When it was reported in July that Rowen Fernandez’s future with his German club Arminia Bielefeld was in doubt it would have been perfectly natural to conclude it was just the culmination of a chaotic time for the goalkeeper in Germany.
Speaking to Kicker.com in July then Bielefeld coach Christian Ziege revealed that Fernandez had explicitly asked for more regular game time, but significantly, Ziege added that the club could not grant the keeper his wish. “Because we cannot guarantee this wish for him we will not put any stones in his way (if he wants to leave),” Ziege was quoted as saying.
A few weeks later South African magazine Laduma reported Fernandez had been placed on the transfer list by Bielefeld.
As disheartening as the developments were perhaps they were to be expected.
Since joining Bielefeld in 2007 Fernandez, once seen as the finest South African keeper of his generation, has struggled to make an impact thanks to a litany of injuries and bad luck that seem to have piggy-backed his career.
His apparent German nightmare so far can indeed be summed up by the fact that despite being with Bielefeld for three years the 32 year-old has only made 18 full starts.
But is there more to the story?
Is there more to the story than simply Fernandez has failed?
Are there reasons why this hugely talented shot-stopper has struggled when he once seemed destined for greatness?
Perhaps the gods have just not been on his side.
For example, just when Fernandez seemed poised to make South Africa’s 2010 FIFA World Cup squad after fighting back from a serious knee injury he was cruelly axed at the last minute, missing out on Africa’s first-ever World Cup.
And on that note, how many footballers have been hospitalised after being bitten by a spider? Fernandez has. In 2003 Fernandez, ironically nicknamed Spider because of his unusual love for creepy crawlies, required emergency treatment after one of his eight-legged friends got too close.
Perhaps Fernandez has never had a real chance to impress his coaches at Bielefeld.
In his three years with the Westphalians Fernandez has had an incredible nine coaches – Ernst Middendorp, Detlev Dammeier, Michael Frontzeck, Jӧrg Berger, Thӧmas Gerstner, co-coaches Frank Eulberg and Jӧrg Bӧhme, Cristian Ziege and Ewald Lienen.
Those are just some of the questions that are now being raised as Fernandez, who has always fought heartily against adversity, enters what is the most important chapter of his career.
To the pessimist his prospects on the whole may appear uncertain.
His club Bielefeld, relegated from the German Bundesliga in 2009, are facing an uncertain future as the club continues to flirt with financial ruin that could relegate them to the sixth level of German football.
As crazy as it sounds it is possible.
In 1999 Bielefeld’s local rivals Gutersloh suffered an identical fate after they racked up debts of up to 4.5 million Euros and were kicked down Germany’s leagues. Gutersloh to this day remain stuck in sixth division football, and with Bielefeld struggling to improve their financial woes, a similar fate for them would be a death-nail to sum up Fernandez’s stay in Germany.
It all looked so different in 2007.
Fernandez, at the ripe goalkeeping age of 29, had finally earned himself a dream move to Europe’s Promised Land joining a small but steady Armenia Bielefeld club that had reached the German Cup semi-finals in 2005 and 2006.
On paper it seemed the perfect move for South Africa’s top keeper, one where he could grow and perhaps move on to bigger things.
Certainly at home in South Africa the general consensus was Spider had outgrown the local Premier Soccer League (PSL) and was now on the road to fulfilling a career that had started at Gauteng amateur side Benoni Northerns and kicked into gear in 1996 when Fernandez turned professional with Wits University, now called Bidvest Wits.
Fernandez, whose reflexes and attitude earmarked him as a highly-rated prospect from early on, had then enjoyed his breakthrough period during the 1999/00 season when he helped un-fancied Wits finish sixth in the league.
His feats made South Africa sit up and take notice of a young lively, spiky-haired last line of defence in an adventurous Wits team including starlets Sam Magalefa, Ashley Makhanya and Stanton Fredericks.
