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Enzo Jeremías Fernández (born 17 January 2001) is an Argentine 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 ...
who plays as a
central 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 boundarie ...
for
Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...
club Benfica and the Argentina national team. As an academy graduate of River Plate, Fernández made his first-team debut for the club in 2019, before spending two seasons on loan with
Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.
. There, he enjoyed a successful campaign which culminated in him winning the
Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...
and
Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club football competition organized by CO ...
, before returning to River Plate in 2021. Following his return, Fernández established himself as an integral player for the club, and won the
2021 Argentine Primera División The 2021 Argentine Primera División - Liga Profesional (officially the Torneo Socios.com for sponsorship reasons) was the 131st season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The league season began on 16 July and ended on 13 December ...
. He joined Portuguese
Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...
side Benfica in the summer of 2022. Fernández represented his country at under-18 level, before making his senior international debut in 2022. He was chosen for the
2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...
, scoring one goal during the competition, and won the tournament's Young Player Award as Argentina captured their third title.


Club career


River Plate


Early career

Born in
San Martín, Buenos Aires Ciudad del Libertador General Don José de San Martín, more commonly known as San Martín, is the administrative seat of General San Martín Partido in the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires. Geography The area is heavily urbanised and ...
, to Raúl and Marta; Fernández has four brothers, Seba, Rodri, Maxi and Gonza. He was introduced to football at a young age, playing for a local side called Club La Recova, before joining River Plate in 2006, aged five. After thirteen years spent progressing through the ranks, Fernández was promoted into the club's first-team by manager
Marcelo Gallardo Marcelo Daniel Gallardo (; born 18 January 1976) is an Argentine football coach and former professional player who last managed River Plate. Gallardo began his career in the club's youth divisions, and made his debut in the Argentine Primera D ...
on 27 January 2019, in a 3–1 home loss to Patronato in the Primera División, despite remaining on the bench. He made his first-team debut on 4 March 2020, replacing Santiago Sosa in the 75th minute of a 3–0 loss to
L.D.U. Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...
in the
Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
. In the weeks prior, he scored once, in the 6–1 thrashing of Libertad, in four games at the 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores in Paraguay.


2020–21: Loan to Defensa y Justicia

Despite being sporadically used Fernández's manager advised him to leave the club on loan, in order to continue his development. In August, Fernández was loaned to fellow top-flight club
Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.
. He made his debut for the ''Halcón'' on 18 September by manager
Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At in ...
in a 3–0 win over Delfín in the Copa Libertadores. Despite initially not being a starter, his performances impressed his manager and eventually he earned a place in the team, helping the club win the
2020 Copa Sudamericana The 2020 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 19th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana'', or pt, Copa Sul-Americana), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. On 17 O ...
, starting in the 3–0 win over fellow Argentinian side
Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...
in the final, winning his first career title.


2021–22: First-team breakthrough

After impressing on loan, Fernández returned to River Plate, during the season at the request of manager Marcelo Gallardo, making his return on 15 July 2021, in the first leg of Copa Libertadores round-of-16, featuring in the 1–1 home draw to fellow Argentinian side
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 th ...
. He immediately became a starter and on 14 August, he scored his first goal for the club and provided an assist in a 2–0 win over Vélez Sarsfield in the Primera División. On 20 December, he agreed to a contract extension to 2025. Following a promising start in the 2022 season, which he scored eight goals and provided six assists in 19 games, Fernández was named the best active footballer in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
, being subsequently scouted by a number of established European teams.


Benfica

On 23 June 2022, River Plate reached an agreement with
Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...
team Benfica for the transfer of Fernández for a €10 million fee for 75% of his economic rights plus €8 million in add-ons, but with the player remaining at River Plate until the end of the club's
Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
campaign. Following River Plate's round of 16 exit from the Copa Libertadores, on 14 July, Benfica confirmed the deal, being given the number 13 shirt, previously worn by club legend
Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...
. He made his debut for the club on 2 August, scoring his first goal for the club, a half-volley from outside the penalty area, in a 4–1 home win over
Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish muni ...
in the first leg of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. He then scored in Benfica's next matches: a 4–0 home win over Arouca in the
Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...
, and a 3–1 away win over Midtjylland in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. His impressive performances continued throughout the month and following a run of five consecutive wins and three clean sheets, he was named the Primeira Liga's Midfielder of the Month, a feat which was repeated for the months of October and November.


