{"id":4001,"date":"2026-04-09T11:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=4001"},"modified":"2026-04-09T11:30:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T11:30:36","slug":"emmanuel-fernandez-blows-ex-arsenal-hero-away-as-rising-rangers-star-namechecked-after-excellent-masterclass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=4001","title":{"rendered":"Emmanuel Fernandez blows ex Arsenal hero away as rising Rangers star namechecked after &#8216;excellent&#8217; masterclass"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_32b220\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Fernandez was imperious at the back in his first start for Nigeria and added a goal into the bargain<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36988428\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Emmanuel Fernandez on the ball for Nigeria\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk\/article36988428.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Jordan-v-Nigeria-International-Friendly.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk\/article36988428.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_Jordan-v-Nigeria-International-Friendly.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk\/article36988428.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_Jordan-v-Nigeria-International-Friendly.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk\/article36988428.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Jordan-v-Nigeria-International-Friendly.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Emmanuel Fernandez on the ball for Nigeria\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Emmanuel Fernandez on the ball for Nigeria<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty Images\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Alex Iwobi admits he was blown away by Emmanuel Fernandez as he singled out the Rangers star after scoring his first Nigeria goal. .<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">And the former Arsenal and current Fulham midfielder believes the 24-year-old has what it takes to be an international star.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Ibrox stopper made his bow for Nigeria during the last international break and played for the Super Eagles against Iran and Jordan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Fulham playmaker Iwobi was sent off in the 2-2 draw against Jordan after winning his 96th cap, but was on the pitch when Fernandez, making his first start for his country, netted his first international goal to put his team 2-1 up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">And Iwobi said: &#8220;I thought Emmanuel Fernandez was excellent in his first two games. Along with Chibuike Nwaiwu, he showed composure and made a really good impact against a physically demanding opponent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;He did well and looked very solid. It was a good performance. The main thing is that we won because that gives us a confidence boost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Fernandez has been linked with a big money move at the end of the season having impressed since his summer switch from Peterborough United.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><em><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google\u2019s preferred sources<\/strong> <\/em>. <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><em>Click HERE.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><em>Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport&#8217;s newest podcast, <a aria-label=\"Game OnLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/GameOnListen\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Game On<\/a>every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Follow <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><em>Record Sport<\/em> <\/strong>on <a aria-label=\"TwitterLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Record_Sport\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>, <a aria-label=\"FacebookLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DailyRecordSport\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> and <a aria-label=\"InstagramLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dailyrecord_sport\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a> for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers page, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">We&#8217;re also on WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community <a aria-label=\"hereLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/EgVkLjEJzvoGCjPsITDsXg\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fernandez was imperious at the back in his first start for Nigeria and added a goal into the bargain Emmanuel Fernandez on the ball for Nigeria(Image: Getty Images) Alex Iwobi admits he was blown away by Emmanuel Fernandez as he singled out the Rangers star after scoring his first Nigeria goal. . And the former [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}