Álvaro Fernández (; born 11 October 1985) is a retired

Uruguayan Uruguayans () are people identified with the country of Uruguay, through citizenship or descent. Uruguay is home to people of different ethnic origins. As a result, many Uruguayans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizen ...

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 ...

. He played 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 ...

Career

Club

Fernández began his career with

Atenas de San Carlos Club Atlético Atenas de San Carlos is a football club from San Carlos, Maldonado in Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda División. History Atenas played two seasons in the Uruguayan Primera División, 2009–10 and 2014–1 ...

. His performances for

Atenas Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city. Toponymy Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Repu ...

led him to sign for

Montevideo Wanderers Montevideo Wanderers Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Wanderers, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club are currently members of the Primera División and play at the Estadio Viera. Beside football, the cl ...

in 2007. In his one season with Wanderers Fernández appeared in 27 league matches scoring 1 goal. In 2008, he joined Mexican side

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

before returning to Uruguay to play for top side

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. In the

2009 Copa Libertadores Second Stage The Second Stage of the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores was a group stage. It was played from February 10 to April 30. Format Twenty-six teams qualified directly into this round, plus six that advanced from the First Stage. This brings the tota ...

, Fernández scored a goal against

Club Nacional Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico. Int ...

of Paraguay and River Plate. While at Nacional Fernández scored several key goals in helping his side capture the 2008–09 league title. He was then loaned out to Portuguese side Vitória in 2009. This was his first club experience outside of the Americas. In 2010, he was again loaned out to

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

. During his stay at the club, he scored a goal in a 3–2 win at the Maracanã against Brazilian club

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

in the quarterfinals of the

2010 Copa Libertadores The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de Améric ...

. On 21 July 2010, rumors began circulating that Fernández had been transferred to the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. On 29 July, the Sounders announced the signing was complete. Fernández became the third

Designated Player A designated player may refer to: *Designated Player Rule, a Major League Soccer rule for players over the salary cap *Designated player (NBA), a National Basketball Association exemption for contract extensions * Designated player (softball), a so ...

in the team's history. He made his first appearance for the Sounders on 31 July as a substitute in a 1–0 win against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. On 3 August, Fernández came on as a substitute and scored his first goal for the Sounders as in a 1–1 draw (2–1 aggregate score) against

Isidro Metapán Isidro is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Saints *Saint Isidore the Laborer (c. 1070 – died 1130), the patron saint of farmers of Madrid (Spain) and La Ceiba (Honduras) *Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – died 636), schola ...

to get the Sounders into the group stage of the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

. On 27 July 2012, Fernández was traded to the Chicago Fire for allocation money. This move opened up a DP slot for newcomer Christian Tiffert. He signed a 6-month long loan deal with Qatari club

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

on 16 January 2013. Fernández was again loaned out by Chicago on 9 July 2013 when he returned to his former club

.He retired on January 1 2024.

International

Fernández made his first international appearance for Uruguay on 1 April 2009. He came on as a substitute in the 40th minute during a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

qualifying match against Chile, which ended as a 0–0 draw. He has won 11 caps for the

Uruguay national football team The Uruguay national football team (), nicknamed ''La Celeste'' ("The Sky Blue") and ''Los Charrúas'' ("The Charrúa, Charrúas"), have represented Uruguay in international men's Association football, football since their first international m ...

. During

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

Fernández played in six games and played 246 minutes, 41 minutes per game. Fernández played for Uruguay at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

in South Africa appearing in four matches helping Uruguay to a fourth-place finish.

Personal life

During the week of 6 September 2010, Fernández's wife gave birth to a baby boy, whom they named Bobby Valentino. Fernández received a U.S. green card in March 2012. This qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honours

;Club Nacional de Football *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

(1): 2008–09 ;Seattle Sounders FC *

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

(2):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

;Al Rayyan SC *

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup (), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by all first and second division teams in Qatar. The tournament is played in a knockout system, ...

(1):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Alvaro 1985 births Living people Footballers from Soriano Department Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 2010 FIFA World Cup players Atenas de San Carlos players Montevideo Wanderers F.C. players Club Nacional de Football players Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Club Puebla players Vitória F.C. players Al-Rayyan SC players Club Universidad de Chile footballers Seattle Sounders FC players Chicago Fire FC players San Martín de San Juan footballers San Martín de Tucumán footballers Rampla Juniors players Club Plaza Colonia de Deportes players Uruguayan Primera División players Chilean Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Primeira Liga players Liga MX players Major League Soccer players Qatar Stars League players Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Designated Players (MLS) Men's association football midfielders