Nacho
Personal information
Full name José Ignacio Fernández Palacios
Date of birth (1967-02-03) 3 February 1967
Place of birth Foz, Spain
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Órdenes (manager)
Youth career
1984–1986 Gran Peña
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1992 Celta 127 (1)
1992–2001 Compostela 199 (4)
Total 326 (5)
International career
2005 Galicia 1 (0)
Managerial career
2010–2011 Cerceda
2011– Órdenes
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

José Ignacio Fernández Palacios (born 3 February 1967), known as Nacho, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left-back.

His entire professional career was associated to Celta and Compostela. He appeared in 198 La Liga matches over eight seasons, scoring four goals.

Club career

Born in Foz, Province of Lugo, Nacho spent his entire career in his native Galicia. He signed in 1986 with RC Celta de Vigo from amateurs Gran Peña FC, making his first-team debut in the Segunda División and contributing 20 games (15 starts) as the club promoted to La Liga.

Nacho played his first match in the top flight on 6 September 1987, featuring ten minutes in a 3–3 home draw against Valencia CF[1] and finishing the season with 18 appearances in an eventual seventh-place finish. He continued to be regularly used the following years, being relegated in 1990 but winning promotion in 1992, even though he was only a fringe player in the latter campaign.

In the summer of 1992, Nacho joined SD Compostela of the second tier,[2] playing 20 games in his second year in a first-ever promotion to the top division.[3] From 1995 to 1998 he made an average of 35 league appearances, with the team being relegated at the end of 1997–98.

Nacho spent three more seasons with Compostela, totalling only 23 matches and suffering relegation in 2001, although he made no appearances in his last year.[4] He retired in June 2001, at the age of 34.

International career

In 1995, Spain manager Javier Clemente thought of Nacho as Sergi Barjuán's backup for the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament, and told the media that he would be called-up for the national team's next game. In an interview to El País, the player stated he had no desire to be selected, saying he did not "relate" to the cause.[5] Since such an action was punishable with a one-year ban, the manager decided not to pick him after phoning him to make sure of his position, and his place would be eventually occupied by former Celta teammate and fellow Galician Jorge Otero.[6]

Nacho finally represented Galicia in 2005, appearing against Uruguay at the Estadio Multiusos de San Lázaro.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "3–3: Baltazar impidió el triunfo del Valencia" [3–3: Baltazar prevented Valencia win]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 7 September 1987. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Un Compos de Primera" [Primera Compos] (in Spanish). Míticos del Balompié. 28 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  3. ↑ García Solano, Manuel (2 June 1994). "El Compostela asciende al cielo de la Primera" [Compostela reach Primera heaven]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Graves lesiones de Nacho y Falagán" [Serious injuries for Nacho and Falagán]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 29 September 1999. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Hermida, Xosé (16 November 1995). "El dilema de Nacho" [Nacho's dilemma]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  6. 1 2 Casado Chozas, Nacho (24 February 2014). "La historia de Nacho: el futbolista que rechazó a España" [The story of Nacho: the footballer that said no to Spain] (in Spanish). Indiscretos. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
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