Cristóbal Soria: The Man Behind Messi’s Circle

Cristóbal Soria in promotional photos from a Spanish programFollow all the information and results of the Copa América from here

Cristóbal Soria is not a journalist, nor does he want to be called a journalist. Nicknamed “El tío”, he is part of the Spanish television programme El Chiringuito de Jugones because fate, or his closeness to football, put him there. He was born in Seville and will turn 55 next Wednesday. He was an assistant referee in the Spanish Ascenso for fourteen years and a field delegate, first for Recreativo de Huelva and then for Sevilla – the club he loves – between 2000 and 2011, successful times for the club in which he was accused of throwing the balls onto the field when the team was winning. He learned that, according to those who know him, from when Carlos Bilardo was the technical director of the Spanish team, first in 1992-93 and then in 1996-97. As a delegate for Sevilla, he celebrated winning the club’s first two UEFA Cups, in 2006 and 2007 (they won it seven times in total and are the most successful team in the competition).

Today Soria comments on soccer games and is part of the El Chiringuito team, the most watched soccer program on Spanish television. He became well known in his country especially because he took a very pro-Messi and pro-Barcelona role in the old dichotomy with Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo.

As a staunch Messi fan, he plays hard as an anti-Madrid fan on the popular television show, to the point that he even made a song against the Portuguese striker. “Where is CR7, CR7 where is he?” says part of the lyrics, later adopted in the Spanish stands. Before (between 2011 and 2013) he had worked on Futboleros, a debate programme on Marca TV, a “tertulia” for the Spanish. Then he was part of the programmes “Tiki-Taka” on Energy and “La goleada” on 13TV, a stopover prior to his landing at El Chiringuito.

In recent days he gained notoriety in Argentina because he traveled especially from Spain to New York to attend Messi’s 37th birthday on Monday, with whom he appeared from a balcony to greet the Argentine fans who sent all their love to Messi in the door of the Hilton Short Hills hotel, the concentration of the world champion team in New Jersey in the prelude to Tuesday’s agonizing victory against Chile by 1 to 0.

Soria also went to visit Messi when the player was at PSG, in France

“The meeting with Leo was emotional, exciting, full of passion and dedication on both sides. That happy face on Leo’s face when he looked out on the balcony sums it all up,” he says from Caracas, where he refereed a Las Estrellas match in the Monumental League, similar to the Spanish Kings League but in Venezuela. This Sunday he will also direct the final of that League, but with “the hope of returning to the United States to see Leo in Miami in another final,” in reference to the decisive clash of the Copa América that will be played on July 14 at the Hard Rock Stadium.

“The bond with Leo goes beyond everything professional. They are already emotional bonds, of friendship. It started as a professional bond and over the years it transformed into closeness and passion, right? “He asks, in dialogue with Infobae from Venezuela.

A section of the Argentine press took aim at Soria: the criticism was for having gone out on the balcony with Messi when it was the Argentine captain’s birthday. “I respect everyone’s opinions and I don’t want to create any controversy. I think it was a wonderful moment for all football lovers, not just for Argentines and Messi fans. There were more than three thousand people down there with faces of total happiness. People crying, people hugging each other because they had seen Leo Messi and I prefer to stay with that. The interpretations that each one wants to make are free and I am not going to judge them or enter into any kind of controversy. I am still emotionally hungover, and I am not going to let anything cloud that wonderful moment for my retinas,” responded “El tío.”

“Can I know what topics you talked about with Messi?” we asked him. And he responded: “We were chatting about Argentina’s game against Canada, about what they were going to play the next day with Chile and about Argentina’s path to a possible and desired final. Also from Uruguay’s match with Panama. That Uruguay is strong, that it is going to be a tough rival. And that Panama left a good impression despite the defeat. We were talking about the match that Venezuela won against Ecuador, the possible clash between Argentina in the quarterfinals against Venezuela and the very good work of Bocha Batista in the Vinotinto. We reviewed everything: his family, his children, mine too. It was a talk between two friends who spoke and saw each other relatively frequently,” reviewed Soria, who was a referee in Spain’s Second Division B.

These are hectic days for him: ever since he accompanied Messi on his birthday, his phone has been exploding with messages, especially from journalists from all over the world who want to interview him.

-Messi recently did not rule out the chance to play in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was the first time he left that door open. What feeling do you have?

-My feeling is that at the 2026 World Cup, although it is still a long way off, we will see His Holiness again with the number 10 on the back of the Argentine shirt and the captain’s armband. But I insist that this is just a feeling I have.

Messi in the window with Soria

Soria is asked to tell the anecdote he remembers most with the Argentina captain. “The anecdotes with Leo are many. He wouldn’t be able to keep just one. But I think what happened the other day goes beyond any anecdote. I think seeing the happy faces of the 3,000 people who were there at the door of the hotel, those tears and that cake that Leo wanted to share with everyone present, was very strong. People didn’t eat it, they kept it and wanted to have it as a souvenir, that caught my attention a lot. And Leo’s happy face when he went out to the balcony is a memory that will stay with me for a lifetime,” he responds, excited and with a smile of happiness that is transmitted.

For Soria, winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with Argentina completely changed Messi’s life, turning him into a decidedly happy person. “Leo has a phrase that says ‘the World Cup ended everything’. That phrase is very much his own. ‘The World Cup ended everything’. The reality is that it made us all happy. Not just Leo and the Argentines. The entire football world was very happy to see Leo lift that Cup to the sky of Qatar,” he says in a poetic tone, before apologising because he is expected to attend an organisational meeting for his refereeing duties.

2024-06-29 04:58:00
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