UA Soccer Star Goes International

Monday, 01 February 2010 17:34

 

 

On Dec. 20, 2009, University of Arizona sophomore Renae Cuellar headed out onto the pitch at Estadio do Pacaembu in São Paolo, Brazil. But this time, it was the world-renowned Federacion Mexicana de Futbol logo emblazoned on the front of her jersey, rather than the Block A she had become accustomed to. Cuellar was playing in the final game of the Torneio Internacional Cidade de São Paolo, and it pitted the host country against the Mexican Women’s National Team. The pride of a nation was at stake.

Cuellar, who leads all active scorers through two seasons Arizona, recalled the moment when she stepped on the field for Team Mexico.

“It was unreal,” she said. “(The stadium) was usually about half-full, and then the day of the final when it was us versus Brazil, I remember walking out and it was filled.”

It was only three days earlier in the same stadium that the La Puente, Calif. native netted two goals and an assist in a 6-0 win over Chile. That game was Cuellar’s coming-out party on the international stage. But the real test was forthcoming. The home team was on its home turf and the tournament championship was on the line.  Soccer in Latin America is more than a game; it’s a religion.

“Basically all of São Paolo came to see that game,” noted Cuellar.

Estadio do Pacaembu, which lists a capacity of 40,199, was filled to the brink with pro-Brazil fans in a soccer-crazy nation.

“It was nerve-wracking; obviously I’ve never seen anything like that when I was the one playing,” said Cuellar. “I’ve been a fan, but to have people – whether they’re cheering for me or against me – showing that kind of passion for soccer, was definitely eye-opening. It was definitely something I could appreciate as a soccer player.”

Cuellar had been working up to this moment her whole life. Even before her teens, she was receiving attention from both the U.S. and Mexican national teams.

“Mexico had been calling me to play with the national team since I was 12 years old, but I didn’t start playing with them until I was 18,” she said.

After four years of playing for the Under-14 and Under-18 U.S. National Teams, she accepted an invitation to showcase her skills south of the border and participated in the Mexican National Team camp last June. In late November, she received the news she had been hoping for.

“The head coach, Leonardo Cuellar (no relation), called me and said that I had been selected to go to Brazil with the full national team, and that it would be an honor to have me playing with them,” Cuellar said. “Obviously I was super excited and nervous. I was hoping that I could go, but I didn’t know for sure yet because of school.”

But after consulting with her advisors and professors, Cuellar made the decision to sacrifice her schoolwork in favor of her cleats.

“I first had to speak to my coaches and let them know that I got called up for it, then I had to talk to my advisor, then we had to meet with Mike Meade (Director of UA's student-athlete academic program, C.A.T.S.),” said Cuellar.

Luckily for her, no one had any objections to her being out of the country in the midst of finals week.

“I e-mailed my teachers right away and they all said that it was OK for me to go, and it wouldn’t affect my grades in any way,” she said. “I took my finals early, so it was pretty hard but I got it done and I ended up with good grades anyway.”

Cuellar departed for Mexico City the week before finals began and endured a few hard weeks of training with some of the best athletes in the world where the typical day consisted of breakfast at 7 a.m., team training for two hours at 8 a.m. and then a lunch break.

“Our trainings were an hour of fitness in the morning and then an hour of technical work for the first practice, then the second practice was always team training: working on systems, shapes, formations,” said Cuellar.

Another training session followed in the afternoon and then team dinner concluded a hard day’s work. But once in Brazil, the workload – as one could imagine – picked up dramatically. Two practices a day, coupled with a game on their third day in São Paolo, left little time to be spared. To add to their already-hectic schedule, the team watched two hours of the opponent’s game film the day before and the day of their match.

“The Brazil schedule was a little more intense because we had to watch film and we had team notes and team discussions,” said Cuellar. “It was more technicalities and making sure we perfected it.”

Perfection was a necessity at this level of play, and Cuellar noticed a few major differences in playing international soccer and playing at the NCAA level.

“Everything is so fast,” she noted. “Everybody’s fast, everybody’s skilled and everybody’s strong.”

The rigors of a single game took a toll on her body, and it was a dramatic change from her two years of experience at the UA.

“It’s really hard to play a full 90 minutes at an international level compared to playing a full game in college soccer,” Cuellar said. “It’s more emotional and more physical. It’s completely different.”

Cuellar’s emotions were riding high as the ball was put into play on that warm December day. And even though her team fell 5-2 to host Brazil, she still felt a sense of accomplishment with a second-place finish.

“We had a rough start at first (in the tournament),” she said. “We didn’t think we were going to get to the finals. But we pulled it off.”

What Cuellar is looking forward to now is a World Cup berth in Germany with the Under-20 Mexican National Team this summer, along with a few more international competitions in the coming months.

“Next year, I have the other World Cup and Olympic qualifiers with the open team,” she said. “So for right now, as long as I stay healthy, I’ll be available to play in all those events.”

More important to Cuellar, though, are her commitments to Arizona. Now back in the States – and with spring practice right around the corner for the Wildcats – Cuellar hopes that her experiences at the international level will be beneficial to the UA soccer program.

“The things that I can bring back (from international play) that can help my team and my coaches out would be great,” she said. “Anything I can do to help out my team would be perfect.”

Written by Mateo Lorenzo Alvarez