Abelardo Fernández

Abelardo Fernández Antuña (Spanish pronunciation: [aβeˈlarðo ferˈnandeθ anˈtuɲa]; born 19 April 1970), known simply as Abelardo, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, and a current manager.

A player with good heading and marking ability, he was also known for a distinctive bald head, a style which he adopted from a relatively young age. During his career he was almost exclusively associated with Sporting de Gijón and Barcelona, having amassed La Liga totals of 385 games and 24 goals over the course of 14 seasons, and also managed the former for three years.

Having won nearly 60 caps for Spain in one full decade, Abelardo represented the nation in two World Cups and as many European Championships.

Born in Gijón, Asturias, Abelardo started his professional career with local Sporting de Gijón, with which he made his La Liga debuts. Signing with FC Barcelona for the 1994–95 season in a 275 million pesetas deal, he was always an important first-team element, helping the Catalans to two leagues, cups and supercups, adding another two European trophies. However, he was greatly hampered by injuries in his final years at the Camp Nou.

Aged 32, Abelardo joined Deportivo Alavés, initially signing a two-year deal but retiring after just one season due to a recurrent knee injury, which had already bothered him at Barcelona.

Subsequently, he took up coaching, starting with his first club's B-side in 2008. Midway through his second year he was fired, with the team managing to retain their third division status nonetheless. In the 2010 summer, he moved to neighbouring amateurs Candás CF.

Abelardo signed for CD Tuilla for the 2011–12 campaign – also in Asturias and the fourth level – winning the Copa Federación de España (Asturias tournament). On 10 February 2012, former club Sporting Gijón hired him as an assistant coach after Iñaki Tejada was appointed following the departure of Manolo Preciado.

Abelardo returned to head coach duties and Sporting B for 2012–13. Late into the following season, he led them to a 4–1 away win over neighbouring Real Oviedo and, one week later, replaced the sacked José Ramón Sandoval at the helm of the main squad. Amidst severe financial problems, he led them to promotion back to the top flight in his first full season, and quit his post in January 2017 due to irreconcilable differences.

Abelardo made his debut for the Spanish national team on 4 September 1991, in a friendly against Uruguay in Oviedo. He went on to collect 54 caps with three goals, and was a participant at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euro 1996 and 2000.

Abelardo was also an essential member of the squad that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, netting in both the semifinals (2–0, Ghana) and the final (3–2 over Poland).

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	12 October 1991	Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain	France	1–2	1–2	Euro 1992 qualifying
2.	13 November 1991	Sánchez Pizjuán, Seville, Spain	Czechoslovakia	1–0	2–1	Euro 1992 qualifying
3.	29 March 2000	Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain	Italy	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Abelardo first met Luis Enrique at the age of 6, and the pair played together for the same junior team, Sporting, Barcelona and Spain.

Player

Club

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97
• UEFA Super Cup: 1997
• La Liga: 1997–98, 1998–99
• Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98
• Supercopa de España: 1994, 1996

International

• Summer Olympic Games: 1992

Manager

• Copa Federación de España (Asturias tournament): 2010

• Copa Federación de España (Asturias tournament): 2011