Is Cristo Fernandez a pro footballer? 'Ted Lasso' star played second division in Mexico
‘Ted Lasso’ was undoubtedly one of the best shows last year and exceeded all the expectations. The Apple TV+ series focused on a football coach named Ted Lasso who has been hired by the AFC Richmond to coach for the upcoming Premier League in the UK. Although Lasso doesn’t know much about the game, he led the Wichita State Shockers to a Division II National Collegiate Athletic Association championship.
The show is all about how caring and decency can make people feel better about themselves and that’s how Lasso coaches. A big part of the show revolves around football. So, it doesn’t come as a shock that some of the actors that we see on the show have actually trained professionally as footballers.
RELATED ARTICLES
'Ted Lasso' Season 2: Air time, how to watch and all about Apple TV+ comedy series
'Ted Lasso' Season 2 Cast: Meet Jason Sudeikis and others from the Apple TV + comedy
Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernandez) is one of the show’s pivotal characters and joined AFC Richmond after coming to the UK from Mexico. Aside from being cheerful and enthusiastic, he is a talented footballer, making Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) feel threatened he will replace him as the team's star. The way Fernandez dribbles the ball or takes the shot makes us feel like he has played football at the highest level. So, let’s find out if that is indeed a true story or not.
Fernandez is a ‘professionally trained’ footballer
Of course, it is important to know about the game when you are about to be shown as a specialist in the series. So, it's not surprising that they chose a professionally trained footballer to play one of the most pivotal characters on the show. In a recent interview, Fernandez opened up about his younger days and revealed that he used to play the game professionally in Mexico and knows almost everything about the sport.
The actor also noted that football has been his passion since he was a little kid and played it professionally in the country’s second and third divisions.
“Football has been my passion my whole life and as you said, I used to practice it professionally. Here back home in Guadalajara, Mexico, where I'm from, I played not the top level, like the first edition, but I played professionally in the third and second division,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez debuted 15 years old with club Tecos of Liga MX. The Liga MX is the top professional football division of the Mexican football league system. Administered by the Mexican Football Federation, the league comprises 18 clubs with plans to add two more teams.
He wears the number 14 jersey on the show and it was a really proud moment for him because number 14 belonged to Javier Hernandez.
Hernandez is one of the finest football players of this generation and plays for Mexico. Speaking further about his playing days, Fernandez told ESPN that he was also a part of the First Division of Puerto Rico.
He added, “I played with Estudiantes Tecos, I was there for the third and second, but the injuries made me rethink things and I ended up in the First Division of Puerto Rico where we were close to the CONCACAF Champions League.”
The TV star had to stop playing the game because of a couple of knee injuries and that was the time when he got interested in acting, scriptwriting, and filmmaking. However, Fernandez closely follows the actions of Mexican footballers in Europe.
Fernandez will be reprising the role of Dani Rojas in ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 2. The upcoming season will be premiering exclusively on Apple TV+ on Friday, July 23.