International career

On 24 July 2019, Fernández was selected by the Argentina U18s manager
Esteban Solari Esteban Andrés Solari Poggio (; born 2 June 1980) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker, currently manager of Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim. Playing career Solari was born in Rosario, Santa Fe. ...
to represent his nation at the
2019 COTIF Tournament The 2019 L'Alcúdia International Football Tournament was a Association football, football competition which took place in July and August 2019. The 2019 edition was the fourth to feature only international youth teams. Previous editions had con ...
in Spain. On 3 November 2021, he was called up by Argentina national team manager
Lionel Scaloni Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (; born 16 May 1978) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who currently coaches the Argentina national team. A versatile player, he operated as a right-back or right midfielder. Born in Puj ...
for two
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tourn ...
against
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
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 ...
. He made his senior team debut on 24 September 2022, by coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for
Leandro Paredes Leandro Daniel Paredes (; born 29 June 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Juventus, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, and the Argentina national team. He was part of the خط� ...
in a 3–0 win against Honduras. On 11 November, he was named in Argentina's 26-man squad for the
2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...
. After coming on for Guido Rodríguez in the 57th minute, on 26 November, Fernández scored his first international goal, closing Argentina's 2–0 group stage win against
Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
. In doing so, he became the second youngest player ever (only behind
Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...
) to score a World Cup goal for Argentina at 21 years, ten months and thirteen days old. On 3 December, he achieved a rather not so famous record, becoming the youngest own goal scorer in the history of Argentina in the FIFA World Cup, in the round of sixteen match against Australia, when his attempt to block
Craig Goodwin Craig Alexander Goodwin (born 16 December 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays for Adelaide United and the Australian national team. He is Adelaide United's all-time leading goalscorer. Club career Early career He start ...
's shot instead deflected into his team's net as Argentina beat Australia 2–1. After defeating
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
3–0 in the semi-final, Fernández played in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
against
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, where Argentina won the World Cup by a score of 4–2 on penalties. He was named the best young player of the tournament.


Style of play

During his career, Fernández has been deployed in a deep-seated playmaking role as a
central 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 boundarie ...
, responsible for breaking up play, dictating the tempo and recycling possession, although he is also capable of playing in a more advanced role as an
attacking 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 boundarie ...
. He usually makes quick short passes, accurate long passes, and lobbed balls. He is very combative in his midfield duels, protects the space and his backline efficiently, he possesses a good passing range, excellent vision and high levels of accuracy, which is very purposeful in his midfield actions and can dribble into dangerous territory or out of it to devastating effect. He thrives in receiving the ball in tight spaces and is very press-resistant due to his wonderful low sense of gravity, balance and flexibility in his body movements. He excels at quick short passes, passing to break lines or to play through attackers running to space, but also passing in the means of keeping possession to move around and tire opposition shapes. Fernández excels out of possession, always looking to get into the right positions to stop of opposition attacks, disrupting moves, whilst also being in the right place at the right time to intercept passes. In addition, he is a good dribbler and can move the ball forward either through his passing. He prefers operating centrally but can sometimes be seen in the left half-space usually in a partnership with Florentino Luís.


Personal life

Fernández is named after three-time
Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...
winner and former River Plate player
Enzo Francescoli Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (; born 12 November 1961), nicknamed "El Príncipe" ("The Prince"), is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a attacking midfielder. He is regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and as one of Uru ...
, due to his father Raúl's fascination with the Uruguayan footballer. Fernández is married to Valentina Cervantes, with whom he has a daughter, born in 2020.


Career statistics


Club


International

: ''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fernández goal''


Honours

Defensa y Justicia *
Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...
:
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...
*
Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club football competition organized by CO ...
:
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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
River Plate *
Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). T ...
:
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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
Argentina *
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...
:
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
Individual * CONMEBOL
Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...
Squad of the Season:
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...
*
Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...
Midfielder of the Month: August 2022, October/November 2022 * FIFA World Cup Young Player Award:
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Enzo 2001 births Living people People from San Martín, Buenos Aires Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Club Atlético River Plate footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers S.L. Benfica footballers Argentine Primera División players Primeira Liga players Argentina youth international footballers Argentina international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players