The dream cut short at 15 revives at 35
to the cry of “Football is life!” burst onto our screens an energetic ‘footballer’ who had just signed for the fictitious Richmond F.C. in the series ‘Ted Lasso’. Its impact was immediate on the series team and it left, in a comical way, a reflection on the viewers about the importance of mental health in athletes due to an incident during the taking of a penalty. That Latin American ‘footballer’ was embodied by Christopher Fernandezknown for Christ(1/27/1991, Guadalajara, Mexico) and was overflowing with joy, self-confidence and football on all four sides. The curious thing is that football was no stranger to Christ since he was playing in the lower categories of the Teco Students in Mexicowhere he developed as a midfielder and promised a bright football future. But two serious knee injuries at the age of 15 cut short that dream and led him to leave the beautiful game forever… or so he thought.
Dedicated to interpretation
It was in high school where he showed his performing arts and, with the football door closed, the acting window opened. traveled to London where he studied dramatic art at Guildford School of Acting and began appearing in television films and shorts from 2016 until he received the role in 2020 in the series ‘Ted Lasso’. From then on, straight to stardom: it appears, as most notable, in 2021 in the film ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’in ‘Transformers: Rise of the Bests’ from 2023, ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ 2024, receives the award Screen Actors Guild Awards In 2022, he continues working on series such as ‘Zorro’, ‘Acapulco’ and he even voices a caricature of himself in ‘Phineas and Ferb’.
Something must have awakened inside him after filming the football series ‘Ted Lasso‘that the idea of playing again took shape.
Tested in Chicago Fire II and El Paso
Below the MLS (Major League Soccer), the first football division of USA divided into two conferences (East-West) with 15 teams each, is the USL (United Soccer League), the second division with two groups (A, 13 teams – B, 12 teams. El Paso Locomotive competes in group B (West). Cristo Fernandez He began to show interest in playing again at the end of last year, when he had a break in his acting career and in January he traveled to the cold and windy Chicago to train with Chicago Fire IIthe young talent development team that nurtures the first team. In covered facilities, Christ He had contact with the ball while continuing his physical preparation in the gym. A few weeks later, someone from El Paso Locomotive It offered him the possibility of being tested with the main team and he did not hesitate since the Texan city is located on the border with the Mexican one. Ciudad Juarez.
Two months of preparation and camaraderie with the squad made up of many Latin Americans and finally the signing of Fernandez. “Cristo is a great addition to our squad, he brings another offensive threat to our line of attack”said the coach Junior Gonzalez in a statement. And he added that “His passion for the game and his leadership qualities in the locker room allow us to continue developing the positive culture we seek as a club”. For its part, Christ he said that “I just want to tell the story that it is never too late to fulfill your dreams. There are very crazy dreams, and I consider myself a crazy person, that’s why it makes sense to be here with the Locos, here in El Paso”.
Waiting for the debut
With a break of several weeks, Christ He has been able to get ready although he has not been called up in the last two games for professional reasons. Last Thursday The Passor beat 2-0 at av High HR in the USL League One Cup and on Saturday the 30th they faced each other at home against Lexington SC falling defeated 1-4 in a sad match that the ‘Crazy‘ ended with 9 players on the field. Last weekend, Christ I was promoting at the comedy film festival in Los Angeles presenting the film ‘No translation required’.
They fall to sixth position in the group B classification with a record of 4 lost games and one tied in the last five but still in the playoff zone (the first 8 enter). On Thursday, June 11, they have another opportunity before Detroit City and we all hope that he can fulfill his dream of playing football again if not in this one, against Phoenix Rising on Sunday the 14th.
That dream that was cut short at 15 on the dusty playing fields of Tecos in Zapopan (Guadalajara) can be reversed, since there are still many games left and Cristo Fernandez I finally shouted “Football is life!”.