Fernandez won his first call-up to South Africa’s under-23 side during this period and in September 2000 made it into the Sydney Olympics team. The peak of this rapid rise then came in mid-2001 when the Springs-born keeper signed for South African giants Kaizer Chiefs, making the short trip across Johannesburg with Fredericks.
The resulting slow start to life at Chiefs was to be expected especially with the brilliance of fan favourite Brian Baloyi. But Fernandez’s patience and hard work finally reaped reward during the 2003/04 season when he not only grabbed the number one jersey, but helped the Phefeni Glamour Boys to their first league championship in 12 years.
With cult hero status at club level guaranteed, Fernandez then made his debut for South Africa’s national side, Bafana Bafana, in 2004 in a 2-0 friendly win over Tunisia before guiding Chiefs to the league title again in 2004/05.
Apart from a league win 2005 also saw the arrival at Chiefs of German coach Ernst Middendorp with whom Fernandez would forge a strong working relationship. The keeper became one of Chiefs’ club captains and together Fernandez and Middendorp enjoyed a remarkable 2006 calendar year in which Chiefs won the SAA Supa 8, MTN 8 Cup and ABSA Cup tournaments.
Then in February 2007 to add to his extensive medal collection Fernandez became the first goalkeeper in PSL history to score from open play, ramming home a rebound from a penalty-kick he had taken in a league match against arch-rivals Mamelodi Sundowns at a packed Loftus Versfeld stadium.
Chiefs ended up losing the match 2-1 meaning Fernandez was unable to add a third league winner’s medal to his name, but nonetheless, altogether Spider won a remarkable 14 major trophies during his time at Chiefs.
It wasn’t much of a surprise therefore when a move to Europe beckoned at the end of the 2006/07 season.
In fact in November 2006 Fernandez had been linked with a move to English sides Middlesbrough, Coventry City and Stoke City after impressing for Bafana Bafana in a 1-0 friendly loss to African champions Egypt in Brentford, England.
Now with his contract at Chiefs finished Fernandez would move to Bielefeld in July 2007 and link up again with mentor Middendorp who had been hired as the German side’s coach in March.
To some Fernandez’s transfer was more than just a simple move to a new team.
It was an opportunity to not only dispel notions of the fallible Africa goalkeeper, but to also show the way for South African goalkeepers – prove that local keepers can succeed at the highest level.
Whereas outfield players Lucas Radebe, Mark Fish, Phil Masinga, Shaun Bartlett, Benni McCarthy and Steven Pienaar, to name a few, have all succeeded in Europe no South African goalkeeper had come close to matching their respective feats.
Indeed the tale of South African goalkeepers is a sad one.
The only South African goalie that had made a significant move overseas was 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winning keeper Andre Arendse. But he only managed to play 12 matches in his two years with English side Fulham before a brief spell at lower league outfit Oxford.
Arendse, who is the only South African player to win the PSL with four different clubs, returned home in 2000 after signing for Fulham in 1998.
A notable exception perhaps is Hans Vonk who played for Dutch clubs SC Heerenveen and Ajax Amsterdam; however Vonk, who was scouted by Bafana Bafana specifically for the 1998 World Cup, was bred in the Netherlands.
The major reason for the poor success rate was not only the lack of specialised goalkeeper coaching in South Africa in the past but also because keepers are exposed to a different type of game locally.
In South Africa the style of football has always been a world apart to Europe’s, more flair maybe but much less tactical awareness and certainly less crosses and high balls pumped into the penalty area.
Indeed Fernandez’s ability to deal with crosses and high balls was called into question after South Africa’s crucial 2-0 loss to Nigeria in a 2010 World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June 2008 where Bafana Bafana were punished after Fernandez flapped at a corner-kick. Fernandez was subsequently dropped by Bafana coach Joel Santana following the defeat in Abuja, Nigeria.
Nevertheless Fernandez was seen as the most equipped keeper to change history, and according to stats, Germany would be his best home.
