André Carrillo will turn 31: the enormous evolution of one of the most valuable players of the Gareca era

It was December 2009, on the eve of Christmas, when a young dreamer began to delight locals and strangers alike with his special gambeta. Andre Carrillo was the name of that rookie boy. His professional debut with Alianza Lima is remembered as if it were yesterday, but almost 13 years have passed. quickly. After the blue and white club, Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, Watford and Al Hilal (current) have also enjoyed his enormous talent. But the most visible and transcendental contribution of the ‘Culebra’ has been with the peruvian national teambecoming a key figure in the prestigious era of Ricardo Gareca. And what better than celebrating the 31st birthday, this June 14, giving himself and the millions of Peruvians a new World Cup classification.

Absolutely no one can doubt the enormous talent and potential of Andre Carrillo, but of course, things have never been easy for him -especially at the beginning- beyond his great capacity. The Peruvian winger grew up with the promise sign, well deserved, but precisely for that reason he himself was questioned on several occasions.

In 2011, the ‘Culebra’ played the South American U-20 Championship that was played in our country. Without sorrow or glory. The best thing for him came months later, when he was called up by Sergio Markarián in the senior team for a friendly against Senegal and, later, being included in the list for that year’s Copa América, although he only played 18 minutes of the tournament.

Only since 2012 Carrillo began to have more prominence with the ‘Blanquirroja’, demonstrating many times what he is capable of in the field, but not being able to fully convince. His lack of goal was what was most criticized for a long time.

In fact, until 2016, the national winger had only scored two goals in 33 games played with the Peruvian team, in addition to having given six assists. But everything got better for him from the following year.

a valuable figure

The ‘Culebra’ went from having little influence on the offense to being one of the most ‘poisonous’ of the national team. He matured quite a bit over the course, becoming key in the final stretch of the Russia 2018 Qualifiers to achieve the long-awaited access to the playoffs.

Already in Russia, Carrillo, who has been criticized countless times for his lack of goalscoring, made us vent the first goalscoring cry in a World Cup after 36 years, scoring in the victory against Australia (2-0) in the phase of groups. But beyond that conquest, the Peruvian winger shone throughout the tournament, leaving outstanding individual performances, even against champion France.

After that, many assumed that André would find a better team in Europe. But not. The “Culebra” left the “Old Continent” to venture into Saudi Arabia, a decision that many questioned, because he had better football options for his destiny. But time has finally proved him right.

The Peruvian winger has countered such criticism with his long-running successes at Al-Hilal, winning seven titles so far; among them, two Asian Champions League. Thanks to this, he also played twice in the Club World Cup with the Arab club (fourth place in both), a national feat that only Claudio Pizarro could previously achieve with two appearances in the tournament with Bayern Munich.

Also, the fact that Carrillo has decided to take a step back in his career, leaving the highest level in Europe four years ago, has not represented any downturn in his performance in this time. Quite the contrary.

In fact, in the last World Cup process, heading to Qatar 2022, André has finished establishing himself with the Peruvian team. It was not by chance that he became one of the most influential men of the Ricardo Gareca era.

Since the arrival of the ‘Tigre’ to the Peruvian bench, Carrillo has registered 10 goals and seven assists, widely improving their numbers with the selection. Only Edison Flores (15G/4A), Paolo Guerrero (18G/7A) ​​and Christian Cueva (15G/15A) have stood out with better records during the Argentine coach’s stay.

Also, in the last Qualifiers, the ‘Culebra’ has had the prominence that it did not have so much before, being the fifth player of the team with the most games (14) and minutes played (1,190 ‘). In those matches, he scored three goals and contributed with an assist.

Leaving aside the numbers, the main basis of Carrillo’s contribution to our team is in his true imbalance in attack. At a time when few dare to face fewer and fewer spaces, he is part of the rule to the exception. His dribbling and daring are non-negotiable in the ‘Blanquirroja’.

In addition, its optimal performance has been a constant. It almost always stands out. The experience gained all these years has been reflected considerably in the field. Impossible not to mention, too, that he is Christian Cueva’s best partner on offense. With Carrillo, the productivity of ‘Aladino’ improves, as well as that of Gianluca Lapadula, our current ‘9’.

But not only that. The ‘Culebra’ also makes a great sacrifice down the right flank to help Luis Advíncula (or Aldo Corzo) score. Now, for the playoff against Australia, André will be one of the team’s main weapons in attack. And there is no doubt that he will do everything possible to qualify for the second World Cup of his career in a row. Let’s bite, ‘Culebra’.