Teodoro Fernández


Teodoro Fernández Meyzán, nicknamed "Lolo", was a Peruvian football striker. He was part of the Peru national football team that reached quarter-finals in the 1936 Summer Olympics and won the 1939 Copa America, a tournament where he emerged as the top scorer and best player. He was captain of the Peru national football team from 1935 to 1947 scoring 24 goals in 32 matches.
Fernández is the most emblematic player in the history of club Universitario de Deportes for which he played his whole career, winning six times the Primera División Peruana. Although he sporadically reinforced other clubs in friendly matches, clubs such as Alianza Lima and Colo-Colo, Fernández never represented a club other than Universitario in official competitions. Known as "El Cañonero" 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 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 to continue his studies. Lolo stayed with his brother Arturo Fernandez who was the goalkeeper for Ciclista Lima. When Arturo transferred to first division's Universitario de Deportes, 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 of Chile on 29 November 1931, scoring the game's only goal. In his first season 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, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1946 and 1949.
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 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. Peru made its way into the quarterfinals after defeating Finland and went on to beat Austria. Lolo Fernandez scored a total of 6 goals in the two games.
In the 1938 Bolivarian Games in Bogotá, Team Peru won gold.
In 1939, he won the Copa America with the national team. The final was played against Uruguay which was arguably the best team in the world at the time, as Uruguay had won gold in the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics 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" a squad of Peruvian and Chilean footballers of Alianza Lima, Atlético Chalaco, Colo-Colo and Universitario de Deportes that played 39 friendly matches in Europe between September 1933 and March 1934 against teams such as FC Barcelona, Celtic FC, Hearts FC, Newcastle United FC, West Ham United FC and FC Bayern Munich. With 48 goals, Fernández was the team's main goalscorer during the European tour.

Club

Country

Individual awards

Career

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.20 January 1935Lima, Peru1–01–41935 Copa America
2.4 August 1936Berlin, Germany1–07–31936 Summer Olympics
3.4 August 1936Berlin, Germany2–07–31936 Summer Olympics
4.4 August 1936Berlin, Germany3–07–31936 Summer Olympics
5.4 August 1936Berlin, Germany4–17–31936 Summer Olympics
6.4 August 1936Berlin, Germany6–17–31936 Summer Olympics
7.8 August 1936Berlin, Germany1–04–21936 Summer Olympics
8.December 1936Buenos Aires, Argentina1–22–31937 Copa America
9.6 January 1937Buenos Aires, Argentina1–12–41937 Copa America
10.16 April 1938Bogota, Colombia1–04–21938 Bolivarian Games
11.10 May 1938Bogota, Colombia3–14–21938 Bolivarian Games
12.21 May 1938Bogota, Colombia1–03–01938 Bolivarian Games
13.15 January 1939Lima, Peru1–05–21939 Copa America
14.15 January 1939Lima, Peru3–05–21939 Copa America
15.15 January 1939Lima, Peru5–15–21939 Copa America
16.22 January 1939Lima, Peru1–03–11939 Copa America
17.22 January 1939Lima, Peru2–13–11939 Copa America
18.29 January 1939Lima, Peru1–03–01939 Copa America
19.29 January 1939Lima, Peru2–03–01939 Copa America
20.23 February 1941Santiago, Chile1–04–01941 Copa America
21.23 February 1941Santiago, Chile2–04–01941 Copa America
22.23 February 1941Santiago, Chile4–04–01941 Copa America
23.21 January 1942Montevideo, Uruguay1–21–21942 Copa America
24.25 January 1942Montevideo, Uruguay1–11–31942 Copa America

Honours

Teodoro Fernández was recognized and honored in his lifetime and afterward. At the On October 27, 1952 inauguration of Estadio Nacional del Perú, he received from the government the highest honors bestowed on an athlete. President Manuel Odría, bestowed on him the Laureles Deportivos en Primera Clase for his outstanding career in Peruvian soccer. The Club Universitario de Deportes named their stadium after him. This stadium was opened officially July 20 of the same year with a friendly match against the University of Chile. The municipal stadium of the city of San Vicente de Cañete, 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 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 September 17, 1997, during a match against Sporting Cristal 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 of his birth, the Chermany Inks: La Kasa Roja gallery presented an exposition of paintings done by nine artists in honor of Fernández.