According to a study published by football statistics website zonalmarking.net in January there are on average fewer crosses attempted in Germany than in any of Europe’s other top leagues. Approximately there are 33.7 crosses attempted per game in the Bundesliga, much less in comparison to 36.2 crosses in England, 36.3 in France, 36.8 in Spain and 40 in Italy.
And with 7.55 crosses completed per game there is less aerial bombardment for a goalkeeper to deal with in Germany than in England, Spain or Italy.
Fernandez therefore had the platform to perhaps emulate South Africa’s greatest goalkeeping export Gary Bailey who went on to play for English giants Manchester United and the England national team in the 1980s.
Still, succeeding in the Bundesliga, one of the world’s top leagues, was never going to be easy for Fernandez.
And unfortunately for Fernandez there were obstacles from early on that made it even tougher.
Firstly upon arrival it was clear it would be a struggle for Spider to replace Bielefeld’s first choice keeper, captain and stalwart Mathias Hain, and then to make to matters worse Middendorp was sacked in December 2007 after a slow start to the season.
Still, of one of Fernandez’s strengths is his resilience, and just as he had worked hard to displace Baloyi at Chiefs Fernandez made his breakthrough at Bielefeld in April 2008 after a star showing in a vital 1-0 win over Karlsruhe while deputising for an injured Hain.
Speaking after the win Bielefeld coach Michael Frontzeck said Fernandez had left an “outstanding impression” adding that the keeper had “used his chance well” while Hain was recovering from a broken rib.
Fernandez went on to play 14 times in his first season and generally impressed as he helped Bielefeld avoid relegation.
But bad luck and injuries would do him no favours.
In May 2008 Fernandez conceded a remarkably luckless goal in a match against Borussia Dortmund when Alexander Frei’s free-kick hit the post, then astoundingly struck Fernandez full in the face before rolling into an empty net. The 83rd minute equaliser meant Bielefeld were unable to hold on to crucial three points, drawing the match 2-2.
However it is injuries that have been Fernandez’s worst enemy.
In January 2008 he missed out on the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana after dislocating a knuckle on his left hand, fracturing it in three places, when a ball struck his finger during the warm-up ahead of a preparation match against Botswana in Durban.
His dreadful luck with injuries then worsened at the start of the 2008/09 season when he suffered a cruciate knee ligament just when Fernandez seemed poised to build on his steady first season, especially after his main rival Hain left to join St Pauli.
The injury would keep Fernandez out of action for five months and handed the goalkeeper jersey to new Bielefeld signing Dennis Eillhoff. And despite his bullishness Fernandez only played once, a German Cup appearance, during the 2008/09 season.
“I am determined to get my place back both at club and national level. I will be number one at Bielefeld and soon. It is a matter of time,” Fernandez said in an interview with South African newspaper The Sowetan in March 2009. “I was on the bench at the weekend when we travelled to Bremen to play (Werder) Bremen and won 2-1. That was a big away win for us and moved us four points away from relegation. I have played in a number of friendly games and feel stronger every day.”
“I have continued working at the rehabilitation centre and I have continued with additional training after my daily sessions with team have concluded,” Fernandez added in a separate interview with mtnfootball.com at around the same time.
At the end of the season Bielefeld suffered relegation after six seasons in the Bundesliga.
Fernandez did have the consolation of gaining fitness in time to make South Africa’s 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup team, but by now he had fallen well behind Chiefs prospect Itumeleng Khune in the pecking order and didn’t feature at the tournament.
His persistent injury problems made it difficult for Fernandez to find the rhythm and consistency that is so vital for goalkeepers.
But again he fought back, working himself back into contention for Bielefeld’s match against rivals Augsburg in February. However after all his endeavour disaster stuck again when Fernandez suffered yet another cruciate ligament injury in the game.
The injury came at the worst possible moment with the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa just around the corner. In many quarters Fernandez was written off with countless pundits believing Spider could not return from this latest setback.
