Following his stint in camp with the United States U-20 National Team last week in London, Chicago Fire midfielder Collin Fernandez stopped through Chicago on his way back to USL affiliate Tulsa Roughnecks where he’s currently on loan.
Chicago-Fire.com was able to catch up with the 20-year-old Downers Grove native on his time so far with Tulsa, living with teammates Joey Calistri and Matej Dekovic, and his time abroad with U.S. U-20s.
Hear it from Fernandez himself in the conversation below (edited for clarity):
C-F.com: It’s been a busy few weeks for you going from Chicago to Tulsa to London and back. How are things going in general?
Fernandez: “I’m feeling good. It felt great to get two games down at Tulsa playing 90 minutes. It’s always great playing games. There’s no better feeling. I feel like a part of the team in Tulsa, and I feel like that’s really important because I’m fully in it. My heads all in it. Everything is in it. It feels good.”
C-F.com: So you’ve featured twice so far for head coach David Vaudreuil’s side down in Tulsa. You’ve been deployed mostly in a deep-lying midfield role, and you’re among the team’s leaders in duels won, fouls won, tackles, etc. as a result. How would you describe your role on the field?
Fernandez: “Coach tells me you’ve just got to be all over the place. You need to be up and down. Sometimes you need to sit more, sometimes you need to go more. You have to find that within yourself, what you think is right to do. For me, I’m just all over the place. But I love it. I love doing that. I love playing that role. It’s enjoyable.”
C-F.com: You’ve got Joey Calistri and Matej Dekovic down in Tulsa with you. How have they welcomed you guys and how has your adjustment been off the field been?
Fernandez: “They’re all great guys. It’s just like a family there, so it’s cool. Me, Joe, and Matej all live together, so it’s interesting and it’s a lot of fun. We have out dinner nights sometimes where we all make dinner. We all play our own part, so it’s pretty fun.”
C-F.com: Any specialties?
Fernandez: “Usually if it’s a few days before a game we’ll start like making pasta. I’ll make the pasta, Matej will make chicken or shrimp, then Joey will make the vegetable, so it’s pretty funny. We switch roles though.”
C-F.com: Switching gears then into your time with the U-20s overseas, how’d that experience go for you?
Fernandez: “It was good. I thought all-in-all the experience was good. It was good for me to get out there again.”
C-F.com: It had been a while since you were with the U.S. squad. How many noticeable differences were there between this experience and the last?
Fernandez: “It was interesting because it was a little different for me to see it again. The side was similar. It was a lot of games. We played three games. First game against Fulham, and then the second game was just an intrasquad game, then the third game against Brentford. It was very light training, so it was just train, game, train, game, and then we were gone. It was a really quick camp. I thought that it was good for the guys. I feel like a lot of guys that I haven’t seen play before took advantage of their opportunities and did well. I also thought (Chicago Fire midfielder) Djordje (Mihailovic) did very well, so I’m happy with them.”
C-F.com: What were your takeaways from London off-the-field? How much were you and Djordje able to explore?
Fernandez: “After our last game, we got to go to downtown London. It was only for a couple hours, but we went to some stores, went to a really nice area and saw some cool cars. I saw a Bugatti, a few Lamborghinis just driving around.”
C-F.com: So when do you head back and what are your plans while home?
Fernandez: “Thursday night. I’ll head back then. I’ll get to see the girlfriend, that’s the main thing, and my family too.”
Fernandez will rejoin Tulsa ahead of their April 22nd match away at Houston Dynamo affiliate Gio Grande Valley Toros FC.
