Daniel Fernández Artola
Encyclopedia
Daniel "Dani" Fernández Artola (born 21 January 1983) is a Spanish
footballer who plays for Feyenoord in the Dutch first division
, as a right defender.
, Catalonia
, the youngest of three brothers, seven and nine years older. He started his football career at the cantera
of local FC Barcelona
, starting as a striker, then midfielder
and finally defender
.
In the summer of 2002, Fernández joined FC Barcelona B
, where he played during the next four years, always in the third division
. In the 2004–05
pre-season, he was invited to the first team by manager Frank Rijkaard
, and appeared in friendlies with CD Banyoles
, UE Figueres
and Palamós CF
, adding one official match on 15 November 2005, the Copa Catalunya semifinal against Gimnàstic de Tarragona
.
club FC Metalurh Donetsk
. The defender followed former Barcelona player Jordi Cruyff
and manager Pichi Alonso
to Donetsk
, and made his club debut on 19 August, in the league
match against FC Shakhtar Donetsk
(0–0).
Due to disappointing results, Alonso was replaced by Dutch
Co Adriaanse
in December 2006. Fernández wasn't a big fan of the new manager: "It was not easy to get along with him. It really took some time to get used to him." In December 2007 Metalurh Donetsk found itself in a crisis, and decided to seize all operations with the club's vice president; Dmitry Selyuk; this led to the departure of almost all foreign players.
The former vice-president turned out to be the owner of various player's transfer rights, including Fernández's. Selyuk placed the Spaniard at another Ukrainian club, FC Arsenal Kyiv
. However, the player did not play a single match for Arsenal, as both he and his wife were having a hard time adjusting to the country's lifestyle. After one and a half year, he requested a transfer.
side N.E.C. Nijmegen on loan. Club manager Mario Been
had been tipped by former Feyenoord youth coach Henk van Stee
, the manager of Shakhtar Donetsk's youth academy. However, due to N.E.C.'s good performances after the winter break, the player had a hard time fighting himself into the first team, and only played four league matches.
Despite Fernández's position on the bench, Been was very satisfied with the progress the Spanish made. After the departure of starting right-back Muslu Nalbantoğlu
to Kayserispor
at the end of 2007–08, N.E.C. decided to offer him an extended loan deal for another season. He quickly became a first-team regular, playing 30 matches during the 2008–09 season.
In the summer of 2009, Fernández followed former manager Been to Feyenoord Rotterdam, where he only played 5 games before suffering two serious knee injuries, which kept him off the pitch for nearly two years. He returned to professional level on August 13, 2011.
, against Basque Country
(2–2).
|2002–03||rowspan="4"|Barcelona B||rowspan="4"|Segunda División B
||13||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||13||0
|-
|2003–04||32||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||32||0
|-
|2004–05||30||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||30||0
|-
|2005–06||35||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||35||0
|-
|-
|2006–07||rowspan="2"|Metalurh Donetsk
||rowspan="2"|Ukrainian Premier League
||20||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||20||0
|-
||2007–08||12||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||12||0
|-
|-
|2007–08||rowspan="2"|N.E.C.||rowspan="2"|Eredivisie
||4||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0
|-
|2008–09||30||0||4||0||7||0||41||0
|-
|2009–10
||rowspan="1"|Feyenoord||rowspan="1"|Eredivisie
||5||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0
|-
110||0||0||0||0||0||110||0
32||0||0||0||0||0||32||0
39||0||4||0||7||0||50||0
181||0||4||0||7||0||192||0
|}Statistics accurate as of 13 September 2009.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
footballer who plays for Feyenoord in the Dutch first division
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
, as a right defender.
Early career
Fernández was born and raised in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, the youngest of three brothers, seven and nine years older. He started his football career at the cantera
Cantera
Cantera, literally meaning "quarry" in Spanish, is a term used in Spain to refer to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. The term is widely used in football but is also applied to other sports...
of local FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, starting as a striker, then midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
and finally defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
.
