El Cañonero, comic: How did Lolo Fernández become the great cult hero of Universitario?

It is simple and modest to say that Lolo Fernandez he did everything and he did everything well. Only he confirms that resurrecting is impossible, but living forever is real. He is the symbol of amateur soccer in Peru, a look at that past that filled with glory the history on which his mythical figure stands today. The bulwark that when the ball was not worth millions and was won . And with him, millions were happy. Mainly in Universitario de Deportes, the club that positions him on a pedestal as his top idol.

His anecdotes are now legends and those legends became books. There is no other Peruvian athlete who has managed to have more ink and paper publications about his life. , journalist, writer and ‘Lolista’ from this publishing house, are proof that Lolo is still alive.

It is still so alive that one year after the centenary of Universitario de Deportes, the club will launch, together with Editorial Mesa Redonda, the biography El Cañonero told in a comic version. “Not only does it touch the most sensitive fibers of the fan’s sentimental memory, but it represents an approach for the new generations of fans, to the most relevant football reference of their club”, cites the editorial’s announcement about the flagship product that is already available. for sale at the Lima 2023 International Fair.

This new book about the life of Lolo, a commitment to the publishing market in Peru, has its own heroes behind it. Who are they? The Mesa Redonda publishing house led by Sandra López, responsible for general production; Carlos Echevarría, as a scriptwriter; Lumer, in charge of the illustrations; Gonzalo – Kurarero in color and VFX; Luis Chumpitazi in the art direction; and Abraham Fernandez and Jesús Peña as content advisors.

Lolo also sounds in the group’s songs. Or on the sign with his name in a section of the Maison de Santé clinic. They are signs that Fernández is culture, it is art, it is life, it is an eternal passion that does not collapse or get damaged but is increasingly immortal.

Let’s answer the main question of this note: Why? Because there was not -and there will not be- a better player to represent the cream colors. Stately, scorer, gentleman; a forward center that has united the generations of great-grandparents, grandparents, parents and children knowing his stories.

legend numbers

There is no record of all the goalkeepers who fainted, nor the nets that he broke or the crossbars that he broke, but whoever spread the word about these events must have seen Lolo Fernández on a field from 1931 to 1953. There are 22 seasons (not counting that of 1936 because he went to play in the Olympic Games in Berlin) followed in which he wrote his story with Universitario de Deportes.

Campaigns in which he bathed in glory, leaving the Peruvian tournament as a scorer 7 times: . No other player who has set foot on national courts has been able to come close to this mark. Valeriano López, who is behind, came out as a gunner in 4 years.

Lolo was creating his myth, too, with each title won. In the controversial 1934 season, after three years of championships won by Alianza Lima, Universitario prevailed in the final 2-1 against the intimate, and the ‘Cañonero’ achieved his first crown by being top scorer (10 goals).

The six titles that followed only enlarged the figure of the gunner. In 1939, for example, he could have competed for The Best Award (if it had existed) after being the top scorer and champion with the Peruvian team in the South American Soccer Championship (7 goals), and also, he turned Olympic with Universitario de Deportes at the end of the year after scoring 15 goals.

In 1941 he repeated another title, but one just as significant as the one achieved in 1945, where he came out top scorer in the championship for the last time with 16 goals. In 1946 and 1949 were his last titles in his beloved Sports University. After his retirement in 1953, no one surpassed his record of titles until 1971 when Ángel Uribe and Luis Cruzado reached 7 titles in their record as creams. Today, the most winner is José Luis Carranza with 8 championships until 2004.

The 171 goals he registered, according to FPF statistics, kept him at the head of the ranking of local gunners for almost three decades. Only in 1980, Oswaldo Ramírez was able to surpass him and reach 190 goals in 1982. With the retirement of Sergio Ibarra (2014) with 274 goals, no other player threatens the record.

Lolo against the classic

Those were different times, despite the classic of the cane blows in 1928 and the controversial final that defined the 1934 title, but the stately tone that Peruvian soccer had did not escape the competition. For this reason, Lolo grew with the classic against Alianza Lima, gaining greater notoriety.

The 1930s were still for matches between Lima and Chalacos (Alianza-Sport Boys) or the middle class (Universitario-Municipal). Already entered, and there was Lolo Fernández to show his scoring ability.

In the historical records of Universitario, Lolo appeared as the player with the most appearances (48) between 1953 and the year 2000, when José Luis Carranza surpassed him. The ‘Puma’, meanwhile, has played 61 matches against the archrival. However, a mark that no one has been able to match is the number of goals he scored in the Alliance goal: 29 goals. That is to say, .