Normally knee cruciate ligament injuries take up to six months to heal properly they said, which would unquestionably rule him out of the World Cup in June.
But again and remarkably, Fernandez battled back and fought his way into Bafana Bafana’s preliminary World Cup team.
“When I got injured in February, my chances of making it to the World Cup squad went out of the window… I was given a zero per cent chance of recovering in time before the tournament. But my friends and family got me through the injury and I continued to work hard in the gym and now I think I have at least 25% chance of making it to the final squad. It is a lot better than nothing,” Fernandez told South African magazine Kickoff.com before a World Cup preparation game against Thailand in May.
“I’m just lucky to be here right now, because a few months ago I was written off… I will make the most of my chance,” Fernandez said.
Devastatingly though, despite his efforts, Fernandez failed to make Bafana Bafana’s 23-man World Cup squad after Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira deemed him not fit enough. Khune, Moneeb Josephs and Shu-Aib Walters instead were chosen as South Africa’s three goalies for the tournament.
Where to for Fernandez?
Bielefeld are struggling, currently lying at the bottom of the German 2 Bundesliga. Fernandez is struggling too, finding it hard to get into the team ahead of Eillhof.
“To be fair Dennis Eillhof has done a steady job in goal and I knew from the start that given the length of absence that when I did come back that it would be a battle to win my place back,” Fernandez said in an interview mtnfootball.com.
But if anyone can win this battle it is Fernandez.
Indeed despite his difficult first three years in Germany there is still time for Fernandez to reach the heights he is very much capable of reaching; goalkeepers lest we forget get better with age, just like good wine.
There are numerous examples to look to.
For instance there is the great German goalie Oliver Kahn who led Germany to the final of the 2002 World Cup and became the first goalkeeper in history to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball. There is Italian legend Dino Zoff who won the World Cup in 1982 aged 40 while Manchester United’s 40 year-old Dutch master Edwin van der Sar keeps going on and on.
And in the country that has produced some of the world’s greatest goalkeepers, from Kahn to Sepp Maier to Andreas Kopke, Fernandez is doubtless in the perfect place to improve and prove South Africa can produce world-class goalkeepers.
And it is possible because even with all the troubles he has faced Fernandez remains a fan favourite at the Bielefelder Alm because of his attitude towards his career and life. Indeed it his greatest compliment that wherever he has been Fernandez has always been a popular figure.
Fernandez has not failed in Germany, nor has Germany failed him; all he needs now as he moves forward into the defining stage of his career is some better luck – especially with injuries.
Hopefully the gods are listening.
First written in December 2010
* Rowen Fernandez joined South African side SuperSport United in January 2011
 |
| Rowen Fernandez |
A few weeks later South African magazine Laduma reported Fernandez had been placed on the transfer list by Bielefeld.
As disheartening as the developments were perhaps they were to be expected.
Since joining Bielefeld in 2007 Fernandez, once seen as the finest South African keeper of his generation, has struggled to make an impact thanks to a litany of injuries and bad luck that seem to have piggy-backed his career.
His apparent German nightmare so far can indeed be summed up by the fact that despite being with Bielefeld for three years the 32 year-old has only made 18 full starts.
But is there more to the story?
Is there more to the story than simply Fernandez has failed?
Are there reasons why this hugely talented shot-stopper has struggled when he once seemed destined for greatness?
Perhaps the gods have just not been on his side.
For example, just when Fernandez seemed poised to make South Africa’s 2010 FIFA World Cup squad after fighting back from a serious knee injury he was cruelly axed at the last minute, missing out on Africa’s first-ever World Cup.
And on that note, how many footballers have been hospitalised after being bitten by a spider? Fernandez has. In 2003 Fernandez, ironically nicknamed Spider because of his unusual love for creepy crawlies, required emergency treatment after one of his eight-legged friends got too close.
