Full name Fernando Vázquez Pena Playing position Apps (Gls) | Place of birth Castrofeito, Spain Years Team Children Nicolás Vázquez | |
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Date of birth (1954-10-24) 24 October 1954 (age 62) Similar Emmanuel Culio, Maheta Molango, José Luis Oltra, Víctor Fernández, Miguel Ángel Lotina | ||
Fernando Vázquez Pena (born 24 October 1954) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central midfielder, and a current manager.
Football career
Born in the village of Castrofeito, O Pino, Galicia, Vázquez was an English teacher in Lalín where he began to get involved with the school's athletics, especially football. He started his senior coaching career with modest CD Lalín in 1986, but left for higher-profile Racing de Ferrol in 1991.
Vázquez took over for various teams from 1994 to 2004, most of them in La Liga. With Celta de Vigo he achieved promotion followed by straight qualification into the UEFA Cup, after a sixth place in the 2005–06 season.
Vázquez was relieved of his duties as manager of Celta on 9 April 2007, on the eve of the Galician derby against Deportivo de La Coruña, with his team embroiled deep in a relegation fight which it eventually lost on the last matchday.
Aside from coaching, Vázquez also worked as a pundit for Canal+ in their UEFA Champions League coverage. While still at Celta, he took charge of the Galician national football team together with Arsenio Iglesias, longtime Depor manager.
On 11 February 2013, after nearly six years away from club duty, Vázquez was appointed at Deportivo, taking Domingos Paciência's place as the third manager of the campaign as the team ranked in 20th and last position, eventually finishing one place up but still dropping down to Segunda División.
Vázquez coached the club to an immediate promotion back after finishing as runner-up and, on 1 June 2014, he renewed his contract until 2016. However, in July, after some statements in which he criticized the club's signing policy, he was relieved of his duties.
On 19 January 2016, after nearly 18 months without a club, Vázquez was appointed RCD Mallorca manager. Seriously threatened with relegation, he managed to avoid the drop in the very last matchday.
Vázquez was sacked on 6 December 2016, after only one win in six matches.