![\"Cristo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cristo-fernandez-is-known-for-playing-dani-rojas-in-ted-lasso.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTed Lasso star Cristo Fernandez has turned fiction into reality after signing for American second-tier club El Paso Locomotive following a two-month trial.<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old Mexican actor became a cult hero around the world for his portrayal of the endlessly enthusiastic Dani Rojas in Ted Lasso, where his character famously declared: “Football is life.”<\/p>\n
Now Fernandez is preparing to test that philosophy in professional football.<\/p>\n
El Paso, who compete in the USL Championship, confirmed that Fernandez has earned a contract after impressing coaching staff during an extended trial period.<\/p>\n
For Fernandez, the move represents the fulfilment of a dream he has harboured since childhood.<\/p>\n
Before his acting career took off, he played youth football in his hometown of Guadalajara and hoped to pursue the sport professionally.<\/p>\n
Those ambitions were interrupted when he suffered a serious knee injury at the age of 15.<\/p>\n
Cristo Fernandez is known for playing Dani Rojas in Ted Lasso<\/p>\n
| <\/p>\n
APPLETV<\/p>\n
Fernandez later moved to London to study and build an acting career.<\/p>\n
His breakthrough came when he was cast in Ted Lasso, the award-winning Apple TV+ comedy starring Jason Sudeikis as an American coach unexpectedly hired to manage English club AFC Richmond.<\/p>\n
Fernandez appeared in three seasons between 2020 and 2023, with Rojas becoming one of the show’s most beloved characters.<\/p>\n
![\"Away](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/away-from-ted-lasso-cristo-fernandez-has-also-appeared-in-spider-man-no-way-home-and-acapulco.jpg\")
Away from Ted Lasso, Cristo Fernandez has also appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Acapulco<\/p>\n
| <\/p>\n
GETTY<\/p>\n
Away from Ted Lasso, Fernandez has also appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Acapulco.<\/p>\n
Yet throughout his success in Hollywood, his desire to return to football never disappeared.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year he trained with the reserve side of Chicago Fire before earning his opportunity with El Paso.<\/p>\n
“Football 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.<\/p>\n
“I’m incredibly grateful to El Paso Locomotive – the club, coaches, staff, and especially my team-mates – for opening the doors and giving me the opportunity to compete from day one.”<\/p>\n
![\"Ted](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ted-lasso-is-a-hugely-popular-fictional-football-show.jpg\")
Ted Lasso is a hugely popular fictional football show<\/p>\n
| APPLE TV PRESS OFFICE <\/p>\n
He added: “This journey back to professional soccer is about believing in yourself, taking risks, and continuing to chase your dreams no matter how unexpected the path may be.<\/p>\n
“Maybe I’m just a crazy man with crazy dreams… so being here with the ‘Locos’ actually makes perfect sense.”<\/p>\n
Head coach Junior Gonzalez believes Fernandez can make a genuine contribution on the pitch.<\/p>\n
“Cristo is a great addition to our roster, adding another attacking threat to our forward line,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ted Lasso star Cristo Fernandez has turned fiction into reality after signing for American second-tier club El Paso…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,830,96,218,217,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-581800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-entertainment","tag-football","tag-sport","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}