In the midst of the delight and emotion that followed Peru’s successful qualification for Russia 2018, Christian Cueva was clear about who he needed to seek out first. Not his family up in the stands, not his close friend Jefferson Farfan, but his coach Ricardo Gareca.
The pair hugged. Cueva broke down into tears, and Gareca gave him a consoling kiss on the side of the head. It was an embrace reminiscent of that between a son and his father, one that made clear of the strength of a relationship that has turned around Cueva’s career and helped deliver Peru to the World Cup for the first time since 1982.
Cueva was at a crossroads when Gareca took charge of the national team ahead of the 2015 Copa America. A season in Spain with Rayo Vallecano had yielded just 38 minutes of action. Upon his return to Peru with Alianza Lima, disciplinary problems had prevented him from shining as his talent dictated he should have in lesser surroundings.
Gareca, though, could see the potential. He stayed close to Cueva, provided advice, boosted his confidence, demanded that he maintain his focus. He showed trust in him by giving him an important role in the side. Cueva responded with decisive performances at the 2015 Copa America and then at the Copa America Centenario the following year. Moves to Toluca in Mexico, then Sao Paulo in Brazil came as a result.
As Peru prepare for their first World Cup appearance in 36 years, he is now firmly established as a key player. Small, skilled, neat in his touch, and with a nice little burst of acceleration to free himself from challenges, he helps connect things together, whilst also providing moments of direct incision.
Wherever he is initially positioned, Cueva frequently drifts towards the left. That is where Gareca collates many of his team’s best passers, and where the majority of Peru’s moves are built. Miguel Trauco, Yoshimar Yotun, Cueva and others combine in close confines, advancing and opening up space for the more explosive players on the other side of the pitch.
Peru play neat, attacking football, with Cueva often at its heart, and those who have worked with him feel that he is a player who can make an impact at the World Cup.
“He has excellent technical ability and is able to produce moments of high quality that few players can see or execute in the game,” Michael Beale, who trained Cueva as an assistant coach at Sao Paulo last year, told The Sportsman. “He is a player who likes to have fast players around him as this gives him additional space to receive and pick out passes.”
And despite his small stature, Cueva is not necessarily someone who opposing defences will be able to limit with a physical approach.
“He is a very tough young man, and he has shown his best performances when opponents try to be tough with him,” Beale explained. “What sticks our for me is that he never runs away from the big pressure moments of the game.”
If he impresses in Russia, another chance in Europe may beckon. Beale says that Cueva regularly picked his brain about English and European football during their time together, and he believes that the 26-year-old would be better prepared to make a move work out this time around.
First, though, Cueva must repay Gareca’s faith by helping Peru to a good showing at the World Cup.