Perhaps Fernandez has never had a real chance to impress his coaches at Bielefeld.
 |
| Rainy Days in Westphalia |
Those are just some of the questions that are now being raised as Fernandez, who has always fought heartily against adversity, enters what is the most important chapter of his career.
To the pessimist his prospects on the whole may appear uncertain.
His club Bielefeld, relegated from the German Bundesliga in 2009, are facing an uncertain future as the club continues to flirt with financial ruin that could relegate them to the sixth level of German football.
As crazy as it sounds it is possible.
In 1999 Bielefeld’s local rivals Gutersloh suffered an identical fate after they racked up debts of up to 4.5 million Euros and were kicked down Germany’s leagues. Gutersloh to this day remain stuck in sixth division football, and with Bielefeld struggling to improve their financial woes, a similar fate for them would be a death-nail to sum up Fernandez’s stay in Germany.
It all looked so different in 2007.
Fernandez, at the ripe goalkeeping age of 29, had finally earned himself a dream move to Europe’s Promised Land joining a small but steady Armenia Bielefeld club that had reached the German Cup semi-finals in 2005 and 2006.
On paper it seemed the perfect move for South Africa’s top keeper, one where he could grow and perhaps move on to bigger things.
Certainly at home in South Africa the general consensus was Spider had outgrown the local Premier Soccer League (PSL) and was now on the road to fulfilling a career that had started at Gauteng amateur side Benoni Northerns and kicked into gear in 1996 when Fernandez turned professional with Wits University, now called Bidvest Wits.
Fernandez, whose reflexes and attitude earmarked him as a highly-rated prospect from early on, had then enjoyed his breakthrough period during the 1999/00 season when he helped un-fancied Wits finish sixth in the league.
His feats made South Africa sit up and take notice of a young lively, spiky-haired last line of defence in an adventurous Wits team including starlets Sam Magalefa, Ashley Makhanya and Stanton Fredericks.
Fernandez won his first call-up to South Africa’s under-23 side during this period and in September 2000 made it into the Sydney Olympics team. The peak of this rapid rise then came in mid-2001 when the Springs-born keeper signed for South African giants Kaizer Chiefs, making the short trip across Johannesburg with Fredericks.
The resulting slow start to life at Chiefs was to be expected especially with the brilliance of fan favourite Brian Baloyi. But Fernandez’s patience and hard work finally reaped reward during the 2003/04 season when he not only grabbed the number one jersey, but helped the Phefeni Glamour Boys to their first league championship in 12 years.
With cult hero status at club level guaranteed, Fernandez then made his debut for South Africa’s national side, Bafana Bafana, in 2004 in a 2-0 friendly win over Tunisia before guiding Chiefs to the league title again in 2004/05.
 |
| Fernandez at Kaizer Chiefs |
Then in February 2007 to add to his extensive medal collection Fernandez became the first goalkeeper in PSL history to score from open play, ramming home a rebound from a penalty-kick he had taken in a league match against arch-rivals Mamelodi Sundowns at a packed Loftus Versfeld stadium.
Chiefs ended up losing the match 2-1 meaning Fernandez was unable to add a third league winner’s medal to his name, but nonetheless, altogether Spider won a remarkable 14 major trophies during his time at Chiefs.
It wasn’t much of a surprise therefore when a move to Europe beckoned at the end of the 2006/07 season.
In fact in November 2006 Fernandez had been linked with a move to English sides Middlesbrough, Coventry City and Stoke City after impressing for Bafana Bafana in a 1-0 friendly loss to African champions Egypt in Brentford, England.
Now with his contract at Chiefs finished Fernandez would move to Bielefeld in July 2007 and link up again with mentor Middendorp who had been hired as the German side’s coach in March.
To some Fernandez’s transfer was more than just a simple move to a new team.
It was an opportunity to not only dispel notions of the fallible Africa goalkeeper, but to also show the way for South African goalkeepers – prove that local keepers can succeed at the highest level.
