 Fernandez in 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1959-10-02)2 October 1959 (age 65)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tarifa, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–1970 | AS Minguettes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970–1978 | Saint-Priest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1986 | Paris Saint-Germain | 225 | (30) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1989 | RC Paris | 59 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989–1993 | Cannes | 93 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 377 | (38) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1992 | France | 60 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Cannes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Paris Saint-Germain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Athletic Bilbao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2003 | Paris Saint-Germain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Espanyol | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Al-Rayyan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Beitar Jerusalem | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Real Betis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Reims | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Israel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Guinea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo (born 2 October 1959), known asLuis Fernandez, is a Frenchfootball manager and former player who played as adefensive midfielder.
Fernandez spent most of his playing career forParis Saint-Germain. He earned 60 internationalcaps and scored 6 goals for theFrance national team between 1982 and 1992, and was part of their teams that wonUEFA Euro 1984 and came third at the1986 FIFA World Cup.
Fernandez managed PSG in two spells, winning several domestic and European honours. He also managedCannes andReims in France, andAthletic Bilbao,Espanyol andReal Betis inLa Liga.
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Fernandez was born inTarifa, Spain,[3] and moved to France with his parents at age nine. He began playing football at the AS Minguettes and became a naturalized French citizen in 1981.[4] He signed his first professional contract at age 19 withParis Saint-Germain.[citation needed]
After the elimination from the1986 FIFA World Cup, and just after he had won theDivision 1 championship with PSG, Fernandez made the decision to joinJean-Luc Lagardère's teamRacing Club de Paris. However, in spite of a team that was strong on paper, the club and Fernandez did not succeed, and he left Racing after three seasons.[citation needed]
From Racing, Fernandez joinedCannes in 1989, a more modest club. At club level, Cannes was relegated toLigue 2 at the end of the 1991–92 season, but Fernandez decided to remain with the club and end his career when his contract expired. A few weeks, however, Cannes named Fernandez its manager, and so he finished the season asplayer-manager, leading Cannes back to Division 1 at the end of the season. He then retired from playing professionally to become a full-time manager.[citation needed]
Fernandez quickly established himself as an expert in winning the ball, but also capable of precise passing, and at the end of 1982, he was called up for theFrance national team and debuted against theNetherlands on 10 November 1982. At age 23, Fernandez was immediately an important part of the team that only months earlier had been semi-finalists of the1982 FIFA World Cup. He formed the national midfield with such France national team greats asJean Tigana in the central midfield, and the offensive playersAlain Giresse andMichel Platini, a midfield that became known as the "magic square".[5] With the national team, Fernandez wonUEFA Euro 1984 at home in France, and reached the semi-final of the1986 World Cup in Mexico.[citation needed]
Fernandez was still a part of the France national team in spite of a declining physique. Not a starting player under new national team manager Michel Platini, Fernandez would play the role of a late joker, with the job to clinch a result at the end of the match and successfully helped France to overcome Spain, the country of his birth, to qualify for theUEFA Euro 1992. Fernandez took part inEuro 1992, where France were eliminated in the group stage, and Fernandez decided to end his international career.[citation needed]
After Cannes' promotion to Division 1, Fernandez continued his work at the club and led it toUEFA Cup qualification. He was namedManager of the Year at the end of the 1993–94 season, on grounds of Fernandez's alluring philosophy of offensive tactics with a use of young players. The profile of Fernandez particularly interested Paris Saint-Germain. Despite winning Division 1 and having a good run in theUEFA Champions League, PSG failed to play attractive football, partly because of Portuguese managerArtur Jorge, who applied a more rigid strategic system. The board of PSG saw in Fernandez the ideal manager to reform the image of the club.[citation needed]
In the1994–95 UEFA Champions League, Fernandez's PSG reached the semi-finals by eliminating anFC Barcelona side led byJohan Cruyff.[6] In the same year, his team also picked up theCoupe de France againstRC Strasbourg and theCoupe de la Ligue againstSC Bastia. Despite then losingDavid Ginola andGeorge Weah, PSG won their first European honour, the1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup againstRapid Vienna.[7][8]
Fernandez had four seasons in charge ofAthletic Bilbao in Spain'sLa Liga from 1996 to 2000. In 1997–98, he led the team toUEFA Champions League qualification as runners-up to Barcelona.[9]
After turning down the vacant position at rivalsOlympique de Marseille the previous month, Fernandez returned to PSG in December 2000, succeeding the sackedPhilippe Bergeroo at the 12th-placed club.[10] By finishing 9th, the team qualified for the2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and won the final on theaway goals rule againstBrescia.[11]
In March 2003, after the decline from a good start that saw PSG top in October, Fernandez announced that he would retire at the end of the season.[12] In the game before the announcement, his club wonLe Classique 3–0 at Marseille'sStade Velodrome.[12]
On 4 November 2003, Fernandez was hired byEspanyol, who were situated in last place in the league table with five points from ten games, and had sackedJavier Clemente.[13] He saved them from relegation with a 2–0 home win overReal Murcia in the final game of the season, with both goals in the last 20 minutes.[14]
In 2005, Fernandez was briefly in charge ofAl-Rayyan of theQatar Stars League before switching to Israel'sBeitar Jerusalem in November.[15] He took the team to third place andUEFA Cup qualification in his only season.[citation needed]
Fernandez joinedReal Betis midway through the2006–07 La Liga season and Betis' centenary season. However, he was released on 10 June 2007 following a 5–0 loss at theEstadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera toOsasuna with just one match remaining in Betis' relegation threatened season. IncludingCopa del Rey matches, Fernandez led Betis for 26 matches, winning 5, drawing 16 and losing 7. His tenure lasted from 27 December 2006 to 10 June 2007.[16]
Fernandez joinedStade de Reims halfway through the2008–09 season. Reims were playing inLigue 2, the second tier of French football, but Fernandez was unable to avoid relegation. He was replaced in June 2009 byMarc Collat.[17]
On 21 March 2010, Fernandez was appointed manager of theIsrael national team on an 18-month contract effective 1 May. He vowed to only have Israelis on his coaching team.[18] The following February, he was suspended for an outstanding debt to Al-Rayyan.[19] In December 2011, his contract was allowed to expire after failure to qualify forUEFA Euro 2012, andEli Guttman succeeded him.[20]
On 29 April 2015, Fernandez signed a 20-month contract with theGuinea national team, with the option of an extension.[21] He left by mutual consent on 24 May 2016, due to disputes within theGuinean Football Federation.[22]
Paris Saint-Germain
France
Individual
Paris Saint-Germain
France squads | |||||||||||||
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