Who is the 2-meter pivot who until five years ago wanted to be a footballer and today is the big surprise in the Olympic basketball preselection

“As a boy I used to play soccer. I started from 9 and finished as a center marker. But at one point I realized that it was bad and, since I was always tall, they told me to try basketball. I went to Unión de Santa Fe and I liked it. That’s how it all started…”. Juan Francisco Fernández was 13 when he left No. 5 and started with the orange. Who would have thought that, five years later, he would be cited for the Olympic basketball preselection, along with world stars such as Scola, Campazzo and company?

“When they told me that I was called up it was really an incredible moment, of great joy, obviously, and of satisfaction for all the effort that I have been making. I was a little used to the idea that I could be in the preselection, from what I had been listening to. I even trained with my mind set on what could be…. Luckily it was given to me, they called me, although at times I still don’t quite believe it and I feel very excited. Whether or not it is between 12, this is very motivating to keep training and progressing. It’s a huge incentive for me”Reveals this 2m10 power forward from Santa Fe who, in addition to wanting to learn alongside the captain and his boys, has a goal in mind. “I really want to train with Luis, learn by his side, but also see if I can put some trays in his face.” The kid, beyond the emotion generated by having been cited among the 15 for Tokyo, does not shrink and pulls, laughing, a phrase that marks his ambition. “Being with him is a dream, a goal, but I am like that, competitive, and I would love to be able to face him and earn a place among the 12”, he makes clear, with the respect that King Luis V deserves that, these days , He is in his Castelli field training at full capacity to reach his fifth Olympic Game, at the age of 41.

Perhaps Fernández was not on the radar of so many basketball fans, but he has been standing out for a long time in smaller teams and even in Spain, where this season he was training with the Fuenlabrada ACB team and, at the same time, was the figure of the subsidiary that achieved promotion to the third division (he averaged 14 points and 5.7 rebounds) until he earned the call from Sergio Hernández.

-And why do you feel that he called you Sheep? Is it your size, the versatility, the shot, the mentality that you show? If you had to say something about yourself, what do you like about yourself?

-I think my winning mentality, so to speak. Everything I play I want to win. I also think it’s a bit of everything: shooting, being tall, having long arms, and my ability to rebound.

-Medis 2m10 and Argentina has not had much height in general and less with your versatility. You have the size, that characteristic so sought after today and already with a European touch. You weren’t playing ACB but you were training with the team and you were promoted to the third division being important.

-If true. In Fuenlabrada I had the opportunity to have a lot of training sessions with the first team and it went quite well for me, I learned and realized that my game is not that far from the best inmates. It is not that I am lacking many things so to speak, I already know more or less the professional world and I feel comfortable in that field.

-Returning to your personality. They told me that you are not afraid of anything. That you are not going to do experience but to earn a place. Oveja Hernández himself said that he does not give a place to anyone and that he is there because he has a chance to stay. Beyond the fact that you are not going to go to Las Vegas to be in your World Cup, the chances of staying are there.

-Yes, that’s how I think about it. If I am between 15 it is not for experience and nothing else. I want to earn a place in Tokyo.

Fernández is very happy. But, at the same time, what happens to him gives him a bit of anger. From the 14th of this month He will do the last part of the preparation with the U19 team that will play the World Cup in the category in Latvia, from July 3. That will prevent him from being in the preparation of the Major in Las Vegas, from the 27. Hernández decided to summon him the same and, according to his performance in the World Cup event, he will define whether or not he goes to Tokyo. “It bothers me a little to miss Las Vegas, but I will be happy if I play the World Cup, especially because I will do it with my litter (2002), with my friends, although it is obvious that it bothers me to miss the experience with the Major. Hopefully I can play the World Cup well, that we as a team go well, and win a place in Tokyo ”, highlights who has not had elusive experiences with his teammates because he missed the South American U17 and then, due to the pandemic, the U18 World Cup. “Yes, that’s why I say I really want to. Because I also look good for Latvia. Although we still need a little bit, I think that in the next concentration we will be able to polish all the details. If we play well and achieve the goals we set for ourselves, we can win games and get well up. But we can also lose them and be down. Any option is possible ”, explains Juan Francisco.

