Timeless goalscoring king Cristhian Stuani confirms his status as Prince of Girona

Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images

Cristhian Stuani said it wasn’t him, an old-fashioned number 9 doing what no number 9 ever does, but no one cared, not even the referee. He could achieve the goal, he deserved it: a hundred times, every minute of every day, the best days of their lives. All they wanted was the chance to share it with him, to hold him: their captain, their idol, the 37-year-old who had only been on the pitch for 13 minutes, carried out a rescue mission with his team that was about to disappear. defeated for only the second time in the most extraordinary season they had ever seen, having been scored only twice: first in the 82nd minute and now with just two minutes remaining to put them top. Them: Girona Futbol Club, leaders of La Liga, for God’s sake.

So there they were, everyone in Montilivi was going crazy, Stuani was racing to the corner and everyone was running after him, including their manager Michel, who was running down the wing again like it was 2012. What difference did it make if the Uruguayan didn’t? score the second? What difference did it make if, instead of claiming the ball as he should, he eagerly grabbed whatever he could get, publicly insisting that he had not touched the ball, while the ball was accidentally put away by the other Cristhian, Valencia defender Mosquera? It was actually his goal – he was the one in a known position, right when they needed him – and officially his goal too.

La Liga gave it to him, no dubious goalscoring panel to snatch it away again. The referee, Javier Iglesias Villanueva, also gave it to him, his report, submitted to the federation, holy writ, infallible and indisputable, no appeal, no arguments: Cristhian Ricardo Stuani (81), Cristhian Ricardo Stuani (88). And as for the fans, they would give him anything, just happy that he’s still here, happy that the man who deserves it more than anyone gets to live this absurd, unexpected experience with them. This was his 121st goal for Girona and even if it wasn’t, it’s still more than anyone has ever scored. “Stuani,” says Michel, “is the most important player in the club’s history.”

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Sometimes the clichés are true: when Stuani was little and growing up in the small town of Tala, with 5,000 inhabitants, he broke a window at home while playing football. He was never the fastest nor the most technically gifted, but he understood. He read the game better than anyone, learned how to hide, slipped into places where defenders couldn’t see him, taught himself to head and finish; however you can be a teammate, never sparing an effort or misplacing a word.

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When he arrived at newly promoted Girona, Stuani was already 31, had scored 7, 6 and 12 in the previous three years at Espanyol and might not be around much longer. He had won the competition with Danubio in Uruguay, but he would not do that again. In his first season with Reggina in Italy he did not score; in his second he was relegated. The same would happen at Racing Santander. At Middlesbrough he had risen, scoring eleven times along the way, but then went down again. Then he scored Girona’s first ever goal firstand twenty more followed. However, this also applied to relegation in his second season. It was the fourth time he fell.

That’s why they love him so much. “Not Suárez, not Cavani, we have Stuani,” went the chant, as some fans called on him to install a statue in Montilivi. Top scorer two years in a row, 40 league goals across two seasons, he had scored over 40% of their goals and scored or assisted over half of them. If anyone didn’t deserve to play in the second division again, it was him; If anyone didn’t have to, it was him. Too good to fail, clubs offered him the chance to avoid relegation. One of these was Barcelona, ​​just 99 km away.

But after a career search, Stuani had found his place, a home in Girona and in Girona. Almost literally: he lives next to the golf course where training takes place every day. There was a lot of gratitude, a determination to put things right, and on the last day of the period he signed a new contract. It was a good one, of course – Girona would later admit they couldn’t afford to keep it going for more than one season in the league. secondSo he renegotiated it and spread his salary over two additional years – but this was bigger. There was a promise to keep.

