This thread is about the recent winner of the 2006 best S.American player award. America only, S.American players in Europe don't count. IF YOU LOVE THE BEAUTIFULL GAME YOU WILL LOVE THIS PLAYER! Name: MATIAS FERNANDEZ A.K.A: "MATI" "MATIGOL" "PELUSA" Age: 20 Nationality: Chilean (Born in Argentina to a Chilean father and Argentinian Mother, moved to Chile at the age of four.) Position: Midfielder(M/L), Attacking Midfielder(M/L), Forward. Number: 21 Team: Villarreal (Has just been bought from Chilean club Colo Colo, likely to play against Valencia on January 7th) ALL THESE GOALS ARE FROM 2006 ONLY! Most of them from the second semester... WARNING: You might want to lower the volume if you're in a public space. The goal that made me a follower of the 'Matimania'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSV_LTUDMaE So he went on scoring several other goals in the local tournament. Here is a compilation of a few, includes the above. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tirVQPCmhkI Then I said, Ok...he's good, but can he do that against other American teams? And that's when Colo-Colo's Copa Sudamericana run started... First Alajuelense(Costa Rica) suffered his freekick... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZhFSd_JkTo Then in the Semifinal it was Toluca(Mexico) who tried to control Fernandez, at one point they sent 4 players around him. Check out the quality pases and dribles. This vid is a summary of one match. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAyzYDOoEXA Then on the away match Colo-Colo managed to win 0-2 with two goals by Fernandez! It was here we discovered he used contact lenses, because a defender took one off from Fernandez. he played with 'one eye', but that didnt affect him at all...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Wzq_gjWZs He can also play at international level, here is his 3rd or 4th cap for Chile's national team in a friendly against Peru. Chile started badly, loosing 0-1, our strikers went missing, who saved the day? Yep, Matigol to the rescue with two freekick goals! (take a look at the way he kicks the ball in his second goal): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5HWQHEtPFM If you just can't be bothered here is another compilation that includes bits and pieces of the stuff above... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puva6TWrVYE So, is he still at it? These are quite fresh, all from December... First Division. Playoff semifinal, Colo-Colo 4-0 Puerto Montt. Two goals from Mati, watch his second goal, what was that distance? 40 meters or something? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hNbBBTVYok Against Cobreloa, yet ANOTHER free kick, he played a mayor part in the 1st and 3rd goals where he also showed he is a master ball passer. In the third goal he makes his way through three defenders... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl82ggu9Rv4 His last goal before leaving to Villarreal...a superb freekick from quite a distance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOjWCg75iFY From MegaVision. A seleccion of his top 7 goals in 2006. Includes some of the above. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCLCLH3ihSU His presentation at Villarreal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo_H1LLJ8aM ...more to come? I hope so.