Irven Ávila, the intelligent scorer and a goal that is worth 3 million dollars

He was not the star Jotita -like Manco- nor the captain Jotita -who was Duarte-; neither was the surprise Jotita -which was Bazalar in the World Cup-. On the contrary, he was one of the good substitutes, the third striker, behind Reimond and Christian La Torre, with no brands sponsoring him or reports on TV, who had to wait for his chance with the patience of a convent: once, a voice was going to call him. If he was still smart, he was going to pass.

And it happened. On July 2 Irven Avila He will be 33 years old and although he already has crow’s feet and 16 seasons on him, he is the only current footballer, with absolute international weight, of that generation of young people led by Juan José Oré so many years ago that some of them, due to their bad head, already they withdrew. El Cholito, on the other hand, does not. He was helped by his intelligent profile, his dedication to training and also that we took care of the paparazzi role of the other Under 17s who became millionaires before ceasing to be children. It wasn’t his fault, it’s ours. Ávila gradually gained a place in the First Division, then in Cristal and then in Peruvian soccer, where he has scored 172 goals of all kinds. We could choose the most beautiful, that he has made them, but tonight’s with Huracán is by far the most shouted-out: 94 minutes into a game that was uphill, Cholo Ávila scored a national goalthat is shouted in Matute and the Monumental and that costs, at least, 3 million dollars, the Conmebol prize.

There is not a single teammate, there is no version of a coach, that does not coincide with this brief biography about Ávila: he is an intelligent footballer. Some friendly journalists even call him the thinking Jotita. Since he decided to leave the ‘U’, tired of not having any real chances to play in 2008, until he chose Cristal as the club to cement a scoring career that can be summed up in 122 goals in 332 games. And 80 assists. They brought all kinds of forwards to Cholo, most with other muscles and ten centimeters more and none took his place: Santiago Silva, Picante Pereyra, Marcos Riquelme, John Mosquera. They earned double, no one overshadowed him. And best of all, Irven Ávila never complained.

For this reason, on nights like this, so heartfelt, so Copa Libertadores, winning a discounted game against an Argentine club should be celebrated like this, without shirts. It’s not just about earning money, which money anyone can get: it’s about having prestige. Cristal has it: it is the Peruvian team with the most wins (13) against clubs from that country in the Copa Libertadores.

That is why his companions loaded him, in front of the popular tribune. And for this reason, that the stadium falls captive at the feet of the most champion soccer player on the squad, the most intelligent 9 that Cristal has sixteen years after his arrival at Rímac, is triple joy. His name is Irven Ávila and we call him Cholito. What a vindication of that word. Sometimes football knows who it chooses as its hero.