There is no player in Peru who has had a better closing of his career than Lolo Fernández. On August 30, 1953, the anniversary of Santa Rosa de Lima, the Peruvian classic was to be played. The ‘Cañonero’ was already 40 years old and had many ailments, but in the absence of the starting striker of the first team he was included to play.

“I will leave with the enthusiasm of 20 years ago. Although the legs are not the same, the heart remains the same”he said in advance. In the field, his words materialized with. He was carried on the shoulders and applauded by fans, teammates and rivals. The myth of ‘Lolismo’ was already a truth.

The blank check

What could a blank check prove in the first half of the 20th century? Respect, chivalry, admiration, pride, perhaps, or an early display of all the love that can be given later. For decades it was said that Lolo Fernández refused to go to Colo Colo de Chile with a contract where he could put the number he wanted.

The book Our Father, by Miguel Villegas, unravels this story in the chapter dedicated to Marina, his daughter. , remembers the heiress of the ‘Cañonero’.

Villegas’ research goes further on the subject. The author of the story of the blank check is Renato González Moraga, with the literary black of Pancho Alsina. “As a result of the ‘match’ in which he reinforced Colo Colo, Robinson Álvarez, the president of Colocolino, wanted to hire him, he offered blank figures for him to put the number he wanted, ”Alsina wrote and her story crossed borders.

The book, published by Hualcará Editores in 2015 and whose edition is a luxury for Universitario collectors, reestablishes the links that could bring the striker closer to the neighboring country.

“When Lolo reinforced Alianza Lima on the tour of Chile, he seriously injured a footballer named Wilson and they took him to the police station. Robinson Álvarez, president of the Chilean club, made arrangements for his release. Since then they became good friends. . The bond existed, it was real”writes Villegas.

There is no better sign of love for the Universitario de Deportes shirt than that check in which Lolo wrote that he preferred to keep his beloved cream.

The goal of anthology

In 2019, a commercial for a brewery recreated the best goal of the 1939 South American Championship scored in the match between Peru and Chile on January 22. Lolo and the bow, 80 years later in a video that exploded on YouTube with millions of views to the pride of the entire town of Universitario de Deportes.

When television began to weave ideas into the head of Scotsman John Logie Baird, and national radio had barely been broadcasting for two years, a top-class goal could only remain as an oral memory, from the word of mouth of those present in the stadium, Or on the pages of newspapers.

El Comercio described the goal that way. It’s worth getting excited.

“The Peruvians were more effective in their game. The team had already taken on a uniform consistency, which allowed it to frequent its advances in pursuit of raising the score. The Chilean defending lines were powerless to counter the Peruvian attacks, which were increasingly dangerous. From midfield, Tovar, who had improved his game, gave a long pass to Jorge Alcalde, who soon kicked the ball to the right and . It was one of those formidable shots that the public expected. That is why the placing of the third goal, in the way described, gave rise to a prolonged ovation, while the Peruvian strikers congratulated Lolo effusively. The stopwatches registered the 25 minutes of the second half”.

The goal was, by specialists of the time, named as the best of the tournament. The score only increased the myth of Lolo Fernández and his great feats. In that Copa América, the striker and greatest idol of Universitario de Deportes had made his debut with a double in the 5-2 win over Ecuador. A Sunday later, against Chile and after a yawning first half (El Comercio dixit), Fernández shouldered the team and opened the scoring with a header at 46 minutes. At 65 ′, after a handball inside the Chilean Ponce’s area, Lolo scored his double as a penalty. The third goal, the goal that has crossed the time lines with 3D images, came at minute 70. Tovar stole in the middle and crossed to the left where Alcalde was. ‘Campolo’ saw Lolo out of the corner of his eye and changed the direction of the ball. The rest was a masterpiece. Fernández did not let the ball fall onto the field and connected with a right hand that plunged into the left corner of the south arc of the National Stadium in Lima.

Lolo would not stop and on the following date he again scored a double against Paraguay (3-0 win). Only in the last match against Uruguay he couldn’t put his stamp on it. He participated, yes, in the first goal. “Lolo passed to T. Alcalde, whose center was rejected by the defense, but after seven minutes of play”appointment trade of February 13.

Peru ended up being crowned champion with another combined goal from the Alcalde brothers. Uruguay discounted through Porta. The final whistle triggered a total uproar in the public, which invaded the field and carried their new heroes on their shoulders. Lolo and company had accomplished the task. Happiness was finally dressed in white and red. It was the first time that in these lands it was possible to shout: Peru champion!