Cristián Álvarez (footballer, born 1980)

Chilean footballer

Cristián Andrés Álvarez Valenzuela (born 20 January 1980) is a Chilean former footballer, who played as a defender.

As a child, Álvarez and his twin brother, Iván, played at Escuela de Fútbol Municipal de Curicó (Municipal Football Academy of Curicó), later named Juventud 2000, founded by their father Luis Hernán. He arrived in 1993 to prove to Universidad Católica next to his twin brother Iván, after the pickers of the UC saw him play in a championship in his native Curicó. He spent three years traveling to Santiago to train and play for the Crusaders, it was not until 1996 that he finally moved to live in Santiago. For 1997 made his debut in the Professional Squad, he played 31 minutes with just 17 years in the 4–0 win against Colo Colo (in that duel lined up youths due to a footballers' strike). he played 78 games and scored 19 goals, despite being a right back.

His first match with River Plate was on 7 August 2005 in the 2–0 victory against Tiro Federal. In 2007 moved Alvarez to Beitar Jerusalem. In a match against Maccabi Netanya Alvarez scored a goal from 35 meters which is nominated to be goals of the year. After two years in Israel with Beitar Jerusalem left on 19 August 2009 his club and signed for Chiapas for one season.

Álvarez and his twin brother, Iván, represented Chile at under 17 level in both the 1997 South American Championship and the 1997 FIFA World Championship. In addition, represented Chile U20 in the 1999 South American Championship in Argentina. He competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney representing Chile and won the bronze medal. Previously, he took part in the 2000 Pre Olympic Tournament. His debut with the Chilean senior team was in 2000 against Ecuador during qualifications for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He has 24 caps for his country.

Álvarez graduated as a Football Manager at the vertical align=sup (National Football Institute) in 2017. Since 2018 he has worked for Universidad Católica, mainly as a technical consultant, but in 2022 he assumed as coach of youth levels. He has also been in charge of a football academy in Curicó affiliated to Universidad Católica, just like another former players such as René Valenzuela, Carlos Verdugo, Luciano Saavedra, Ian Mac Niven, among others.

He is nicknamed Huaso, like the traditional countryman of the Central Chile, due to the fact his birthplace is Curicó, a city in the Maule Region. His father, Luis Hernán, was the top goalscorer of the 1963 Primera División de Chile playing for Colo Colo, becoming an idol for the club. His twin brother, Iván, is a former footballer and coincided with Cristián at both Universidad Católica and Chile at under 17 level.