Fernando Martínez Perales (born 21 May 1967), commonly known as Nando, is a Spanish retired 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 a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, also a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. In his career, the majority of which was spent at

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 ...

and Deportivo, he totalled 413 games across the two top tiers of

Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain, with 61% of the population interested in it. Spain has some of the most influential teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, and others) as well as many playe ...

over 14 seasons. Of those, 343 were in

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 ...

(15 goals).

Club career

Born in

, Nando began his career with local club

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

, but moved across town to

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 ...

after securing promotion from

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

in 1987. An attacking-minded fullback who started his career as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he spent five seasons at the latter, but started less frequently in his final two years following the arrival of Brazilian Leonardo. Nando joined

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

on a free transfer in the summer of 1992, which also saw

Adolfo Aldana Adolfo Aldana Torres (born 5 January 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder. Over 11 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 179 matches and 31 goals, mainly with Real Madrid and Deportivo with which h ...

Bebeto José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian general elections and was elected to the Legis ...

and

Mauro Silva Mauro da Silva Gomes (; born 12 January 1968), known as Mauro Silva, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. A hard-working player with great stamina, as well as tackling and leadership skills, he ...

arrive at the

Estadio Riazor Estadio Municipal de Riazor () is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain which is the home stadium of Deportivo de La Coruña. Currently known as Estadio Abanca-Riazor for sponsorship reasons, its name derives from the nearby beach ...

. During his spell, the Galician side began their rise to ''Super Depor'' fame, winning its first two trophies – the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

and the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

, both in 1995 – which were the player's first and only honours. Following the arrival of

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

as Deportivo manager in 1995, Nando once again found himself increasingly on the sidelines. Although he regained first-choice status for the 1996–97 season he lost his place to Frenchman

Jérôme Bonnissel Jérôme Bonnissel (born 16 April 1973) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Career Born in Montpellier, Bonnissel started his career with hometown club Montpellier, and proceeded to spend three seasons with La L ...

the following ''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. The The Following (season 1), first s ...

, and signed with

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

team

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

in January 1998 after five and a half years and 202 competitive appearances. Nando helped the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns to promote to the top flight in his first full season, but suffered immediate relegation in a campaign in which he played 30 league matches, and met the same fate the following year with second-tier

SD Compostela Sociedade Deportiva Compostela is a Spanish football team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They play home matches at San Lázaro, and compete in . History A team called Compostela Foot-ball Club was founded in 1928, ceasing to exist ...

, after which he retired from professional football aged 34, going on to compete at amateur level with

Atlético Arteixo Club Atlético Arteixo is a Spanish football team based in Arteixo, A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1949 it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Campo Municipal Ponte dos Brozos'', with a capacity of 2,000 s ...

International career

Nando made his debut for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 14 September 1988 in a 1–2 friendly loss to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, in

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

. His second – and final – appearance came four and a half years later in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

, another exhibition game which was played in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

References

External links

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CiberChe stats and bio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nando 1967 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Valencia Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Levante UD footballers Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players Sevilla FC players SD Compostela footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Spanish football managers Tercera División managers Pontevedra CF managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Armenia 20th-century Spanish sportsmen