The 26-year-old midfielder is one of the greatest figures in Argentine football.
In football it is very common to say that players find their place in the world when they make great performances in a club. A clear example of this is Franco Cristaldothe 26-year-old midfielder is having a lot of fun Hurricane and can be included as one of the great figures of the championship. However, his path was not rosy and, in fact, he came across several thorns along the way..
The 10 of the Globe is the result of the inferiors of Boca Juniorsclub of which he is a confessed fan, and where he officially made his debut on 16 November 2014 in a match against Arsenal de Sarandí when Rodolfo Arruabarrena He was coach of Xeneize. No doubt, the most remembered moment with the blue shirt was the goal against River in a 5-0 victory in a summer tournament.
The metamorphosis of his game took place when he arrived at Parque Patricios, but before that he did a long tour in different clubs, almost always on loan, and often with little continuity. In Boca he served only between 2014 and 2015, recording 14 games – 7 for the Professional League, 4 for the Copa Libertadores and 3 for the Initial Tournament – and only one goal. The reality is that he never stood up and had to go out on loan for minutes.
At the beginning of 2016 it was loaned to Elche for 6 months by Spain, an institution that was in the Spanish Second Division at the time. His passage was quite fruitful, as despite his short stay he played 18 games. “I come to Elche to have minutes and to learn”were the words of the flyer upon his arrival at the club.
After the peak of the loan, he continued in European football but playing for the Vallecano radius. This time Boca agreed to play for a year, but his stay was not positive. He played 12 games and scored a goal against Alcorcón on the 17th date of the Second Division tournament.
Back in Argentina, he arrived in Defense and Justice, an attractive destination for the football project and for the importance they give to young people on loan from other clubs to form competitive teams. Also in this case he did not enjoy the desired continuity and as at Rayo Vallecano he played 12 games divided between the Professional League and the Argentina Cup. By mid-2018 Florencio Varela left, returned to Boca and again left on loan.
San Martino di San Giovanni was the institution that requested their services to play the 2018/2019 season. Beyond the fact that they have participated in 17 games, an acceptable number of participations, a very discouraging fact is that the San Juan team was one of the four teams that lost the category, given that they had a poor campaign -25 units in 25 games – added to the poor collection of points in previous seasons.
For the last semester of 2019 the club that would host him was Central Cordoba of Santiago del Estero, a group recently promoted that year. In the Railway he reached the final of the Argentine Cup which River finally won. Also, he added a lot of participation after playing in 21 games, the highest score in his career to date.
In 2020 he joined the club that would change his career. After a pandemic that paralyzed the world and football, Cristaldo was loaned out again when he returned to business, but it wouldn’t be another loan. The hurricane, directed by Israel Damonte at the time, sought it out and managed to incorporate it with a purchase option -500 thousand dollars for 50% of the pass-. During his career he had played as a 4-3-3 home midfielder or as a left midfielder. In the Globe he started playing inside, but with strict responsibilities in the generation of the game and slowly began to show his condition.
With the departure of Briasco, the 10th was vacant and Cristaldo was the one who honored him. Due to poor performance, Damonte was removed from office and Frank Kudelka was chosen to lead a team engaged in middleweight. The coach has directed during two tournaments and the midfielder has always been a fixture of the line-up. In the meantime, and for his merits on the pitch, the management of the Globo made the purchase option and acquired half of the player’s practice.
However, if it were necessary to remember the moment when Cristaldo’s explosion occurred, it is necessary to trace the arrival of Diego Davove at the bank I burn. The 49-year-old technician hooked him, behind number 9, and found the best version of him. Added to his great punch and individual technique, he added many goals to his game, in fact with 11 goals he is the second top scorer in the current championship. He is the natural and chosen leader of a team that is one of the protagonists of the tournament and that is a difficult rival for anyone. Since wearing the Huracán shirt, he has played 83 games and participated in 39 goals -20 goals and 19 assists-.
Monday’s match will be very important for Franco Cristaldo, despite having already faced Xeneize, this time there will be the added advantage of being a fundamental match given that both teams are cheering for the championship, but it will also be an opportunity to demonstrate that the youth who started looking for minutes is now one of the best players of the moment. Not long ago he was consulted on the possibility of playing for Boca again, but he was noted for being very busy on his current team. “I don’t think I’m playing at Boca. I like what I’m going through. I am very grateful to Huracán, who bought me 50%. They welcomed me very well here and gave me a lot of love.”
His growth has been exponential, the reasons have to do with the search for a position that would help him to exploit his virtues. Furthermore, his age is no small feat, since he joined the Parque Patricios team at the age of 24 and two years later the best version of him could be seen. Maturity, continuity and trust are the bastions at this level that fans like and which the team takes advantage of to get excited by the idea of reaching the top.
Martin Rubino
Source: Clarin
