Cristian Diaz Perez was still basking in the glow of a successful trip to California when another travel opportunity presented itself. This one would take him farther away. A lot farther away.
Cristian was playing out west with his club soccer team, Triangle United. The event was a showcase for club teams from across the country to show off their players to potential scouts, both from the college soccer ranks and abroad. When Cristian returned from this latest showcase in December, he received a message.
“I guess they saw me playing there,” Cristian remembered, “and they sent me an email talking about if I would like to do this program in Germany.”
Cristian was being recruited by a program called IFX Soccer – short for “International Futbol Exchange” – which trains and educates players from all over the world. These players can then be spotted by other scouts, who could then sign a standout talent to one of the elite clubs in Germany or elsewhere in Europe. The IFX camp recruiting Cristian is in Frankfurt, Germany, in the western part of the country. The program starts this summer.
In short, the pathway for Cristian to go from Chapel Hill to a world-renowned club like Bayern Munich had just become a lot simpler.
“It’s exciting,” Cristian said. “I’m kind of nervous, too, because it’s gonna be competitive. It’s gonna be hard. But I’m excited to do it.”
Cristian, currently finishing up his sophomore year at East Chapel Hill High School, has loved “the beautiful game” as long as he can remember. He’s athletically gifted enough to have tried his hand at other sports, but he’s always gravitated back toward the soccer pitch. There’s just something about it, Cristian says, that he can’t resist.
“Working together as a team, being with other people,” he said. “Just spending time outside, not being inside every day watching TV. I don’t see myself playing a different sport like basketball or football. Maybe football, but I like soccer a lot.”
Cristian plays at both goalkeeper and right back for Triangle United, and said he sees himself playing mostly at right back when he begins training at IFX. His favorite player? That would be young Spanish superstar Lamine Yamal. Cristian’s favorite team? Bayern Munich, he said, already trying to win favor with the German locals.
In addition to right back, Cristian has also played as a goalkeeper. (Image via Cristian Diaz Perez)
Most of Cristian’s family has played the game as well. It’s part of what made the invitation to train in Europe so exciting. All of the world’s elite players, regardless of nationality, have trained or played in Europe at some point, and Cristian’s family knows that.
That’s why the Diaz Perez family, with the help of the social workers at East Chapel Hill, started a fundraising effort to enable Cristian to travel to Frankfurt. The IFX program presents two options: training for one month, and training for an entire year. The year-long program, which would be preferable to Cristian and any player aiming to be spotted, costs several thousand dollars. Melissa Breaden, one of the East Chapel Hill social workers, reached out to 97-9 the Hill earlier in the spring to spread awareness of Cristian’s story.
“Cristian is an amazing young man,” Breaden said. “He does really well working hard in his academics. He plays soccer almost every day, as he said. And he also maintains a part-time job at Wal-Mart, and really tries to balance everything, and do well in everything that he does.”
Cristian’s older brother Jaime started a GoFundMe in March which aims to raise $26,000 by the end of May. It’s a steep mountain to climb, but the family sees the payoff – a potential professional soccer career for Cristian – as well worth the effort. It’s been his dream since he began kicking the ball as a toddler. Perhaps not the next Lamine Yamal, who plays as a striker, but maybe the next Trent Alexander-Arnold, the talented right back who’s suited up for Liverpool and Real Madrid in his decorated career.
That dream is now as close as it’s ever been. It could be enough for a young player to get high on his own supply, but Cristian is remaining humble — even as that ticket to Frankfurt sits in his inbox.
“I don’t like saying I’m good,” Diaz Perez told me.
I quickly countered. “You’ve been invited to train in Europe. You’re pretty good, right?”
Diaz Perez’s mother Angela, who was sitting in on the interview, had a good laugh at that. Cristian did, too, a big smile spreading across his face.
“Yeah,” he said sheepishly.
Featured image via Cristian Diaz Perez
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