Teodoro "Lolo" Fernández Meyzán (20 May 1913 – 17 September 1996) was a Peruvian 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 ...

who played as forward. All his football work was carried out as a player of the

Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of ...

of the Peruvian First Division. He was champion, best player and top scorer in the 1939 Copa América. He is the top idol of

and Peruvian First Division. Fernández is the most emblematic player in the history of club

for which he played his whole career, winning six times the

Primera División Peruana Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

. Although he sporadically reinforced other clubs in friendly matches, clubs such as Alianza Lima and

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

, Fernández never represented a club other than Universitario in official competitions. Known as "El Cañonero" ("The Cannoneer") due to his excellence as a centre-forward and his strong shooting, Fernández was the Primera División Peruana top-scorer seven times.

Club career

Lolo Fernández con Universitario de Deportes en 1953

Lolo was the seventh of Raymunda Meyzán and Tomas Fernández's eight children. He learned to play football in primary school and was soon picked up by local club Huracán de Hualcará where he immediately stood out. At the age of 16, his parents sent him to

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of t ...

to continue his studies. Lolo stayed with his brother Arturo Fernandez who was the goalkeeper for Ciclista Lima. When Arturo transferred to first-division

, he brought Lolo along to play a bit of football in training and introduced him to the club's president, former 1930 World Cup player Placido Galindo, who decided to sign him. Lolo would remain with the club during his 22 years as a professional footballer. He made his professional debut with Universitario de Deportes in a friendly match against

Club Deportivo Magallanes Deportes Magallanes is a Chilean Football team based in San Bernardo, Chile. They will play in the Primera División de Chile starting from 2023 after winning the 2022 Primera B championship. The club was founded on October 27, 1897 with the nam ...

of Chile on 29 November 1931, scoring the game's only goal. In his first season (1932) he became Peruvian top scorer, the team finished second. The following year, the same feat was repeated. The 1934 season saw Lolo lead the division in scoring, winning the Primera División Peruana trophy for the only second time in its history. Lolo obtained 6 local leagues as player in total, all with Universitario de Deportes:

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a max ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidde ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January– August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

, 1946 and

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – ...

. Several times during his career he rejected offers from teams such as in Chile, Argentina and Europe. Rumor has it Chile offered him a "blank check", for he to write in what he wished to be paid. He did not go with Chile. Lolo played his last game for Universitario on 30 August 1953 at the age of 40 in the Peruvian Super Classic during which he scored a hat-trick for a 4–2 win. Lolo is the top goalscorer for Universitario with 156 goals in 180 matches.

International career

Lolo played for the

Peru national football team The Peru national football team represents Peru in men's international football. The national team has been organised, since 1927, by the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF). The FPF constitutes one of the ten members of FIFA's South American ...

from 1935 to 1947, and scored 24 goals in 32 matches. He is the fourth top scorer in history for his country. In 1936, he represented Peru at the 1936 Olympic Games in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. Peru made its way into the quarterfinals after defeating Finland (7–2) and went on to beat Austria (4–2). Lolo Fernandez scored a total of 6 goals in the two games. In the

1938 Bolivarian Games The I Bolivarian Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Bolivarianos'') were a multi-sport event held between August 6–22, 1938, in Bogotá, Colombia, at the Estadio El Campín, for the city's 400th anniversary. The Games were organized by the Bolivarian Sport ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...

, Team Peru won gold. In 1939, he won the

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Ass ...

with the national team. The final was played against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

(2–1) which was arguably the best team in the world at the time, as Uruguay had won gold in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...

and

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

and had won the first World Cup in 1930. Lolo was top scorer of the tournament with 7 goals.

Peru-Chile XI (Combinado del Pacífico)

Fernández was part of the "Combinado del Pacífico" (Peru-Chile XI) a squad of Peruvian and Chilean footballers of Alianza Lima,

Atlético Chalaco The club is the first soccer representative of the first port of Peru, Callao, which laid the foundations for future Chalacos clubs, going from being a school club to being a professional club, gaining recognition, prestige and trust among fan ...

and

that played 39 friendly matches in Europe between September 1933 and March 1934 against teams such as

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

Celtic FC The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigr ...

Hearts FC Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the Sc ...

, Newcastle United FC, West Ham United FC and

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. With 48 goals, Fernández was the team's main goalscorer during the European tour.

Club

Country

Individual awards

* Peruvian League: Top Scorer 1932, 1933, 1934, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1945, 2019 *

1939 South American Championship The fifteenth edition of the South American Championship was held in Lima, Peru from 15 January to 12 February. Overview The participating countries were Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Although CONMEBOL members since 1927, this t ...

: Best Player *

: Top Scorer

Records

* 3rd place of all-time

goal scorers, 15 goals. * All-time top scorer of the Peruvian Super Classic, 29 goals. * Peruvian league top-scorer for a record seven times. * Highest individual scoring rate per Olympic match, 5 goals. * Most capped Peruvian player in the history of the

, 24 matches * Top goalscorer in

's history, 156 goals.

Statistics

Career

International goals

::''Scores and results table. Peru's goal tally first:''

Honours

Teodoro Fernández was recognized and honored in his lifetime and afterward. At the 27 October 1952 inauguration of

Estadio Nacional del Perú The National Stadium of Peru is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lima, Peru. Its current capacity is 40,086 seats as stated by the Peruvian Football Federation without the lodges for some thousands more. The stadium was first inaugurated on 27 ...

, he received from the government the highest honors bestowed on an athlete. President Manuel Odría (1948–56), bestowed on him the Laureles Deportivos en Primera Clase for his outstanding career in Peruvian soccer. The

Club Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

named their stadium after him. This stadium was opened officially 20 July of the same year with a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. The municipal stadium of the city of

San Vicente de Cañete San Vicente de Cañete, commonly known as San Vicente or Cañete, is a city and capital of the Cañete Province, in southern Lima Region. With a population of 85,533 (2015 estimate). The warm and peaceful town of Cañete is located just one and ...

, on the central coast of Peru, is also named after him, along with a section of the Maison de Santé clinic where he spent the last months of his life. The Peruvian composer Lorenzo Humberto Sotomayor dedicated his work ''Lolo Fernández'' to Fernández. Another work in his honor is the dance ''El Taita Lolo Fernández'' with music by Alcides Carreño and lyrics by Fernando Soria. In September 1996, one week following his passing, a

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

was displayed with the phrase "''Lolo Hasta Siempre Alianza Presente''" during a match between Ciclista Lima and Alianza Lima, who are known college rivals. On 17 September 1997, during a match against

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica and his wife Esther Grande de Bentí ...

in the Clausura tournament of that year, the university's players wore jerseys with Fernández's image printed on the chest. In 2013, during a celebration of the

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...

of his birth, the Chermany Inks: La Kasa Roja gallery presented an

exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing **Exposition (narrative) *Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut album by the band Wax on Radio *Exposi ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

s done by nine artists in honor of Fernández.

References

External links

Lolo Fernández, The first king of La U and Peru

History of "Lolo" Fernández

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Teodoro 1913 births 1996 deaths People from Lima Region Association football forwards Peruvian footballers Peru international footballers Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Peru Peruvian Primera División players Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Copa América-winning players