It turned out to take a little longer than everyone expected. That year Stuani scored 29 times, but they still didn’t come back. Two more against Almeria in the play-off semi-final took them to the final and him to 31, but were sent off against Elche. “The hours pass and I still can’t find an explanation,” he said afterwards. “All I can do is get back up, like I’ve done all my life. Football hit us hard, but I’m sure it will pay us back one day.” The following season he scored 10, despite injury; again Girona lost in the play-off final to Rayo. The following year he scored 22 in reaching another playoff final. Now the time had finally come: Stuani scored, Girona was back, vow fulfilled.

Not that he walked away, job done. He was 35, but not done yet, not just sticking around because they feel like they owe him something or because they have nowhere else to go. Not then, not now. This summer, the Saudi Abha Club made an offer that, in the words of La Razon, “he couldn’t refuse,” but he declined. Stuani, says Michel, runs the dressing room, which may sound like a platitude, but it isn’t. That is not the extent of his contribution. “What could be better than retiring in the place where you built your history and where people have shown you so much affection?” he said.

Even now he is responsible for over a third of all goals in which Girona have ever scored first. He scored nine league goals last season and Saturday’s (one or) two was his (fourth or) fifth of the season in just 561 minutes. Only Artem Dovbyk has scored more; no one has a better ratio. Most importantly, they also completed a fantastic final half hour, led mainly by fellow substitute Yan Couto, who scored both goals, and made another comeback. Seventeen points, Girona has won after falling behind, irresistible as the momentum increases, the captain takes them back to the top, together with Madrid and ahead of the Barcelona team that he refused to play in the second division.

Las Palmas 2-0 Getafe, Osasuna 1-1 Real Sociedad, Real Madrid 2-0 Granada, Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Rayo Vallecano, Girona 2-1 Valencia, Barcelona 1-0 Atlético Madrid, Sevilla 1-1 Villarreal, Almería 0 -0 Real Betis, Real Mallorca 0-0 Alavés

Looking back on his career, Stuani once said in an interview: “I have never been lucky enough to play for a team that is fighting to become champions.” That was in 2018. Now, five years, a fourth relegation and many, many goals later, some of which he got and one of which they gave him, it’s really happening.

“This is a dream,” he said.

Discussion point

“It was fun,” said João Félix, when it was finally over and he had scored the goal to beat his former team – which is also his current team. He headed the ball beautifully over Jan Oblak, then jumped onto the billboard behind the goal and stood with his arms wide in front of the fans. “Don’t know [what I was thinking]; I think it was a relief after everything that was said about me, about me as a person, about my professionalism,” he said. The whole week was about him; it had been like that all game, a little hint of how bad things had gotten in Madrid, and he had won. As he returned to the centre, there was the hint of a kiss being blown to the Atlético supporters. “I’m happy for him,” said Xavi. “João Feliz,” read one headline. So João Happy.

He wasn’t the only one. This was huge for Barcelona, ​​perhaps a glimpse of what could be and a second crucial win in a row, after they beat Porto in midweek. It wasn’t just about João Félix either: Iñaki Peña made two brilliant saves, including one from a brilliant Memphis Depay free-kick that he pushed onto the crossbar and another in the very last minute from which Ángel Correa should have drawn the match. while Atlético improved in the second half. Raphinha was at the heart of their good start. Pedri grew. And Frenkie de Jong was great.

And yet, well, it used to be everything about João, a proven point, if maybe not the point: After all, Diego Simeone and Antoine Griezmann had talked about consistency being key, with the coach insisting that “everyone can have one good game”. This time it was João who did that, a sense of revenge about it all. He had also done a pretty good job of burning his bridges with the club that owns him – and that’s the way he wanted it, saying afterwards that “God willing” Barcelona, ​​that it can’t really imagine afford to buy it, an “effort” to keep it.

“I don’t read or hear what people say,” he said afterwards, sounding a bit like someone who had read and heard what people said, not least because it is unavoidable. “Every week they talk about me, good or bad. People who are not in my life don’t know what really happened, so sometimes what they say is unfair, but it is normal for a player to receive criticism that is not fair. We are here to play, to improve and to [make it so] one day the haters will become fans.”