Quick Facts
Biography
Fernando Sánchez Cipitria (born 12 September 1971 in Madrid), known simply as Fernando, is a Spanish retired footballer who played mostly as a left midfielder.
He appeared in 207 La Liga games over the course of seven seasons (27 goals), in representation of four different teams.
Club career
An unsuccessful youth graduate from Real Madrid, Fernando made his La Liga debuts with Real Valladolid in the 1995–96 season, with the side being coached by a young Rafael Benítez and also featuring former Real Madrid Castilla teammates José Luis Santamaría and Alberto Marcos.
In the following campaign, with Fernando scoring a career-best 11 goals, the Castile and León team qualified to the UEFA Cup after finishing seventh. Subsequently he signed with Real Betis, posting two respectable top flight seasons.
Fernando joined Deportivo de La Coruña for 1999–2000, and appeared in 19 games for Super Depor in the Galicians first-ever top division accolade. He would be, however, soon be deemed surplus to requirements, and served three consecutive loans until his retirement at 32: he played the first part of the 2002–03 campaign at Hannover 96 in Germany, alongside teammates Jaime (also with him at Real Madrid) and José Manuel, but soon grew unsettled and returned to Spain.
International career
Fernando gained two caps for the Spanish national team, over the course of two months. His first arrived on 28 January 1998, as he came on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Guillermo Amor in a 0–1 away friendly loss in France.