Victor Cristaldo (born 10 May 1967)
[https://deportescde.com/oceanicos-que-jugaron-en-paraguay/] is an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
-born
Australian former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
of
Paraguayan descent who played as a
midfielder and currently works as a coach.
In 1985 and 1986, Cristaldo played for
Melbourne Knights in the
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...
.
Cristaldo then passed 5 seasons in the
Primera División Paraguaya
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
from 1993 to 1997. In this task, he featured for
Club Presidente Hayes and
Club Sport Colombia,
becoming the first Australian to play in Paraguay and the second player to play in
South America after
John Crawley (1990 in Chile).
Following his retirement, Cristaldo became a coach.
He is the father of Australian footballer
Christopher Cristaldo.
Early life
Cristaldo was born in Argentina to Paraguayan parents and moved to Australia at the age of 9. He attended
Flemington High School
Flemington may refer to:
Places Australia
* Homebush West, New South Wales, suburb in Sydney commonly called "Flemington".
** Flemington, New South Wales, a locality within Homebush West
** Sydney Markets, market complex occupying Flemington
** ...
.
Career
Leicester City
In 1984, Cristaldo played fot
Leicester City for three months, scoring 12 goals in 15 games for the club's
reserve and youth teams.
[
]
Melbourne Knights
Cristaldo started his career with Melbourne club Keilor Park and later joined Melbourne Knights in Australia's National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...
in 1985,[ being a member of the squad for the ]1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
and 1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
seasons. In 1986, whilst playing for Melbourne Knights, he was called up to the Argentine Air Force.[
]
Thomastown
In 1988, Cristaldo played for Thomastown, where he remained until 1992.[
]
Presidente Hayes
In 1993, Cristaldo joined Primera División Paraguaya
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
club Presidente Hayes in the city of Asunción. Cristaldo told Australian newspaper
This is a list of newspapers in Australia. For other older newspapers, see list of defunct newspapers of Australia.
National
In 1950, the number of national daily newspapers in Australia was 54 and it increased to 65 in 1965.
Daily newspape ...
The Age "It's like a dream come true. But financially, it's just not possible". Cristaldo's wages in Paraguay were more than three times higher than they were in Australia and the cost of living in Paraguay was much lower. He and his wife, Cynthia, bought a house and the club supplied them with a car. At Presidente Hayes, Cristaldo was teammates with national team players Edgar Denis
Edgar Antonio Denis Ayala (born 11 December 1969 in Asunción, Paraguay), known as Edgar Denis, is a former Paraguayan footballer who played for Clubs of Paraguay, Argentina and Chile.He played for the Paraguay national football team in the Copa ...
and Justo Jacquet
Justo Pastor Jacquet Muñoz (born 9 September 1961) is a retired association football defender from Paraguay, who played as a left back during his career. He played professional football for Cerro Porteño in Paraguay and also had spells in A ...
. Cristaldo hoped that during the Paraguayan off-season that an Australian National Soccer League club would, at the very least, give him a guest stint.
Western Suburbs
Cristaldo played for Western Suburbs in the Victorian State League Division 1 in 1996, scoring two goals.
Sport Colombia
In 1996, Cristaldo passed to Club Sport Colombia for the 1996 Primera División season, as Sport Colombia finished fourth in the Torneo Clausura. He remained there until 1997, which was when future national team player Nelson Cuevas debuted for the club.
Western Suburbs
He returned to Western Suburbs in 1998.
International career
Cristaldo represented the Australia U-20 national team. In 1993, Cristaldo hoped that his success in Paraguay would prompt Australia's national team coach, Eddie Thomson
Eddie Thomson (25 February 1947 – 21 February 2003) was a Scottish association football player and coach, who played as a defender. He played for Heart of Midlothian and Aberdeen in Scotland, San Antonio Thunder in the United States and ...
, to consider adding him to the squad.
Management career
Cristaldo moved into coaching after retiring as a player. He has had roles at a number of clubs including Monash City and Sunshine George Cross
Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in State League Division 1, the fourth tier of football in Victoria.
George ...
.[
]
Personal life
Cristaldo is the father of Paraguayan-born Australian footballer Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
who appeared for the Australia U-20 national team, Melbourne Victory in the A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
and Nacional Asunción
Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico.
Int ...
in the Primera División Paraguaya
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
.
See also
* List of expatriate footballers in Paraguay
This is a list of non-Paraguayan footballers who currently play or have played Football in Paraguay. For CONMEBOL or South American foreign football players in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are the countries that have contributed most ...
* Players and Records in Paraguayan Football
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cristaldo, Victor
1967 births
Living people
Men's association football midfielders
Australian men's soccer players
Melbourne Knights FC players
Club Sport Colombia footballers
Club Presidente Hayes footballers
National Soccer League (Australia) players
Australian expatriate men's soccer players
Australian soccer managers
Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay
Australian people of Paraguayan descent