Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez (15 January 1966 – 6 May 1993) was a
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
nian
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
striker.
The second Panamanian to play in Europe, he spent almost his entire professional career in Spain, amassing
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 ...
totals of 104 games and 32 goals – 162/56 both
major levels combined – in representation of four teams. In 1993, he died in a
car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...
, at the age of just 27.
Club career
Fernández was born in the
Panama City
Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
neighborhood of
El Chorrillo. In 1987, the 21-year-old signed for
CD Tenerife
Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...
in Spain from
Alianza, scoring a career-best 18 goals in
his second season as the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
side was promoted to
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 ...
for the second time in its history; in the following years he also netted in double digits as the club retained its top division status – in the
1989–90 campaign he was named Best South American Player (sic) in the Spanish League and, the following year, was voted best
Ibero-America
Ibero-America (, ) or Iberian America is generally considered to be the region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former colony, territories of Spain or Portugal). Sp ...
n player in the competition by news agency
EFE
Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major Spanish language, Spanish-language multimedia news agency and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was ...
, receiving the
Trofeo EFE.
Nicknamed "El
Panzer
{{CatAutoTOC, numerals=no
Words and phrases
Germanic words and phrases
Words and phrases by language
la:Categoria:Verba Theodisca ...
", Fernández moved 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 ...
in 1991, but was used mostly as a backup in
his only season, scoring just two goals. Subsequently he joined
Albacete Balompié
Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...
on loan, helping the
Castilla–La Mancha
Castilla–La Mancha (, ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Province of Albacete, Albacete, Province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real, Province of Cuenca, Cuenca, Province of Guadalajar ...
team
retain its first division status in its second season ever and scoring his 50th league goal in the process, against former club Tenerife.
International career
Fernández represented
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
numerous times, making his debut in the late 80's. In 1986, during a trip with the national team to Spain to participate in the Mundialito de la Emigración, a tournament where Tenerife played a select squad of players with Spanish ancestry, he played well enough to be offered a contract by the hosts.
Fernández's last match with Panama was a 1–5 defeat in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
for the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...
qualifiers, on 23 August 1992.
Death
On 6 May 1993, after returning from a meal with his Albacete teammates, Fernández died in a car accident just outside
Albacete
Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete.
Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...
, after losing control of his car and hitting his head on a tree. His cousin Ronny Rojo was also travelling with him, but emerged unharmed.
Legacy
Estadio Revolución was renamed
Estadio Rommel Fernández
The Estadio Olímpico Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez, named after the Panamanian football star Rommel Fernández (1966–1993), is a multi-purpose stadium in Panama City. It is used for different sports, but mainly football (soccer) games. It was ...
, in Fernández's honour.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Rommel
1966 births
1993 deaths
People from Panamá District
Sportspeople from Panamá Province
Panamanian people of Spanish descent
Panamanian men's footballers
20th-century Panamanian sportsmen
Men's association football forwards
La Liga players
Segunda División players
CD Tenerife players
Valencia CF players
Albacete Balompié players
Panama men's international footballers
Panamanian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Road incident deaths in Spain