- Name Nacho
- Full name José Ignacio Fernández Iglesias
- Date of birth 18 January 1990 (age 34)
- Birth country Spain
- Birth place Madrid
- Nationality Spain
- Height 180 cm
- Weight 76 kg
- Position Defender
- Current team
Real Madrid - Current transfer fee € 30.000.000 / Max € 30.000.000
Biography
A native of Madrid. The pupil of the school of the club “Real Madrid”, which entered at the age of 10 years. He made his debut for the reserve team in the 2008/09 season in Segunda B, played two meetings there that season. Total played two full seasons in the Segunda. On April 23, 2011, Nacho made his debut in the first team of Real Madrid in the Spanish Championship match against Valencia, in which the Royal Club won 6: 3, played the entire match from start to finish. He spent the second match in a week, but his club sensationally lost to Real Madrid from Zaragoza. In the summer of 2011, he took part in the North American tournament, played in matches against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Guadalajara and Philadelphia Union. On September 2, 2012, he officially received a T-shirt with number 27, but by decision of Jose Mourinho, he stayed for a while at the reserve club. On November 27, 2013, at the 27th minute, he replaced Hese in the Champions League group match, as Sergio Ramos was removed. As a member of Spain’s junior team, he won the U-17 European Championship in 2007, won the silver medal at the World Championships in the same year. Took part in the European Youth Championship in Israel, where they won the championship. Nacho Fernandez and the Royal Club reached an agreement to extend the current contract player for six years. The new agreement of the football player with the club is calculated until the end of the season 2020/21.
Family
In 2014, Maria Cortes became the wife of a famous football player. Before that, the couple met for nine years. Nacho met his future wife while still in school. Fernandez’s wedding was accompanied by scandal. After the meeting, the journalists found out that Mary’s parent had robbed the military warehouse where he worked and delivered the stolen products to the wedding party. Nacho and Maria knew nothing about it. A year after the marriage, their family was supplemented by their daughter Alejandra. In May 2016, Fernandez’s son José was born.
Club career
Born in Madrid, Nacho arrived in Real Madrid’s youth system at the age of 11. He made his senior debut in 2008–09, playing two games with the reserves in Segunda División B and subsequently appearing in a further two full seasons in that level; it was during this time he formed a long-lasting friendship with future Russian national team player Denis Cheryshev. On 23 April 2011, Nacho made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, starting as a left back in a 6–3 away win against Valencia CF and playing in the entire match. His second appearance came the following week, in a 2–3 home loss to Real Zaragoza. Nacho was one of the youth team players chosen to accompany the first team on their summer friendlies in North America, prior to the start of the 2011–12 campaign. He came on as a substitute in all three matches, against the LA Galaxy, C.D. Guadalajara and Philadelphia Union. On 2 September 2012, main squad manager José Mourinho announced that Nacho, along with Álvaro Morata and Jesús, would be promoted to the first team but continue to play with Castilla. He became an official full-time member at the start of 2013–14, receiving the number 18 shirt after the departure of Raúl Albiol. On 3 July 2014, Nacho signed a new contract with Real Madrid until 2021. He scored his first official goal for them on 10 January of the following year, closing the score in a 3–0 home victory against RCD Espanyol. Two minutes after replacing the injured Marcelo in a UEFA Champions League group stage match against Paris Saint-Germain F.C. on 3 November 2015, Nacho scored the only goal and sealed his team’s advance to the last-16 with his first goal in a European competition. He contributed with five appearances, as the tournament ended in conquest. On 11 February 2017, Nacho made his 100th appearance for Real Madrid in a 3–1 away win against CA Osasuna. Benefitting from injuries and suspensions to teammates, he was the most utilized player in the centre-back position as the club won its first national championship in five years; he added four matches in the Champions League, again conquered by his team. Nacho scored his first career brace on 21 January 2018, in a 7–1 defeat of Deportivo de La Coruña. During that year’s Champions League he made eight appearances while scoring one goal, when Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall title in the tournament; in the decisive match against Liverpool, he featured at right-back after replacing the injured Dani Carvajal late into the first half of an eventual 3–1 win in Kiev.
National career
After playing for Spain at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels, Nacho was first called by the full side on 2 September 2013 for a friendly with Switzerland to be held eight days later, in place of injured Iñigo Martínez. He made his debut by replacing Real Madrid teammate Sergio Ramos early into the second half of the 2–2 draw against Chile in Geneva. Nacho was named in Spain’s final squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first goal for his country on 15 June, starting as right-back in the group stage fixture against Portugal and netting with a curled shot from 30 meters in a 3–3 draw.
