Rowen Fernández (born 28 February 1978) is a South African 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 le ...

who played as a

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 ...

Club career

Kaizer Chiefs

Following a great season with ''The Students'', Fernández was signed by

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...

from

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

in 2001 along with midfielder

Stanton Fredericks Stanton "Stiga" Fredericks (born 13 June 1978 in Johannesburg, Gauteng) is a South African association football player who last played as midfielder for Bidvest Wits in the Premier Soccer League and has previously represented South Africa. Stant ...

. Fernández was to be an understudy to

Brian Baloyi Brian Baloyi (born 16 March 1974) is a retired South African association football goalkeeper. Baloyi made his professional debut in 1993. He joined league rivals Mamelodi Sundowns in 2004 after playing for Kaizer Chiefs for over a decade. He i ...

, who was on the verge of landing a lucrative contract in Europe. Fernández initially struggled to break into the first team, as Baloyi put up solid performances week in and week out. The big break finally came, when he made his debut in the

Vodacom Challenge The Vodacom Challenge was an association football pre-season tournament that featured Vodacom-sponsored South African clubs Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs plus from 2006 onwards an invited European club. Prior to 2006, the competition consisted ...

against Ghanaian side

Hearts of Oak Hearts most commonly refers to: * Hearts (card game), a trick-taking game * Hearts (suit), one of the standard four suits of cards * Heart, an organ Hearts may also refer to: Music * The Hearts, an American girl group closely related to the Jay ...

Royal Bafokeng Stadium The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace is a football, rugby and athletics stadium in Phokeng near Rustenburg, South Africa. It was built and is managed by the Royal Bafokeng Nation. It was used as the home stadium for Premier Soccer League club Plati ...

on 30 June 2001. Chiefs won the game 2–0. He made his PSL debut for Chiefs in a 2–1 win against

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

on 22 August 2001. "Spider", as he is known due to his amazing love for creepy crawlies (snakes and spiders), was hospitalised in April 2003 after he was bitten by one of his spiders. He had also battled to command a first team place in the same season and only got a run in the 5–0

ABSA Cup The ABSA Cup, formerly the Barclays Cup, is the current branding for an association football single-elimination tournament, cup competition launched in 2007 by the Football Association of Zambia. Participants are decided half-way through curren ...

first round victory against Sporting at Ellis Park. However, the 2003–04 season started off very well for Fernández who was handed the number one jersey as Baloyi struggled with a niggling injury. The former national under-23 star began his playing career at Benoni amateur side ''Benoni Northerns'' before joining Wits where he caught the eye of the under-23 selectors. He has six under-23 caps. During the 2006–07 season he scored two goals. He kicked his way into the history books in February 2007 when he pounced on the rebound, after Brian Baloyi of

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football l ...

could only parry his retaken spot kick and knocked the ball home from close range. The fact that Rowen had missed the kick and scored on the rebound meant that his thirty second-minute equaliser against Sundowns was not classified as a penalty, but instead it was recorded as a goal scored from open play. The other goal resulted from a spot kick in a match against his former club Wits in September 2006.

Arminia Bielefeld

Fernández joined German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

in June 2007 on a free transfer after being out of contract with Chiefs to team up with former Chiefs coach

Ernst Middendorp Ernst Middendorp (born 28 October 1958) is a German association football coach who coaches South African Premier Soccer League club Maritzburg United. Education Middendorp was born in Freren. In 1984, he enrolled in the University of Bielefel ...

who then coached Arminia. Fernández lost his place as first choice goalkeeper to

Dennis Eilhoff Dennis Eilhoff (born 31 July 1982) is a German former professional footballer who played as a football goalkeeper. Career Youth Born in Witten, West Germany, Eilhoff began his career with SC Delbrück in 1990. Four years later he played for TuS ...

after injury. On 1 January 2011, during the January transfer window, Fernández left Arminia Bielefeld for

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the Dstv Premiership. United is known as ''Matsats ...

International career

Fernández made his full international debut for the South Africa national team in a 2–0 win against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in August 2004. He had hoped to be a part of his country's squad at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

to be held in South Africa, but was omitted from the final 23 by coach

Carlos Alberto Parreira Carlos Alberto Gomes Parreira (born 27 February 1943) is a Brazilian former football Coach (sport), manager who holds the record for attending the most FIFA World Cup final tournaments as manager with six appearances. He also managed five differ ...

in favour of

Itumeleng Khune Itumeleng Issac Khune (born 20 June 1987) is a South African professional soccer player who plays as goalkeeper for Kaizer Chiefs in the Premier Soccer League, and also the South African national team. He is the captain of both. Khune shot ...

, Moeneeb Josephs and

Shu-Aib Walters Shu-Aib Walters (born 26 December 1981) is a South African association football player who last played as a goalkeeper for Ajax Cape Town in the Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, st ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Rowen 1978 births Living people People from Springs, Gauteng White South African people South African people of Spanish descent Sportspeople from Gauteng South African soccer players Association football goalkeepers South Africa international soccer players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players of South Africa 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players SuperSport United F.C. players Arminia Bielefeld players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Bidvest Wits F.C. players South African expatriate soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany