Fiorentina’s renaissance man: Juan Cuadrado

When anybody talks about Bananas’ plantations or towns within Colombia’s pacific coast, the first thoughts that come to mind are: segregation, racism, genocides and outlaws. Such horrific fame to this Colombian region is due to the constant human rights violations that its inhabitants -mostly African Americans- are subjected to by criminal organizations -using the zone as a drug trafficking highway to other countries- and the immense apathy of its legislators. Those same natives refuse to die among pure misery, or at the hands of mercenaries working for the latest multinational corporation exploiting their land.

One exemplary case of those who refuse to lie down and die, is the not so well-known story of Fiorentina’s Colombian player: Juan Cuadrado. Born in Necoclí, a town forgotten even by the government, he grew up like any of his neighbors, surrounded by coconuts, bananas, fish and dangers of course. At four years old, he experienced the cruelty behind Colombia’s ongoing military conflict: he lost his father, a humble truck driver, to an unnamed mercenary group. Still, with his mother discipline and support, Cuadrado turned his passion for kicking everything he saw on the ground into a career.

Upon arriving to his first club, Mingo FC from his native Necoclí, he started to shine with his quickness and accuracy in attack, to the point that his mother had to move the family to the closest bigger town: Apartado. In order to get a job in a Banana’s plantation to afford his son’s continuing education. At this point, his coaches offered to pay for his studies so he did not have to worry about being an economical burden to his mother and focus only on his training. Hence, Juan’s career kept going forward as his talent did. He arrived to the modest Atletico Uraba, the region’s springboard to playing professionally. After that, he tried-out for several Argentinian teams but his short stature and thin physique did not “fit” what they were looking for.

However, at that time, a known Colombian head coach, J.J. Peláez in charge of Independiente Medellin, a traditional team from Colombia’s first division, followed Cuadrado’s track and in 2007 decided to bring him to the team. Now in Medellin, Cuadrado kept working hard for a year on the team’s second tier division to make his debut with the first division team in 2008. After 30 matches defending Medellin’s colors, scouts from Italy’s Udinese took notice.

Come November 2009, Juan was packing his bags to live in Italy’s north-east. Unfortunately, the cold weather, his new team playing style and the long distance to his native home, did not allow him to excel and he ended up playing on loan to the lowly Lecce. Yet, that little hiccup with Udinese meant a resurgence in his game. And not long after his move to Italy’s back of the pack team -33 matches to be exact- his technique and skills with the ball captured Fiorentina’s interest.

Thus, in the summer of 2012, Cuadrado arrived to Florence on loan and a year later, July 2013, Cuadrado signed permanently with the “Viola”.While competing for a spot in the starting lineup with players like Matias Fernandez, Joaquin, Aquilani, Vargas, Giuseppe Rossi and even Mario Gomez, the little Colombian has earned a permanent place within Fiorentina’s starting eleven, and in Colombia’s national team. With his dribbling, explosion, and those dreadlocks -that are reminiscent of the great Gullit- Juan has stamped the name of his homeland, Necoclí, in every corner of Europe. Let us hope that his brilliant form in the Serie A, and with his national team, translates in a great performance next year in Brazil’s World Cup, keeping this talented player of humble origins in the path to glory.

PS: I hope that under Montella’s direction he keeps improving his collective play, which is one of the only flaws in his marvelous Neoclicense’s (from Necocli) game. Article made with contributions of my Brother Vladimir M.

Scouting Juan Cuadrado, (Video)