Abelardo Fernández facts for kids
Abelardo managing Sporting Gijón in 2014
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Abelardo Fernández Antuña | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 19 April 1970 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Gijón, Spain | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Centre-back | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1986 | La Braña | |||||||||||||||
| 1986–1988 | Estudiantes Somió | |||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Sporting Gijón | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1989 | Sporting Gijón B | 4 | (2) | |||||||||||||
| 1989–1994 | Sporting Gijón | 179 | (13) | |||||||||||||
| 1994–2002 | Barcelona | 178 | (11) | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Alavés | 28 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 389 | (26) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Spain U20 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | Spain U21 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Spain U23 | 12 | (5) | |||||||||||||
| 1991–2001 | Spain | 54 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 2002 | Asturias | 1 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| Teams managed | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Sporting Gijón B | |||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Candás | |||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Tuilla | |||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Sporting Gijón (assistant) | |||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Sporting Gijón B | |||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Sporting Gijón | |||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Alavés | |||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Espanyol | |||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Alavés | |||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Sporting Gijón | |||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Cartagena | |||||||||||||||
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Honours
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Abelardo Fernández Antuña (born 19 April 1970), known as Abelardo, is a Spanish former footballer. He played as a central defender, which is a player who helps protect the goal. Today, he is a manager or coach.
Abelardo was known for his strong heading and marking skills. He also had a distinctive bald head from a young age. He spent most of his playing career with Sporting de Gijón and Barcelona. He played 385 matches and scored 24 goals in Spain's top league, La Liga. Later, he also managed Sporting Gijón for three years.
He played over 50 games for the Spanish national team for ten years. Abelardo represented Spain in two World Cups and two European Championships.
Contents
Playing Career
Club Teams
Abelardo was born in Gijón, Asturias, Spain. He began his professional football journey with his hometown club, Sporting de Gijón. He made his debut in La Liga, Spain's highest football league, with this team.
In 1994, he joined FC Barcelona, one of the biggest clubs in the world. He quickly became an important player there. With Barcelona, he helped the team win many major titles. These included two La Liga championships, two Copa del Rey (Spain's main cup competition), and two Supercopa de España (a super cup). He also won two European trophies: the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1997 and the UEFA Super Cup in 1997. Towards the end of his time at Barcelona, he faced many injuries.
At 32, Abelardo moved to Deportivo Alavés. He planned to play for two years but retired after just one season. This was because of a knee injury that kept bothering him.
Playing for Spain
Abelardo first played for the Spanish national team on 4 September 1991. This was in a friendly game against Uruguay. He played 53 more games for Spain and scored three goals. He took part in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup tournaments. He also played in the UEFA Euro 1996 and 2000 European Championships.
Abelardo was also a key player for the Spanish Olympic team. This team won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He scored important goals in both the semi-finals and the final game against Poland.
Coaching Career
After retiring as a player, Abelardo became a football coach. He started coaching the B team of his first club, Sporting Gijón. He then coached other smaller clubs like Candás CF and CD Tuilla. With Tuilla, he won a regional cup competition.
In 2012, he returned to Sporting Gijón as an assistant coach. Later, he became the head coach of Sporting Gijón's main team in 2014. Despite the club facing financial difficulties, he led them to get promoted back to La Liga in his first full season. He left the club in January 2017.
On 1 December 2017, Abelardo became the manager of Deportivo Alavés. The team was in last place in the top division when he arrived. In his first game, his team made an amazing comeback to win 3–2 after being 2–0 down. He helped Alavés improve their position significantly. He resigned from Alavés in May 2019.
He then coached RCD Espanyol in Barcelona, starting in December 2019. The team was in last place again. He was dismissed six months later. In January 2021, he returned to Alavés for a short period. He also had another coaching spell with Sporting Gijón from May 2022 to January 2023.
In June 2024, Abelardo was named the new manager of FC Cartagena. However, he was dismissed after only six matches.
Personal Life
Abelardo has a long-standing friendship with fellow footballer Luis Enrique. They first met when they were six years old. They played together for the same junior team, and later for Sporting Gijón, Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.
Honours
Player
Barcelona
- La Liga: 1997–98, 1998–99
- Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98
- Supercopa de España: 1994, 1996
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97
- UEFA Super Cup: 1997
Spain U23
- Summer Olympic Games: 1992 (Gold Medal)
Manager
Candás
- Copa Federación de España (Asturias tournament): 2010
Tuilla
- Copa Federación de España (Asturias tournament): 2011
See also
In Spanish: Abelardo Fernández para niños
