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...
and Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...
. He made his international debut for the Paraguay national football team
The Paraguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Paraguay) represents Paraguay in men's international Association football, football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya ...
on 10 March 1976 in a Copa del Atlántico match against Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
(2–2).
Fernández played his final professional game in 1997 (Cerro Porteño vs. Sportivo Luqueño) at the age of 43, making him the oldest goalkeeper to play professionally in Paraguayan football history.
International career
During the late 1970s to the mid to late 1980s, his only challenger in goal for the Paraguay national team was Ever Hugo Almeida
Ever Hugo Almeida Almada (born 1 July 1948) is a Paraguayan football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current manager of Ecuadorian club El Nacional.
Almeida was born in Salto, Uruguay, but became a naturalized ...
. Finally, in the late 1980s, Fernández became the back-up to Jose Luis Chilavert.
During the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Fernández started for Paraguay in all four games. He stopped a penalty kick from Mexican Hugo Sánchez
Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager, who played as a forward. A prolific goalscorer known for his spectacular strikes and volleys, he is widely regarded as the greatest Mexican ...
to hold the host team to a 1–1 draw.
Retirement
After retiring, Fernández dedicated himself to working as a board of director at his original club (River Plate of Paraguay), and representing other footballers. His son, Gatito Fernández
Roberto Júnior "Gatito" Fernández Torres (born 29 March 1988) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Botafogo.
He is known as ''Gatito'' ( en, little cat) for being the son of former P ...
, is a professional goalkeeper, currently in the registry of Botafogo in Brazil.
Honours
Club
Cerro Porteño
* Primera División: 1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
, 1996
*Torneo República: 1991
Internacional
*Campeonato Gaúcho
The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...
: 1991, 1992
*Copa do Brasil
The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...
: 1992
Palmeiras
* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
* Campeonato Paulista: 1994
International
Paraguay
* Copa América: 1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
References
External links
International statistics
at rsssf
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around th ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Roberto
1956 births
Living people
Footballers from Asunción
Paraguayan men's footballers
Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers
Paraguay men's international footballers
Men's association football goalkeepers
Cerro Porteño players
Deportivo Cali footballers
Sport Club Internacional players
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players
Club River Plate (Asunción) footballers
RCD Espanyol footballers
Paraguayan Primera División players
La Liga players
Categoría Primera A players
Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil
Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Colombia
Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Copa América-winning players
1979 Copa América players
1987 Copa América players
1989 Copa América players
1986 FIFA World Cup players
Paraguayan people of Italian descent
Paraguayan people of Spanish descent