Roberto Fernández (footballer, born 1954)

Roberto Fernández
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Eladio Fernández Roa
Date of birth	9 July 1954 (age 70)
Place of birth	Asunción, Paraguay
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team
1973–1976	River Plate Asunción
1976	Valencia
1976–1978	Espanyol
1978–1984	Cerro Porteño
1984–1986	Deportivo Cali
1988	Libertad
1989–1991	Cerro Porteño
1991–1993	Internacional
1994	Palmeiras
1995–1997	Cerro Porteño
International career
1976–1989	Paraguay
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of April 2008

Roberto Eladio Fernández Roa, also known as Gato Fernández, (born 9 July 1954) is a retired football goalkeeper from Paraguay. He was capped 78 times for the Paraguay national football team in an international career that lasted from 1976 to 1989.^[1] He was also a member of the Paraguayan team that won the 1979 Copa América.^[2] He earned the nickname "El Gato" (The Cat) for his outstanding stretching saves.

Club career

Fernández began his career, debuting professionally, at the age of 17 for Club River Plate of Paraguay. Some of his clubs include Cerro Porteño, Deportivo Cali, RCD Espanyol, Internacional and Palmeiras. He made his international debut for the Paraguay national football team on 10 March 1976 in a Copa del Atlántico match against Uruguay (2–2).

Fernández played his final professional game in 1997 (Cerro Porteño vs. Sportivo Luqueño) at the age of 43, making him the oldest goalkeeper to play professionally in Paraguayan football history.

International career

During the late 1970s to the mid to late 1980s, his only challenger in goal for the Paraguay national team was Ever Hugo Almeida. Finally, in the late 1980s, Fernández became the back-up to Jose Luis Chilavert.

During the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Fernández started for Paraguay in all four games. He stopped a penalty kick from Mexican Hugo Sánchez to hold the host team to a 1–1 draw.

Retirement

After retiring, Fernández dedicated himself to working as a board of director at his original club (River Plate of Paraguay), and representing other footballers. His son, Gatito Fernández, is a professional goalkeeper, currently in the registry of Botafogo in Brazil.