Quick Facts
TaurusBiography
Teodoro Fernández Meyzán (born 20 May 1913 in Cañete — died 17 September 1996 in Lima), nicknamed "Lolo", was a Peruvian football striker. Arguably one of Peru's two most important football players (along with Teófilo Cubillas), he was part of the Peruvian squad that reached quarter-finals in the 1936 Olympic Games and won the 1939 Copa America, a tournament in which he emerged as the top scorer and best player. He was captain of the Peruvian national team between 1935 and 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 Peruvian league. 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" ("The Cannoneer") due to his excellence as a centre-forward and his strong shooting, Fernández was the Peruvian league's 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 (1932) he became Peruvian top scorer, but his team finished second. The following year, they were runners-up again and Lolo again was the top scorer.
The 1934 season saw Lolo again lead the division in scoring, but this time his team won the Peruvian First Division trophy for only the 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 in Chile, Argentina, and Europe among others. Some say he was once offered a "blank check" from Chile, in which he would write down the amount of money he wished to be paid and his would-be new club would pay it, whatever that amount was, but he didn't accept it.
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.
National team
Lolo played for the Peruvian national team from 1935 to 1947, and scored 24 goals in 32 matches. He is the third 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 (7–2) and Austria (4–2). Lolo Fernandez scored a total of 6 goals in the two games.
In the 1938 Bolivarian Games in Bogotá, Fernandez and the Peruvian team won gold.
In 1939, he won the Copa America with the national Team. The final was played against Uruguay (2–1) 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, even though it had not taken part in international events since then due to arguments with European nations over where competitions should be played.
Lolo was top scorer of the competition with 7 goals.
| Championship | Venue | Position | Matches played | Goals scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 Copa América |  Peru | 3º place | 3 | 1 |
| 1936 Summer Olympics |  Germany | Semifinal | 2 | 6 |
| 1937 Copa América |  Argentina | 6º place | 4 | 2 |
| 1938 Bolivarian Games |  Colombia | Gold medal | 4 | 3 |
| 1939 Copa América | Peru | Champion | 4 | 7 |
| 1941 Copa América |  Chile | 4º place | 4 | 3 |
| 1942 Copa América |  Uruguay | 5º place | 6 | 2 |
| 1947 Copa América |  Ecuador | 5º place | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | 24 | ||
Peru-Chile XI (Combinado del Pacífico)
Fernández was part of the "Combinado del Pacífico" (Peru-Chile XI) 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.
Honours
Club
| Season | Team | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1934 | Universitario | Peruvian League |
| 1939 | Universitario | Peruvian League |
| 1941 | Universitario | Peruvian League |
| 1945 | Universitario | Peruvian League |
| 1946 | Universitario | Peruvian League |
| 1949 | Universitario | Peruvian League |
Country
| Season | Team | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Peru National Team | Bolivarian Games |
| 1939 | Peru National Team | Copa America |
Individual awards
- Peruvian League: Top Scorer 1932, 1933, 1934, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1945
- Copa America 1939: Best Player
- Copa America 1939: Top Scorer
Records
- 3rd place of All-Time Copa America goal scorers, 15 goals.
- All-time top scorer of the Peruvian Super Classic, 29 goals.
- Peruvian league top-scorer for a record seven times.
- Highest individual scoring rate per Olympic match, 5 goals.
- Most capped Peruvian player in the history of the Copa America, 24 matches
- Top goalscorer in Universitario de Deportes's history, 156 goals.
- Primera División Peruana: Top Scorer at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
- Copa America; Top Scorers (up to 2007)
- Highest individual scoring per Olympic match
- Copa America; JUGADORES CON MAS PARTIDOS
Statistics
Career
| Team | Goals | Matches | Goal average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universitario de Deportes | 156 | 180 | 0.87 |
| Pacific All-Stars Team | 48 | 39 | 1.23 |
| Peru National Team | 24 | 32 | 0.75 |
| Total | 228 | 251 | 0.91 |
International goals
- Scores and results table. Peru's goal tally first:
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 20 January 1935 | Lima, Peru | Argentina | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1935 Copa America |
| 2. | 4 August 1936 | Berlin, Germany |  Finland | 1–0 | 7–3 | 1936 Summer Olympics |
| 3. | 4 August 1936 | Berlin, Germany | Finland | 2–0 | 7–3 | 1936 Summer Olympics |
| 4. | 4 August 1936 | Berlin, Germany | Finland | 3–0 | 7–3 | 1936 Summer Olympics |
| 5. | 4 August 1936 | Berlin, Germany | Finland | 4–1 | 7–3 | 1936 Summer Olympics |
| 6. | 4 August 1936 | Berlin, Germany | Finland | 6–1 | 7–3 | 1936 Summer Olympics |
| 7. | 8 August 1936 | Berlin, Germany |  Austria | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1936 Summer Olympics |
| 8. | December 1936 | Buenos Aires, Argentina |  Brazil | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1937 Copa America |
| 9. | 6 January 1937 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Uruguay | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1937 Copa America |
| 10. | 16 April 1938 | Bogota, Colombia | Colombia | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1938 Bolivarian Games |
| 11. | 10 May 1938 | Bogota, Colombia | Colombia | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1938 Bolivarian Games |
| 12. | 21 May 1938 | Bogota, Colombia |  Bolivia | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1938 Bolivarian Games |
| 13. | 15 January 1939 | Lima, Peru | Ecuador | 1–0 | 5–2 | 1939 Copa America |
| 14. | 15 January 1939 | Lima, Peru | Ecuador | 3–0 | 5–2 | 1939 Copa America |
| 15. | 15 January 1939 | Lima, Peru | Ecuador | 5–1 | 5–2 | 1939 Copa America |
| 16. | 22 January 1939 | Lima, Peru | Chile | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1939 Copa America |
| 17. | 22 January 1939 | Lima, Peru | Chile | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1939 Copa America |
| 18. | 29 January 1939 | Lima, Peru |  Paraguay | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1939 Copa America |
| 19. | 29 January 1939 | Lima, Peru | Paraguay | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1939 Copa America |
| 20. | 23 February 1941 | Santiago, Chile | Ecuador | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1941 Copa America |
| 21. | 23 February 1941 | Santiago, Chile | Ecuador | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1941 Copa America |
| 22. | 23 February 1941 | Santiago, Chile | Ecuador | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1941 Copa America |
| 23. | 21 January 1942 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Brazil | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1942 Copa America |
| 24. | 25 January 1942 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Argentina | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1942 Copa America |