Whereas outfield players Lucas Radebe, Mark Fish, Phil Masinga, Shaun Bartlett, Benni McCarthy and Steven Pienaar, to name a few, have all succeeded in Europe no South African goalkeeper had come close to matching their respective feats.
Indeed the tale of South African goalkeepers is a sad one.
The only South African goalie that had made a significant move overseas was 1996 Africa Cup of Nations winning keeper Andre Arendse. But he only managed to play 12 matches in his two years with English side Fulham before a brief spell at lower league outfit Oxford.
Arendse, who is the only South African player to win the PSL with four different clubs, returned home in 2000 after signing for Fulham in 1998.
A notable exception perhaps is Hans Vonk who played for Dutch clubs SC Heerenveen and Ajax Amsterdam; however Vonk, who was scouted by Bafana Bafana specifically for the 1998 World Cup, was bred in the Netherlands.
The major reason for the poor success rate was not only the lack of specialised goalkeeper coaching in South Africa in the past but also because keepers are exposed to a different type of game locally.
In South Africa the style of football has always been a world apart to Europe’s, more flair maybe but much less tactical awareness and certainly less crosses and high balls pumped into the penalty area.
Indeed Fernandez’s ability to deal with crosses and high balls was called into question after South Africa’s crucial 2-0 loss to Nigeria in a 2010 World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in June 2008 where Bafana Bafana were punished after Fernandez flapped at a corner-kick. Fernandez was subsequently dropped by Bafana coach Joel Santana following the defeat in Abuja, Nigeria.
Nevertheless Fernandez was seen as the most equipped keeper to change history, and according to stats, Germany would be his best home.
According to a study published by football statistics website zonalmarking.net in January there are on average fewer crosses attempted in Germany than in any of Europe’s other top leagues. Approximately there are 33.7 crosses attempted per game in the Bundesliga, much less in comparison to 36.2 crosses in England, 36.3 in France, 36.8 in Spain and 40 in Italy.
And with 7.55 crosses completed per game there is less aerial bombardment for a goalkeeper to deal with in Germany than in England, Spain or Italy.
Fernandez therefore had the platform to perhaps emulate South Africa’s greatest goalkeeping export Gary Bailey who went on to play for English giants Manchester United and the England national team in the 1980s.
Still, succeeding in the Bundesliga, one of the world’s top leagues, was never going to be easy for Fernandez.
And unfortunately for Fernandez there were obstacles from early on that made it even tougher.
Firstly upon arrival it was clear it would be a struggle for Spider to replace Bielefeld’s first choice keeper, captain and stalwart Mathias Hain, and then to make to matters worse Middendorp was sacked in December 2007 after a slow start to the season.
Still, of one of Fernandez’s strengths is his resilience, and just as he had worked hard to displace Baloyi at Chiefs Fernandez made his breakthrough at Bielefeld in April 2008 after a star showing in a vital 1-0 win over Karlsruhe while deputising for an injured Hain.
Speaking after the win Bielefeld coach Michael Frontzeck said Fernandez had left an “outstanding impression” adding that the keeper had “used his chance well” while Hain was recovering from a broken rib.
Fernandez went on to play 14 times in his first season and generally impressed as he helped Bielefeld avoid relegation.
But bad luck and injuries would do him no favours.
 |
| More bad luck with injuries... |
However it is injuries that have been Fernandez’s worst enemy.
In January 2008 he missed out on the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana after dislocating a knuckle on his left hand, fracturing it in three places, when a ball struck his finger during the warm-up ahead of a preparation match against Botswana in Durban.
His dreadful luck with injuries then worsened at the start of the 2008/09 season when he suffered a cruciate knee ligament just when Fernandez seemed poised to build on his steady first season, especially after his main rival Hain left to join St Pauli.
The injury would keep Fernandez out of action for five months and handed the goalkeeper jersey to new Bielefeld signing Dennis Eillhoff. And despite his bullishness Fernandez only played once, a German Cup appearance, during the 2008/09 season.
