{"id":666252,"date":"2026-05-13T08:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666252\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T08:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:07:14","slug":"from-tv-to-reality-ted-lasso-actor-becomes-pro-soccer-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/666252\/","title":{"rendered":"From TV to reality: &#8220;Ted Lasso&#8221; actor becomes pro soccer player"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-p.v1.20260513.f6ddd07bfc6b4240a81556775496f297_P1.jpg\" alt=\"Mexican actor Cristo Fernandez attends a CONCACAF Nations League final soccer match between Mexico and Panama, in Inglewood, California, March 23, 2025.   (AP-Yonhap)\"\/>     Mexican actor Cristo Fernandez attends a CONCACAF Nations League final soccer match between Mexico and Panama, in Inglewood, California, March 23, 2025.   (AP-Yonhap)  <\/p>\n<p>An actor who once played a striker in a soccer drama has now fulfilled his real-life dream of becoming a professional soccer player.<\/p>\n<p>El Paso Locomotive FC, a club in the USL Championship \u2014 the second-tier professional soccer league in the United States \u2014 announced Tuesday via its official website that it had signed &#8220;forward&#8221; Cristo Fernandez, 35, pending league and federation approval.<\/p>\n<p>The club did not disclose contract details in accordance with team policy.<\/p>\n<p>Fernandez is best known for portraying Mexican striker Dani Rojas in the American sports comedy TV series &#8220;Ted Lasso.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to the club, Fernandez earned the contract after undergoing an intensive two-month trial period. During that time, he trained regularly with the squad and also appeared in a preseason match against New Mexico United.<\/p>\n<p>Born in Mexico, Fernandez once pursued a football career through Tecos FC&#8217;s youth system, but was forced to give up the sport at age 15 due to an injury.<\/p>\n<p>He later turned to acting and other pursuits before ultimately realizing his long-held dream of becoming a professional player.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Soccer has always been a huge part of my life and identity,&#8221; Fernandez said through the club. &#8220;No matter where life took me, the dream of becoming a professional player never left my heart.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He also thanked the club, coaching staff and teammates for the opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This journey back to professional football is about believing in yourself, taking risks, and continuing to chase your dreams no matter how unexpected the path may be,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Maybe I&#8217;m just a crazy person with an impossible dream. That&#8217;s probably why being with El Paso feels like the perfect fit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. \u2014 Ed.)<\/p>\n<p>khnews@heraldcorp.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mexican actor Cristo Fernandez attends a CONCACAF Nations League final soccer match between Mexico and Panama, in Inglewood,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-666252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}