Cristian Chavez (Atletico Tucuman v Instituto, 2011)
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FFT doesnâÂÂt make a habit of scouring ArgentinaâÂÂs second division for players scoring stupendous goals. However, when a striker beats one player, nutmegs not one â¨but two more then dinks â¨a delightful chip over the goalkeeper, we have to â¨ask him how he did it.
âÂÂIt was the goal of my life,â says Cristian Chavez as he recalls his masterpiece for Atletico Tucuman. âÂÂThat day â¨I had a feeling something nice could happen. You get these vibrations on the pitch every time you play football: âÂÂToday will be difficultâ or âÂÂToday is going to be my dayâÂÂ. That night I was noticing that everything I tried seemed to go well.
âÂÂBut the game was still⨠0-0 and the fans were a bit impatient â until I got that loose ball and without stopping, went forward. It â¨was like there was a wall of defenders but I was going â¨at a different speed.
âÂÂThe ball passed through someoneâÂÂs legs, then â¨I touched it again and nutmegged Ivan Furios, to â¨find myself in front of the Instituto goalkeeper.
âÂÂWhat I did next probably had no logic, since I was so close to the goalmouth that there was seemingly not enough distance to chip the ball and score, but I knew â¨I would surprise him by â¨doing it, so I did. The ball fell â¨slowly inside the far post.
âÂÂAs my team-mates celebrated with me, they were all mentioning what a goal it had been, but you only get the right image when you watch the video. And when â¨I did, I couldnâÂÂt believe it.âÂÂ
Chavez went to Napoli after his season â and that goal â with Atletico Tucuman, and when we suggest he was like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix as he scored, he laughs: âÂÂOnly I wasnâÂÂt dodging bullets, but defenders!âÂÂ
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Interview: Martin Mazur. Illustration: German Aczel. From the August 2013 issue of FourFourTwo, out now. Subscribe!
