With Gelson Fernandes, a very large man retires

The title may sound absurd, but we take it seriously. After the announcement of his resignation from Fernandes, many fans will spontaneously remember his World Cup goal against Spain. But it is not this objective that makes the 33-year-old a great player.

Fernandes will retire at the end of this season, Eintracht Frankfurt will continue to be his last stop as a professional footballer.

If you only look at the statistics and the trophies, you will not have the idea of ​​counting Fernandes among the greats of this sport. A cup victory with Sion in 2006 and winning the DFB Cup in 2018 was nothing more. In 508 games as a club footballer, the defensive midfielder scored 15 modest goals and prepared eight. His card collection is even more impressive: He was warned 125 times, flew 6 times with yellow-red, and once he saw red, that was last season. In the DFB Cup semi-final, he flew 33 seconds after his substitution and was therefore banned in the final against Bayern Munich, arguably one of the most bitter moments of his career.

But there are also the non-measurable components, which are often given very little importance. So the 33-year-old was, and still is, and will be until his last day, a top-quality team player. Fernandes has always been one hundred percent at the service of the team. He always gave his all on the field, motivated his teammates, and never looked up at the bench once. Spreading a bad mood, the man who always seemed to have a big smile on his face away from the plaza never did. He took much more care of his teammates, and it was beneficial to him that he spoke seven languages ​​(Creole, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, English).

Like almost no one else, he has shown what it means to leave your ego behind. Not because he submissively allowed everything to be done with him, he could express his opinion very well, but he did it with style and directly. Fernandes would never have tried to use the media to kick someone out. This is especially true regarding his national team’s career, because he was often a regular at the club level. And he has played in many clubs: Sion, Manchester City, Saint-Étienne, Chievo Verona, Leicester City, Udinese Calcio, Sporting Lisbon, SC Freiburg, Stade Rennes and since the summer of 2017 near Frankfurt.

Fernandes and the national team

Sure, we also like to remember how Fernandes pushed the ball over the line in the 52nd minute at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in the opening match against future world champion Spain and ultimately resulted in a 1-0 victory. There is no need to report on the following games here.

Fernandes made his debut with Köbi Kuhn on August 21, 2007, and is already an undisputed regular at the 2008 European Championship. Under Ottmar Hitzfeld, who took over the wheel after that EM, he only established himself at first. In the 2010 World Cup he was in the starting XI in all three games, we have already mentioned the unforgettable goal against Spain.

But he did not continue in this style, Fernandes was (too often) just a gap filler. For example, he sat on the bench in all group games at the 2014 World Cup, only making a partial appearance against Argentina in the round of 16, after all. Because in his third and final World Cup, he was even denied a partial assignment. Two years earlier, she was nothing more than a noble reserve in the European Championship. Shortly after the 2018 World Cup, it seemed that Valon Behrami was no longer playing a role in the national team, he resigned at will.

But in contrast to the angry and offended Behrami, Fernandes said goodbye in Nati’s style, with an emotional message that actually says everything about his character. Among other things, he said: “I have always been aware that the greatest danger for a national team is selfishness. Because each player is very important in his club, and it is not uncommon for this to transfer to the national team. But if you are one of the best players in a country, you should be proud that you are allowed to play in your country. ”So sitting on the bench was never a problem for him.

Yes, we will miss Fernandes. But we will definitely see it again. He would definitely be a great coach. How Adi Hütter got excited not so long ago: “Gelson is a player who, as a coach, gives me the feeling that he is acting as a coach-player on the field. Because he puts himself at the service of the team, because he is a leading player, because he speaks several languages ​​and divides the boys very well on the field. Maybe he’ll become the title hamster after all …