Fernando Sánchez (footballer)

Fernando Sánchez Cipitria (born 12 September 1971), known simply as Fernando, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mostly as a left midfielder, currently manager of Chinese Champions League club Xinjiang Silk Road Eagle.

He appeared in 201 La Liga matches over seven seasons (27 goals), for four clubs.

Club career
Fernando was born in Madrid. An unsuccessful youth graduate from Real Madrid, he made his La Liga debut 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 for the UEFA Cup after finishing seventh. Subsequently, he signed with Real Betis, posting two respectable top-flight seasons and netting his only goal in the UEFA Cup on 3 November 1998 in a 3–0 second-round home win over Willem II.

Fernando joined Deportivo de La Coruña for 1999–2000, and appeared in 19 games for the Galicians in their first-ever championship title. He would, 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 earned two caps for the Spain 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 1–0 away friendly loss against France.

Coaching career
After retiring, Fernando focused on youth training. In 2012, he joined Evergrande Football School founded by Guangzhou Evergrande, where he worked as technical director and head coach.

Fernando joined Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard's youth side in the 2018 season, and was promoted to the first team on 1 January 2019. On 8 February 2024, he took on the role as manager of Chinese Champions League club Xinjiang Silk Road Eagle.