If you watched Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso,” you are aware of Dani Rojas and his signature line, “Football is life!”
Cristo Fernández, who played Rojas as part of the fictional Premier League club AFC Richmond, is making an effort to have that phrase become a reality.
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The 35-year-old actor was recently spotted training with El Paso Locomotive FC of the USL Championship. Fernández has been active with the club, having played 30 minutes during a preseason friendly on Saturday and was captured in a team photo afterwards.
That wasn’t the only soccer action Fernández has seen this winter. The Chicago Fire confirmed on Wednesday that the actor was on trial with the club’s second team last month and even scored twice in a scrimmage.
Fernández had soccer-playing dreams as kid, even suiting for Mexico’s Tecos Fútbol Club. But a serious knee injury ended those dreams and re-routed his future towards acting.
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“My grandma and my mom used to say, ‘Cristóbal only speaks, breaths, talks, dreams, everything fútbol’ — soccer was literally my life,” Fernández told NBC News in 2021.
According to the El Paso Times, Fernández is expected to continue training with the Locomotive into next week where a decision on his future will be made. The team opens its season this Saturday, but without a contract Fernández is not eligible to play.
League rules prevent Fernández from speaking to the media since he is without a contract. The Locomotive are also staying very quiet on the situation.
Season 4 of “Ted Lasso” is set to premiere this summer, but there is no word if Fernández’s Dani Rojas character will be included.