The kid rose to fame in a U16 tournament in Turkey, when scouts from Europe saw him and received offers from various clubs. Months later he was among the 12 for the U17 World Cup played in Santa Fe, his city, giving almost two years of advantage. And not only remained. He played well, averaging 8.7 points and 7.6 rebounds. “I would tell you that I could have had a better World Cup, but I played well and felt comfortable in the team. I took that reference tournament to find out where I was and what I was missing, and I think I was able to make the most of it. Also being in my city, with all my friends and playing for Argentina, completed it. It was a great first experience in the elite ”, explains who after the tournament accepted the offer from Fuenlabrada and emigrated at the age of 16. “It was not such a difficult decision because my family and friends were very supportive. But, of course, it was not easy in the first months. There were a lot of times that I said ‘I can’t take it anymore, I want to go back’, but I had my agent who helped me a lot. He was more of a friend. And my teammates also supported me a lot and luckily I was able to hold out ”, he explains.

A precocious talent, always seen with enormous potential, Fernández also earned a place in the U19 World Cup in Greece two years ago. Also giving two years of advantage and nothing less than in the great 2000 litter of Leandro Bolmaro and company. “I learned a lot from that experience, from the fact that we won the first three and only lost one, we were eliminated. Out there people say that it is unfair but for me it is not so. You have to go game by game and win the one you play. We were unlucky that we lost, but I learned from that experience and from my teammates, ”he says. The good news did not stop and in February 2020, before the outbreak of the pandemic, He was invited to be in the NBA All Star preview, with top international prospects. “Yes, we were training with a lot of guys from all over, with assistant coaches from the NBA and there were even players. They showed us that world, we watched the dunk contest, skills and the match as well. I really enjoyed that experience ”, he says.

-Going on to your last season in Fuenlabrada, which ends with a bow for the promotion, but above all playing a lot and being able to display your talent. A season that left you a lot, right?

-Yes, I was lucky that in Fuenlabrada they gave me the baton, so to speak, of the team. A bit of the role of leader and there I felt very comfortable with the boys, who were already my friends. I knew most of them, there were some new ones. We developed as a team throughout the year and even had a 14-game winning streak. Nobody expected it and when we found out we had 14. In the course of the year we realized that we were up for great things and we culminated it with the promotion.

-In training with the Fuenlabrada first team, who did you meet there and what did you learn?

-In total I will have gone two or three months throughout the year to train with the ACB team. He always tried to talk a lot with Cristian Eyenga, who is a former NBA and teammate of LeBron (James) and a lot of stars. He helped me a lot. It helped me to realize that it was not as far as it seemed. Although I was confident that my game was good, and I was able to do very well in training, that helped me and I was able to learn a lot from my teammates.

-Going to the personal level, how is Juan Fernández? They told me “very demanding and competitive” but I also notice you calm, as you are one way on the court and another outside. How would you describe yourself?

-Yes, I am quite different playing than outside, in life. Playing I am very passionate, demanding, I want to win everything and do everything well. If I win by 20 and I can win by 40, I want to. I’m like this. In life I am calm, I like to be with my friends. I am normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

-And what do you like outside of basketball? I don’t know if you’re a basketball obsessive… They told me you’d like to start studying something.

– (laughs) I like to watch sports, especially soccer and Formula 1, which I’m starting to like now. Around there I play Play with my friends. Most of them play soccer, I always try to go see them when I’m in Santa Fe. I don’t watch a lot of basketball. I look at the good games, like the Euroleague Final Four and now the NBA playoffs, but not much else. I try to disconnect a bit when I can.

-They told me that you have a reference to Dirk Nowitzki and that you even have a dog in Santa Fe that you named Dirk.

-Yes that’s how it is. Now, for this interview, we lock him up with my sister because if he doesn’t come and strip you all, but yes, his name is Dirk and I put him like that for the player. He is a border collie, he is a very active breed, he does not stay still for a second. Has a lot of energy.

– Beyond the German, I imagine that you will also have as a reference to Scola, our captain. How do you see yourself training and learning with him?

– I think that it is not necessary to say much about what Luis means. I’m very excited about meeting, training with him and learning as much as I can. And even see if I can put some trays in his face (laughs). As I told you, I am very competitive, but what I most want is to learn and enjoy this experience that can be unique.

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