In the summer of 2002, Fernández joined FC Barcelona B
FC Barcelona B
Futbol Club Barcelona B is a Spanish football team. They are the reserve team of FC Barcelona. Reserve teams in the Spanish football league system play in the same football pyramid as their senior team rather than a separate league. However reserve teams cannot play in the same division as their...
, where he played during the next four years, always in the third division
Segunda División B
Segunda División B is the third level of the Spanish football league system. It is administered by the RFEF. The top two levels are La Liga, also referred to as the Primera División, and the Segunda División. Immediately below Segunda División B is the Tercera Division...
. In the 2004–05
2004–05 La Liga
2004–05 season was composed of the following clubs:* Albacete Balompié* Athletic Bilbao* Atlético Madrid* FC Barcelona* Real Betis* Deportivo de La Coruña* Espanyol* Getafe CF* Levante UD* Málaga CF* Real Mallorca* CD Numancia* CA Osasuna...
pre-season, he was invited to the first team by manager Frank Rijkaard
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...
, and appeared in friendlies with CD Banyoles
CD Banyoles
Club Deportiu Banyoles is a Spanish football team based in the city of Banyoles, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1913, it plays in Preferent Territorial, holding home games at Estadi Nou Municipal, which has a capacity of 4,000 spectators.-Season to season:----*23 seasons in...
, UE Figueres
UE Figueres
Unió Esportiva Figueres is a Spanish football team based in Figueres, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1919 and refounded in 2007, it plays in Primera Catalana, holding home matches at Estadio Municipal de Vilatenim, with a seating capacity of 9,472.-History:Figueres was first...
and Palamós CF
Palamós CF
Palamós Club de Futbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palamós, a town and commercial port in the Costa Brava, in the autonomous community of Catalonia...
, adding one official match on 15 November 2005, the Copa Catalunya semifinal against Gimnàstic de Tarragona
Gimnàstic de Tarragona
Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, usually referred to as Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team currently plays in Segunda División....
.
Ukrainian adventure
After playing for Barcelona for 14 years, Fernández was ready for a new challenge. In June 2006, he signed a three-year deal with UkrainianUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
club FC Metalurh Donetsk
FC Metalurh Donetsk
FC Metalurh Donetsk is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. The club currently plays in the Ukrainian Premier League.- Pre-history :...
. The defender followed former Barcelona player Jordi Cruyff
Jordi Cruyff
Johan Jordi Cruijff , anglicised as Jordi Cruyff is a Dutch former footballer and currently AEK Larnaca's Director of Football. He played from 1992 through to 2010, his clubs including Barcelona and Manchester United. He gained nine caps for the Netherlands national football team, playing in the...
and manager Pichi Alonso
Pichi Alonso
Àngel “Pichi” Alonso Herrera is a former Spanish footballer, and a current coach....
to Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
, and made his club debut on 19 August, in the league
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...
match against FC Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Shakhtar Donetsk
FC Shakhtar Donetsk is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. Shakhtar has appeared in several European competitions and currently is often a participant of the UEFA Champions League. The club became the first Ukrainian club to win the UEFA Cup in 2009, the last year...
(0–0).
Due to disappointing results, Alonso was replaced by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Co Adriaanse
Co Adriaanse
Jacobus "Co" Adriaanse is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who is currently the head coach of Eredivisie team FC Twente.-Playing career:...
in December 2006. Fernández wasn't a big fan of the new manager: "It was not easy to get along with him. It really took some time to get used to him." In December 2007 Metalurh Donetsk found itself in a crisis, and decided to seize all operations with the club's vice president; Dmitry Selyuk; this led to the departure of almost all foreign players.
The former vice-president turned out to be the owner of various player's transfer rights, including Fernández's. Selyuk placed the Spaniard at another Ukrainian club, FC Arsenal Kyiv
FC Arsenal Kyiv
FC Arsenal Kyiv is a professional football club from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.-History:In the 1950s, a different club under the same name Arsenal Kyiv won the 1958 Ukrainian SSR Championship. However in 1963 the club was renamed to "Temp Kyiv". In 1964 the club was replaced by FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv...
