INTERNATIONAL OPTIONS
Written by Averick Parker
Some people are presented with opportunities and take advantage of them and some are never able to get full grasp of what is placed in front of them. Christian Cruz is currently in the middle of two opportunities that have been or will be presented to him.

    The first was with Argentinean perennial power, River Plate. Christian had a trial with the Argentinean side in 2007 but was not fortunate enough to be signed. The dream of following in his father footsteps to play professionally in Argentina was dampened. His father, Jorge Cruz was leading goal scorer with sixteen goals in 1992 and third leading goal scorer in 1993 for his club Atletico Huracan in Buenos Aires. After retiring from playing Jorge became a youth soccer coach in the Houston area and is currently the Director of Coaching at New Territory Soccer Club in Sugarland.

    Christian who is rated as one of the top Houston Dynamo Youth Academy players now has a second chance to get his foot in the door overseas. He will go to Spain for ten days next month try out with for Atletico Madrid. Any stay longer than that will then be based on his performance.

Christian is determined to make the most of this opportunity as chances like this don’t come around too often for American players. Even players that play in the MLS don’t get the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of European or South American coaches, and when they do it is typically set up through agents, but in this case it is based on talent. Christian will make sure he is on top of his game when he competes in Spain next month with the incentive of being identified by such a big club.