HAVE
Minguettes (France), St-Priest (France), Paris Saint-Germain (France),
RC Paris (France), AC Cannes (France)
Honours
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Biography
Luis Fernandez (born on October 2, 1959 in Tarifa, Spain) is a
former French football (soccer) defensive midfielder who retired
in 1993 to become a manager. He has managed AS Cannes and Paris
Saint-Germain among other clubs, and is the individual credited
with bringing Ronaldinho to Europe. Currently he is the head
coach of Beitar Jerusalem.
As an active player, Fernandez got 60 international caps and 6
goals for the French national team, between 1982 and 1992.
Player
It was at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) that Luis Fernandez signed
his first professional contract, at 19 years of age. Quickly he
established himself as a solid defensive midfielder, excelling
in winning the ball, but also capable of precise passing, and at
the end of the year 1982 he was called up for the French
national team and debuted against the Netherlands on November
10, 1982. At only 23 years, Luis Fernandez was immediately an
important part of the team that only months earlier had been
semi-finalists of the 1982 World Cup. He formed the national
midfield with such French national greats as Jean Tigana in the
defensive midfield, and the offensive players Alain Giresse and
Michel Platini, a midfield that became known as the "magic
square". With the national team, Fernandez won the Euro 1984 at
home in France, and reached the semi-final of the 1986 World Cup
in Mexico. At the time of this tournament
After the elimination from the 1986 World Cup, and just after he
had won the French Ligue 1 championship with PSG, Fernandez made
the decision to join Jean-Luc Lagardere's team Racing Club de
Paris. But in spite of a team that was strong on paper, the club
and Fernandez didn't succeed, and he left Racing after three
seasons. Following the 1986 World Cup, the French national team
did not manage to qualify for Euro 1988 and the 1990 World Cup.
From Racing, Fernandez went to AC Cannes in 1989, a more modest
club with a friendlier environment. He was still a part of the
French 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. Fernandez took part in
the Euro 1992, where France were eliminated in the group stage,
and Fernandez decided to end his international career. On th
club level AC Cannes were relegated to Ligue 2 at the end of the
1991-1992 season, but Fernandez decided to remain with the club
and end his career when his contract ran out. But Fernadez
wasn't allowed a slow retirement, when after a few weeks, AC
Cannes decided to entrust Luis Fernandez with the post of
manager. Fernandez thus finished the season as a coach-player,
and led Cannes back to Ligue 1 at the end of the season, and
definitively switched to the career as a manager.
Manager
After the promotion of AC Cannes to the Ligue 1, Luis Fernandez
continued his work at the club and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
He won the Best Trainer of Ligue 1 award at the end of the
season 1993-1994, on grounds of Fernandez' alluring philosphy of
offensive tactics with a use of young players. The profile of
Fernandez particularly interested Paris Saint-Germain. Despite
winning the Ligue 1 championship and a good run in the European
Cup, PSG failed to play attractive football, partly because of
the Portuguese trainer Artur Jorge, who applied a more rigid
strategic system. The board of PSG saw in Fernandez the ideal
manager to form the image of the club.
The first season of Luis Fernandez in Paris Saint-Germain was a
success. Even though PSG was quickly outdistanced in the Ligue 1
championship race by an irresistible FC Nantes side, PSG managed
to win the two national Cups, the Coupe de France and Coupe de
la Ligue, as well as an impressive performance in the UEFA
Champions League concluded by an elimination in the semi-finals
by AC Milan. The strongest displays by Fernandez and the PSG
team being the quarterfinal win, over two matches, against the
great FC Barcelona side of Johan Cruyff. The second season at
PSG, saw the beginning of the end for Fernandez. Outdistanced
once more in Ligue 1, PSG found a fresh breath of air in the
European competitions, where they won the European Cup Winners
Cup after victory in the final against Rapid Vienna, making
Fernandez the first French trainer victorious in one of the Cups
of Europe. This prestigious victory was not sufficient to keep
Fernandez in the PSG seat however, following the the missed
championship, Fernandez left Paris Saint-Germain at the end of
the 1995-1996 season.
Fernandez was then contacted by Athletic Bilbao from the Spanish
La Liga, a club Fernandez managed to qualify for the Champions
League, and where he would spend four seasons.
In 2000, Fernandez returned to France and in December that year
he once more took the seat at PSG, replacing Philippe Bergeroo.
Even though he was in charge of a team of such stars as Jay-Jay
Okocha, Nicolas Anelka and especially Ronaldinho, Fernandez
never got the results to satisfy the ambitions of the club. In
spite of the support of the fans with whom his popularity always
remained very strong, Luis Fernandez was fired at the end of the
2002-2003 season, after two and half years.
Six months later, Luis was in Spain, brought into the RCD
Espanyol team in December 2003 to save them from near certain
relegation, and at the end of the season Fernandez had succeeded
in keeping the club in the Spanish top flight. After one year of
inactivity, Luis Fernandez took a more low-profile job in June
2005 as the manager of Al Rayyan in Qatar, a club which he
decided to leave in November 2005 in order to join the Israeli
club Beitar Jerusalem in the capacity of general manager as well
as trainer.
