Marcelo Fabián Fernández Benítez (born 25 October 2001) is a Paraguayan

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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a Paraguayan professional football club based in Asunción that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Liber ...

in the

Paraguayan Primera División The División Profesional de la Paraguayan Football Association, Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (; "Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association"), also known as the Primera División (; "first division"), or due to sponsorship ...

Club career

Born in Itá in the

Central department Central () is a Departments of Paraguay, department in Paraguay. The capital is Areguá. With 1,883,927 inhabitants, it is the most populated of the 17 departments of Paraguay. It is also the smallest department, with a total area of . Geogra ...

, Fernández came through the ranks of

in the capital

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

. He made his debut on 15 August 2021 in the

, starting in a 3–3 home draw with Club 12 de Octubre de Santo Domingo. At the start of 2022, Fernández was loaned to fellow top-flight team

Tacuary Club Tacuary is a Paraguayan First Division football team, based in the neighborhood of Jara in Asunción. The club was founded in 1923. Tacuary qualified for the Copa Libertadores tournament twice (in 2005 and 2007) and the Copa Sudamerican ...

. On 11 March he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win at

Sportivo Ameliano Club Sportivo Ameliano, also simply known as Ameliano, is a Paraguayan football club based in Virgen del Huerto neighborhood in the city of Asunción. The club competes in the Paraguayan Primera División for the 2022 season after their promotio ...

, to give his club their first win of the

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 ...

on the sixth matchday; he finished his spell with 37 games and 6 goals. Fernández helped Libertad win the

Copa Paraguay The Copa Paraguay is a knockout football competition in men's domestic Paraguayan football, starting in 2018 and succeeding the defunct Torneo República. The project for its creation was officially presented in December 2017 and approved by the ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. He scored his first goal for them in a 3–0 third-round win at

Club Sol de América Club Sol de América is a Paraguayan sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is located in barrio Obrero (Asunción), Barrio Obrero, Asunción, and was founded in 1909. The stadium Sol de America uses for m ...

, followed by the 2–1 winner at

Club Sportivo San Lorenzo Club Sportivo San Lorenzo, is a Paraguayan football club based in the city of San Lorenzo. It was founded April 17, 1930, and plays in División Intermedia, the second division in the Paraguayan football league system, after suffering relegati ...

in the last 16, and opening a 3–0 home win over

Deportivo Santaní Club Deportivo Santaní, is a Paraguayan football club based in the city of San Estanislao, locally known as ''Santaní''. The club was founded February 27, 2009 and plays in División Intermedia, the second division in the Paraguayan football l ...

in the quarter-finals. In the final on 2 December, he came on as a substitute as his team won on penalties against

Sportivo Trinidense Sportivo Trinidense is a Paraguayan football club based in the barrio of Santísima Trinidad, in Asunción. The club was founded on 11 August 1935. Their home games are played at the Estadio Martín Torres. Their traditional rival is Rubio Ñu ...

. On 18 February 2024, Fernández scored his first league goal for Libertad, the winner off the bench in a 2–1 victory at Sol de América. In April, he was ruled out for a month with

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

International career

Fernández was called up to the

Paraguay national under-23 football team The Paraguay national under-23 football team, also known as the Paraguay Olympic football team, represents Paraguay in international association football, football competitions in Olympic Games and Pan American Games. The team is governed by the ...

for the

2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament (, ) was the 14th edition of the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) to d ...

in Venezuela. In the first two games, he scored in a 4–3 win over

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, and the only goal against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, as his team qualified. Fernández was chosen for the 2024 Olympic football event in France. In the second group game, he scored twice in a 4–2 win over

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, followed by the only goal against

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

as his team made the quarter-finals.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Marcelo 2001 births Living people People from Itá, Paraguay Men's association football forwards Paraguayan men's footballers Club Libertad footballers Tacuary footballers Paraguayan Primera División players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Paraguay 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen