HARRISON, N.J. — In order to get his mother on board with his decision to leave college and sign with the New York Red Bulls, Omir Fernandez had to make her a promise. It was a bit of familial diplomacy that resulted in Fernandez becoming a professional and quickly assimilating with the first team.
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The 20-year old Fernandez started and went the full 90 minutes this past Saturday in the 1-1 season opener at the Columbus Crew. This comes on the heels of 15 minutes played the week prior in a 2-0 victory over Atletico Pantoja in the CONCACAF Champions League. Fernandez, a product of the Red Bulls Academy, hasn’t looked out of place in either appearance, fully backing up the confidence the club made in signing him as a homegrown player this offseason.
According to Fernandez, the discussions to make the jump to MLS came at the end of his sophomore season at Wake Forest. Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas called him at the end of the season to gauge his thought process on playing in MLS. During the season, Fernandez said that sporting director Denis Hamlett would text him “to check up on how I was doing.” When the Demon Deacons finished the season, those talks with the MLS club intensified.
“Yes, for me, it has always been in the back of my mind. It has been my priority to be a professional athlete,” Fernandez told The Athletic. “I thought if the time was right and it all made sense, it was the time to go. People start talking to you and that whole process is going on in my mind, I’m like ‘It is really coming true.’ It is becoming realistic. At Wake, there was a great coaching staff and great players to play with and it gave me a chance to develop and do these great things. When Red Bull came, I knew the team was right. I like the system, I like everybody here, I like the city. I’m from here. It made sense.”
When asked about the signing, Hamlett said that the homework on Fernandez began a year-and-a-half ago. The rookie attacker played last summer with the Red Bulls team in the Premier Development League and also trained with the first team. Then, in his sophomore season at Wake, Fernandez had 12 goals and six assists in 21 appearances.
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“We knew that he always had special gifts so it was just a matter of time,” Hamlett said. “He’s a player that is pretty mature and understands the grind of being in a professional environment. I think you can probably see why he was rewarded with being the first sub or second sub because of all the work he’s done in preseason to earn those minutes.”
The major issue in making this happen wasn’t Fernandez buying into becoming a professional. Instead, his mother was the one who needed convincing. As Fernandez explains it, it took some convincing but eventually she got on board with the idea of her son becoming an MLS player.
“My mom came to the United States to seek out new opportunities for her children — to go to school and pursue better things,” Fernandez said. “But she never thought I could become a professional athlete. Once she saw it become more realistic, she sort of leaned back and said ‘Go follow your dreams, I don’t want to be the one who holds you back.’ But it made her more comfortable when I told her that I’d finish school online.”
The hope is to start classes in the next few months at Southern New Hampshire University, an online college that is a partner with MLS. His degree focus will be either in sports management or communications.
Although he has been a professional only a couple of months and the MLS regular season is just a week old, already his mother is turning the screws on when he will get back into the classroom.
“Every time I’m in my room, watching TV, every single day I see her, and I’m not lying, every time I’m lying in bed watching TV, she’s like ‘When are you doing your school work? When does the school work begin?’” Fernandez said.
For now, he wants to focus on the field and getting comfortable as a professional. Then, later this year, he’ll start up with classes again.
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A technical player, Fernandez has shown in his small sample size as a professional that there is an intriguing skillset. He is equally comfortable floating out on the wing or playing as a false nine. His ability to make passes between the lines is promising for a team that wants to move the ball quickly in transition. Some within the organization think he could be a playmaker in a No. 10 role. Last month, he was called into the United States U-20 national team camp.
Having been developed in part through the team’s academy, his ability to play fast was a major selling point in the Red Bulls choosing to sign him to the squad this offseason.
“He’s intelligent, he’s fast, he’s top speeds are impressive. He’s shifty, his change of speed is interesting,” head coach Chris Armas said. “In preseason, you can’t ignore that he’s scoring goals (and) that he’s scoring goals in different ways. He’s running behind backlines, he’s breaking down defenses on his own.”
Two weeks ago in his professional debut in the 75th minute of the Red Bulls 2-0 win in the Dominican Republic, he showed quality on the ball and didn’t appear rattled by the moment.
There was a sense from him during that week in training that he might travel for the match and potentially see his first professional minutes. The Red Bulls had split their squad, keeping some in Arizona and sending a travel squad to play Pantoja.
When he learned that he was going to need his passport for a flight, Fernandez called his parents and let them know that he might make the gameday roster. No word on if, during the call, his mother asked him when he’s starting his college studies.
New and notes
Lawrence nearly back
After heavy squad rotation for this weekend’s league opener, the Red Bulls are at close to full strength.
Left back Kemar Lawrence (knee), yet to play in the Champions League or MLS action as he works himself back from offseason knee surgery, trained on Monday. Tuesday’s quarterfinal match against Santos Laguna might be too soon for him to start but the player is inching towards fitness.
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“It was good to see Kemar outside with us today and we say it’s a day-by-day but he’s very close,” Armas said. “We’re just being cautious this time around.”
Midfielder Marcus Epps, who appeared to take a knock on Saturday’s draw at Columbus, was not injured and was taken off in the second half in a like-for-like swap. Armas said that goalkeeper Luis Robles, who went down in the second half after a scramble in the box “is healthy.”
Santos Laguna awaits
Ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League clash, Armas highlighted Santos Laguna’s No. 10, Diego Valdés, as a player the Red Bulls will need to plan for. Valdés floats throughout the midfield and can playmake from deep or sit high underneath the forwards.
Santos Laguna rolled through their recent Champions League opponent Marathón 11-2 on aggregate and has had impressive wins in league play recently including over Cruz Azul and Toluca.
“(There’s) so much intelligence within their team and technical ability, it’s not a one person (who) can hurt us,” Armas said. “We think (Julio) Furch up the field is really good. We see him as a threat at all times. His awareness of space, and how to run behind and come underneath is really interesting.”