“I am determined to get my place back both at club and national level. I will be number one at Bielefeld and soon. It is a matter of time,” Fernandez said in an interview with South African newspaper The Sowetan in March 2009. “I was on the bench at the weekend when we travelled to Bremen to play (Werder) Bremen and won 2-1. That was a big away win for us and moved us four points away from relegation. I have played in a number of friendly games and feel stronger every day.”
“I have continued working at the rehabilitation centre and I have continued with additional training after my daily sessions with team have concluded,” Fernandez added in a separate interview with mtnfootball.com at around the same time.
At the end of the season Bielefeld suffered relegation after six seasons in the Bundesliga.
Fernandez did have the consolation of gaining fitness in time to make South Africa’s 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup team, but by now he had fallen well behind Chiefs prospect Itumeleng Khune in the pecking order and didn’t feature at the tournament.
His persistent injury problems made it difficult for Fernandez to find the rhythm and consistency that is so vital for goalkeepers.
But again he fought back, working himself back into contention for Bielefeld’s match against rivals Augsburg in February. However after all his endeavour disaster stuck again when Fernandez suffered yet another cruciate ligament injury in the game.
The injury came at the worst possible moment with the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa just around the corner. In many quarters Fernandez was written off with countless pundits believing Spider could not return from this latest setback.
Normally knee cruciate ligament injuries take up to six months to heal properly they said, which would unquestionably rule him out of the World Cup in June.
But again and remarkably, Fernandez battled back and fought his way into Bafana Bafana’s preliminary World Cup team.
“When I got injured in February, my chances of making it to the World Cup squad went out of the window… I was given a zero per cent chance of recovering in time before the tournament. But my friends and family got me through the injury and I continued to work hard in the gym and now I think I have at least 25% chance of making it to the final squad. It is a lot better than nothing,” Fernandez told South African magazine Kickoff.com before a World Cup preparation game against Thailand in May.
“I’m just lucky to be here right now, because a few months ago I was written off… I will make the most of my chance,” Fernandez said.
Devastatingly though, despite his efforts, Fernandez failed to make Bafana Bafana’s 23-man World Cup squad after Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira deemed him not fit enough. Khune, Moneeb Josephs and Shu-Aib Walters instead were chosen as South Africa’s three goalies for the tournament.
Where to for Fernandez?
 |
| Pointing to the future... |
“To be fair Dennis Eillhof has done a steady job in goal and I knew from the start that given the length of absence that when I did come back that it would be a battle to win my place back,” Fernandez said in an interview mtnfootball.com.
But if anyone can win this battle it is Fernandez.
Indeed despite his difficult first three years in Germany there is still time for Fernandez to reach the heights he is very much capable of reaching; goalkeepers lest we forget get better with age, just like good wine.
There are numerous examples to look to.
For instance there is the great German goalie Oliver Kahn who led Germany to the final of the 2002 World Cup and became the first goalkeeper in history to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball. There is Italian legend Dino Zoff who won the World Cup in 1982 aged 40 while Manchester United’s 40 year-old Dutch master Edwin van der Sar keeps going on and on.
And in the country that has produced some of the world’s greatest goalkeepers, from Kahn to Sepp Maier to Andreas Kopke, Fernandez is doubtless in the perfect place to improve and prove South Africa can produce world-class goalkeepers.
And it is possible because even with all the troubles he has faced Fernandez remains a fan favourite at the Bielefelder Alm because of his attitude towards his career and life. Indeed it his greatest compliment that wherever he has been Fernandez has always been a popular figure.
Fernandez has not failed in Germany, nor has Germany failed him; all he needs now as he moves forward into the defining stage of his career is some better luck – especially with injuries.
Hopefully the gods are listening.
First written in December 2010
* Rowen Fernandez joined South African side SuperSport United in January 2011
