An Opel Meriva and a Jabulani ball: the origins of the fashionable parakeet forward

BarcelonaAt the RCDE Stadium auditorium, they are already making room for a new portrait. If Roberto Fernández (Puente Genil, Córdoba, 2002) makes his debut with the senior Spanish national team on Saturday against the Czech Republic or on Tuesday in Croatia, his photograph will become part of Espanyol’s gallery of internationals, alongside those of Joselu Mato and Raúl de Tomás. The call-up is the reward for his dazzling start to the season and, for the moment, the culmination of a journey that began at Salerm Puente Genil, the club in his hometown.

He played there for two years, when he was in the youth academy, and immediately caught the attention of the big clubs in the region, such as Betis. Eventually, he ended up signing for Córdoba, which was closer than Seville, thanks to Pepe Chía. Chía had met him at Salerm Puente Genil and when he moved to coach in the Córdoba youth system, he took Roberto with him. Literally. When the boy's parents were working, it was the coach himself who took him to training and matches in his Opel Meriva.

A Jabulani ball and the relationship with Lamine

Back then Roberto only lived for football, to the point that he spent his days kicking a ball in the street and slept hugging a ball, the Jabulani from the 2010 World Cup: his mother would scold him because it was dirty and the neighbors complained because he would damage their plants with the ball. From Córdoba he went to Seville. At 13 years old he left home to live in the club's residence; for months he was practically alone because his roommate, also from out of town, left the team due to homesickness. After another year at Córdoba, Roberto signed for Málaga at youth age. At 19 years old he debuted in the Second Division with the boquerón team.

At the national team training camp, he has been seen very close to Lamine Yamal. It is not a new friendship. Both coincided at Barça Atlètic during the 2022/23 season, when Roberto was playing there on loan from Málaga. In fact, the Espanyol forward shared the attack with the player from Rocafonda on the day of his debut with the blaugrana reserve team. At the end of the season, Lamine made the definitive leap to the first team and Roberto returned to Málaga to play in the Primera Federación.

The emergence of the “clinical” forward

“It wasn’t easy for him at all. Notice that he didn’t score a single goal in the preseason,” explains Sergio Pellicer to ARA, who was his coach at the time and also had the veteran Dioni as a striker, the all-time top scorer in the category. “We told him to look at him, at how he finished,” he adds. Despite the competition, Roberto ended up playing everything and exploded as a finisher: he scored 20 goals.

“He already had the capacity for work, he knew how to run into space, play with his back to goal, defend... what improved above all was his finishing. Now he has clinical precision,” reveals Pellicer, who illustrates the Andalusian striker’s virtues with this year’s goal against Rayo Vallecano of this year: “The way he carries the ball and the timing to stop and finish is something he didn’t have before.” Roberto is so precise that this season he has scored six goals in the six shots he has taken on target. 100% effectiveness.

“Beyond the physical and technical aspects, what makes him special is his mentality. When we did individualized training, he would always tell me, ‘Coach, I want more, I want more.’ And when there wasn’t any more due to workload issues, he would get angry, you know?” concludes Pellicer, who, with Roberto’s goals, returned Malaga to professional football after the controversial play-off final against Nàstic.

Espanyol’s Toquero

Roberto's performances caught the attention of Fran Garagarza, who could not sign him in the summer of 2024 due to a lack of liquidity. Roberto left for the Portuguese club Braga and, half a year later, Espanyol tried again. Video calls from the Basque sporting director and Manolo González convinced the forward, who had offers from other Spanish clubs.

He landed on his feet at Cornellà-el Prat and in the blue-and-white dressing room, where a meme appeared showing him without hair and spread like wildfire. The origin of the joke was his squad number: since there were practically none left, Roberto chose the number 2, the same one that Gaizka Toquero had made famous. On the day of his debut, the first shot he directed on target ended in a goal and he celebrated it by running his hand over his face, imitating the Basque striker. Now, one of his jerseys with the number 2 is a collector's item.

He scored five more goals, crucial for the survival of an Espanyol side that made a great financial effort the following summer to sign him permanently. The Catalan club paid 6.2 million euros for 50% of his rights. A year later, during which he scored seven goals, it increased its stake to 62.5% after paying an additional 1.55 million. With a release clause that will rise from 25 to 30 million euros if he debuts with the national team, Roberto is the blue-and-white club's main economic asset and one of the fashionable strikers in La Liga.