Christian Cueva: the Peruvian scorer in the Qualifiers who one day “lost” to take home a bull | CHRONICLE

A Christian Cueva he always liked hugs and never forgot to say thank you. 13 years ago, when he was still a minor, ‘Aladino’ scored his first professional goal in Huaraz, against Sport Ancash. In the middle of the celebration, he looked for the then San Martín coach, Víctor Rivera, and hugged him for more than ten seconds. The same happened on Tuesday with Ricardo Gareca, at the Olympic Stadium in Caracas. Both coaches understood how to guide the best steps of the ‘8’ of the peruvian team. For Cueva to be able to rule with his game, there first has to be a question of trust.

“I still remember that hug. Christian was so small that his club uniform was too big for him. Yes, he likes to return appreciation and trust. It is the noble and generous side that he has as a person “, dice Victor Rivera, the coach who made him debut in First. According to Rivera, the emotional tranquility that the man from Al Fateh from Arabia has found has been fundamental to return to his best version.

“The mental part has a lot to do with it. He has been concerned about the physical as well, he has a personal physical trainer and all the confidence that Ricardo Gareca has always given him. He has focused on contributing to the national team. Christian more than advice, he needs peace of mind ”, Rivera says.

From “Huamachuco” to ‘Aladino’

that 15-year-old young man who arrived from the north, after an exhibition match for the San Martín University youth team (directed at that time by Orlando Lavalle) in La Libertad.

“They invited us to a party for the anniversary of Huamachuco. We decided to go with a youth team. They told us they had a very good player. Coach Orlando Lavalle traveled with the delegation. At the end of the first half, Lavalle told me: ‘play a lot’. It was Christian “, says Alberto Masías, director of minors at the San Martín University.

Christian Cueva He arrived with a single backpack to the San Martín University training sessions in 2006. That day was Víctor Rivera’s birthday. Quickly, ‘Cave‘he gained the trust of his peers and began to seek advice from the more experienced. “Christian was always very wrapped up, when he arrived he was very calm, but he liked to hang out with the grown-ups”, Leao Butrón, who was his partner in San Martín and in Alianza Lima, responds to us.

The questioned Cave

Cueva is a devotee of Thanksgiving. “When he signed his first contract he invited me to lunch. And years later, he invited me to a final when I was playing for the Spanish Union. He took me to his apartment. In the end they win the match, he turns the Olympic round and throws the shirt at me. It was my birthday”, remember Masías.

After his missed penalty against Denmark, in the World Cup, the transit of Cave by peruvian team has garnered more criticism than applause. Former colleagues of ‘Aladino’ agree that the ‘8’ did not deserve so many diatribes. “Christian has made a lot of mistakes, but I think he has been beaten up excessively. In spite of everything, he has always believed in him, he has been physically ready. He is very underweight. That results in the performance we’ve seen. “explains Butrón.

The cheeky Cave

To define the relevance of his good game, the word that is repeated frequently is “daring.” Almost by unanimous vote, Christian Cueva He has a quality that makes him irreplaceable for Gareca: his impudence with the ball, the essence of Peruvian football.

“Christian can miss a penalty, but he never hides, he always asks for the ball. He is a player with a lot of personality, he never asks to be changed. I saw him grow and evolve, I saw him realize different situations in life. The easiest thing is to condemn the footballer ”, dice Germán Alemanno, another former partner of Cueva.

The goals of ‘Aladino’ in the Qualifiers ratify the return of the skillful and influential player of the Gareca era (15 goals and 12 assists). What is the secret of this football redemption? “Now he seems to worry about the physical issue, I always said that with the conditions he has Christian, if he had the physical condition that Alexis Sánchez or Arturo Vidal had at some point, he would have kept playing in Europe with the best level “, analyzes Álvaro Barco, sports manager of the San Martín University.

For Leao Butrón, the goalscoring comeback of Cave It is also related to his extra work to regain his best physical condition. I am almost convinced that the technical command of the national team has had a lot to do with Christian’s recovery. Gareca’s work team is very aware of this. The improvement of the national team has a lot to do with the physical part, especially with Christian ”, concludes the former Alianza Lima goalkeeper.

Five goals in this Play off and a remarkable physical recovery, make Cueva the inevitable value of this final stretch to find a place in Qatar. ‘Aladdin ‘is the value that sometimes gets lost, but always knows how to return. At the age of 17, he disappeared for a few days from the San Martín. It worried everyone because the squad was going to travel to a home run in Uruguay. When he reappeared, he explained that he had to go to Huamachuco to play an interfamily tournament. “We are about to play a Copa Libertadores,” the manager Álvaro Barco reproached him. Cueva lowered his head and in a low voice tried to defend his strange decision: “The champion won a bull. And I won it ”.