{"id":426859,"date":"2026-05-14T06:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/426859\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T06:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:31:10","slug":"ted-lasso-star-cristo-fernandez-signs-with-us-pro-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/426859\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ted Lasso’ star Cristo Fernandez signs with US pro club"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mexican<\/p>\n

\nActor Cristo Fernandez
\nPhoto: AFP \/ Robyn Beck\n<\/p>\n

Cristo Fernandez, who played ebullient Dani Rojas on Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” will transition to real-life football after signing with United Soccer League Championship side El Paso Locomotive.<\/p>\n

The second-tier club said that Mexico’s Fernandez, 35, who played fictional footballer Rojas in the first three seasons of “Ted Lasso,” was signed after “an extensive two-month trial” that included a pre-season match.<\/p>\n

“Cristo is a great addition to our roster, adding another attacking threat to our forward line,” said Locomotive Head Coach Junior Gonzalez.<\/p>\n

“His passion for the game and leadership qualities for our locker room allow us to continue growing the positive culture we strive for as a club.”<\/p>\n

Fernandez played youth football with Tecos FC but stepped away from the game at 15 because of injury.<\/p>\n

“F\u00fatbol has always been a huge part of my life and identity, and no matter where life has taken me, the dream of competing professionally never truly left my heart,” Fernandez said. “I’m incredibly grateful to El Paso Locomotive FC – the club, coaches, staff, and especially my teammates – for opening the doors and giving me the opportunity to compete from day one.”<\/p>\n

– AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Actor Cristo Fernandez Photo: AFP \/ Robyn Beck Cristo Fernandez, who played ebullient Dani Rojas on Apple TV’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[48,430,47,156,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":["post-426859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-audio","tag-celebrities","tag-current-affairs","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}