. However, the player did not play a single match for Arsenal, as both he and his wife were having a hard time adjusting to the country's lifestyle. After one and a half year, he requested a transfer.
Holland
On 17 January 2008, Fernández joined EredivisieEredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
side N.E.C. Nijmegen on loan. Club manager Mario Been
Mario Been
Mario Been is a former football professional and football manager from the Netherlands, who is currently the head coach of Genk since 30 August 2011....
had been tipped by former Feyenoord youth coach Henk van Stee
Henk van Stee
Henk van Stee is a former football midfielder from the Netherlands, who played for Sparta Rotterdam and De Graafschap. He retired in 1990, and became a football manager, who worked for Sparta Rotterdam, VVV-Venlo, Feyenoord Rotterdam, AZ Alkmaar and Excelsior Rotterdam.-References:...
, the manager of Shakhtar Donetsk's youth academy. However, due to N.E.C.'s good performances after the winter break, the player had a hard time fighting himself into the first team, and only played four league matches.
Despite Fernández's position on the bench, Been was very satisfied with the progress the Spanish made. After the departure of starting right-back Muslu Nalbantoğlu
Muslu Nalbantoglu
Muslu Nalbantoğlu is a Dutch–Turkish footballer who plays as a right back for Dutch Eredivisie club De Graafschap.-Club career:...
to Kayserispor
Kayserispor
Kayserispor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Kayseri. Formed in 1966, Kayserispor are nicknamed Anadolu Yıldızı . The club colours are red and yellow, and the club play their home matches at Kadir Has Stadium.The club have won one Türkiye Kupası, in 2008...
at the end of 2007–08, N.E.C. decided to offer him an extended loan deal for another season. He quickly became a first-team regular, playing 30 matches during the 2008–09 season.
In the summer of 2009, Fernández followed former manager Been to Feyenoord Rotterdam, where he only played 5 games before suffering two serious knee injuries, which kept him off the pitch for nearly two years. He returned to professional level on August 13, 2011.
International career
Fernández never played for the Spanish national team. However, on 8 October 2006, he participated in a friendly match for CataloniaCatalonia national football team
Catalonia national football team is the official football team of Catalonia. It is organized by the Catalonia Football Federation. The team has been referred to by various names including Selecció Catalana, Selecció de Barcelona and the Catalan XI...
, against Basque Country
Basque Country national football team
The Basque Country football team is considered the national team of the Basque Country greater region as selected players from the Basque Country Autonomous Community, the nearby Navarre and the Northern Basque Country in France play for it...
(2–2).
Club statistics
|-|2002–03||rowspan="4"|Barcelona B||rowspan="4"|Segunda División B
Segunda División B
Segunda División B is the third level of the Spanish football league system. It is administered by the RFEF. The top two levels are La Liga, also referred to as the Primera División, and the Segunda División. Immediately below Segunda División B is the Tercera Division...
||13||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||13||0
|-
|2003–04||32||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||32||0
|-
|2004–05||30||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||30||0
|-
|2005–06||35||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||35||0
|-
|-
|2006–07||rowspan="2"|Metalurh Donetsk
FC Metalurh Donetsk
FC Metalurh Donetsk is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. The club currently plays in the Ukrainian Premier League.- Pre-history :...
||rowspan="2"|Ukrainian Premier League
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...
||20||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||20||0
|-
||2007–08||12||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||12||0
|-
|-
|2007–08||rowspan="2"|N.E.C.||rowspan="2"|Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||4||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0
|-
|2008–09||30||0||4||0||7||0||41||0
|-
|2009–10
2009–10 Eredivisie
-Personnel and sponsoring:-Managerial changes:-League table:-Results:...
||rowspan="1"|Feyenoord||rowspan="1"|Eredivisie
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....
||5||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||5||0
|-
110||0||0||0||0||0||110||0
32||0||0||0||0||0||32||0
39||0||4||0||7||0||50||0
181||0||4||0||7||0||192||0
|}Statistics accurate as of 13 September 2009.