Rommel Fernández

Panamanian footballer (1966-1993)

Rommel Fernández
Personal information
2010 artwork of Rommel Fernández
Full name	Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez
Date of birth	(1966-01-15)15 January 1966
Place of birth	El Chorrillo, Panama
Date of death	6 May 1993(1993-05-06) (aged 27)
Place of death	Albacete, Spain
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Plaza Amador
	Atlético Panamá
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1987	Alianza
1987–1991	Tenerife	123	(47)
1991–1993	Valencia	21	(2)
1992–1993	→ Albacete (loan)	18	(7)
International career
1986–1992	Panama
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez (15 January 1966 – 6 May 1993) was a Panamanian footballer who played as a striker.

The second Panamanian to play in Europe, he spent almost his entire professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga 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, at the age of just 27.

Club career

Fernández was born in the Panama City neighborhood of El Chorrillo. In 1987 the 21-year-old signed for CD Tenerife in Spain from Alianza, scoring a career-best 18 goals in his second season as the Canary Islands side was promoted to La Liga 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-American player in the competition by news agency EFE, receiving the Trofeo EFE.^[1]

Nicknamed "The Panzer",^[2] Fernández moved to Valencia CF in 1991, but was used mostly as a backup in his only season, scoring just two goals. Subsequently he joined Albacete Balompié on loan, helping the Castilla–La Mancha 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 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 for the 1994 FIFA World Cup 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, 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.^[3]

Legacy

Estadio Revolución was renamed Estadio Rommel Fernández, in Fernández's honour.^[4]^[5]

References

^ Forlán, segundo uruguayo que gana el Trofeo EFE (Forlán, second Uruguayan to win the EFE Award) Archived 29 July 2012 at archive.today; EFE, 24 October 2005 (in Spanish)
^ Rommel Fernández: 22 años sin 'El Panzer' (Rommel Fernández: 22 years without 'El Panzer'); Vavel, 5 May 2015 (in Spanish)
^ Rommel Fernández, trece años fallecimiento en accidente tráfico (Rommel Fernández, thirteen years of fatal traffic accident), Deportes.com, 5 May 2006 (in Spanish)
^ Rivas, Raúl (5 May 2008). "Remodelación del Estadio Rommel Fernández" [Improvement works on Estadio Rommel Fernández] (in Spanish). Panamagazine. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
^ Altamirano, Patricio (6 February 2013). "Estadio Rommel Fernández abrirá sus puertas a las 4 p. m." [Estadio Rommel Fernández to open gates at 4 p. m.] (in Spanish). Al Día. Retrieved 26 July 2013.