Daniel Marcio Fernandes

Daniel 'Dani' Márcio Fernandes (born 25 September 1983 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) is a Portuguese footballer. He is currently the first choice goalkeeper of Greek football club PAOK FC.

Early days

He started playing as a goalkeeper in FC Porto. FC Porto, Jahn Regensburg and Celta de Vigo released him on a free transfer. Having some connections in Greece, he was picked up on trial basis from PAOK FC. Former coach Angelos Anastasiadis recognised his talent and so, he signed his first contract with PAOK.

Becoming first choice

In 2005, PAOK's General Manager and veteran player, Giorgos Kostikos, took over the club's fortunes, after coach Nikos Karageorgiou was sacked following a bad string of results. He immediately replaced aging keeper Kyriakos Tochouroglou in his starting eleven with Dani. Many people were surprised by this choice, yet it was probably his best decision in his rather short-term career as a coach. Dani is mainly to thank for salvaging an otherwise disappointing 2005-2006 season, when he played in almost all games, in the greek league and cup alike. His countless vital saves, stability and steadfastness were praised both by players and by the media. Despite many problems, both inside and outside the pitch, PAOK managed to secure the 6th place in the league table and qualify for the 2006-2007 UEFA Cup first round. They also made reasonably good appearances in the 2005-2006 UEFA Cup group stage, despite failing to qualify to the next round.

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