by Kattya Guardado

Cristian Del Cid is a junior at Greensboro College, majoring in business administration with a concentration in management. Born in San Miguel, El Salvador, he currently lives in Dunn, NC. Not only is Cristian a goalie for the soccer team, but he also plays tennis for the college.

According to Cristian, the thing he misses most about home is being around family since he is very close to both his parents. Fun facts about Cristian: he is half Spanish, and in his free time he likes to play basketball with his boys.

Cristian’s motivation is his father. Since his father was a pro goalkeeper, it was definitely a given that Cristian was going to play as a goalie as well. From a very young age, Cristian became passionate about the position of goalie; he was only seven when he started playing soccer. Being a Barcelona fan, he has always looked up to Lionel Messi. Cristian views Lionel Messi as a humble player, and believes that more people should behave as Messi does.

When asked why he chose Greensboro College, Cristian said it was because he knew that coming to GC would push him to become a better goalie. He knew that here at GC there would be a lot of competition and it would motivate him. He also stated that the men’s program was known for being competitive and that it would challenge him for the title at the end of the season.

One of his favorite memories so far while playing for Greensboro College was making a top corner save in the last couple minutes of the game against William Peace, leading the team to a win. His favorite memory overall was when the team won the conference championship his freshman year.

Asked what one piece of advice he would give to an upcoming goalie, Cristian said that it is important for them to keep their head up; being a goalkeeper is all about making mistakes and learning from them, and trying to get one percent better every day.