The incredible rise of Julian Alvarez from Calchin’s spider to Argentina’s World Cup-winning hero

While many of his teammates would return home to study English, practice tennis or rest, Julian Alvarez had only one thought in his mind: football. He would start his practice with a few balls from coach Rafael. He would practice finishing with his left foot after a cross from the left, shooting with his right foot from the right, free-kicks, penalties, heading from different angles, sprinting, dribbling and first touches with both feet. He would do it all quietly, without any extra publicity. And all this It started before he was even ten years old.Alvarez grew up in a small town called Calchin in the province of Cordoba, Argentina. He grew up in a settlement of only 3,500 people. There was no salary, and there was no guarantee that football would one day become a profession. Still, he practiced, competed, and thought like a professional footballer.

Alvarez, who grew up in a hard-working family, was shy and quiet. However, when asked about his future in elementary school, his answer never changed, "I want to be a footballer."

He started attending the football school Futuras Estreitas with his older brothers Agustin and Rafael at the age of two. When other children got bored, little Julian would find a ball bigger than his own and play.

His mother Mariana was a nursery school teacher, and his father Gustavo was initially involved in farming, but later started working in transport. Because of their busy parents, their grandmother often took the three brothers to football practice.

Childhood coach Rafael Varas Álvarez recalls, “One day I jokingly told his grandmother that this boy would save us all one day. But I said that because I understood that this child had the potential to go far.”

From the age of four to 12, Álvarez was under Varas’ tutelage. First in school football. Later at club Atletico Calchin. Today, Álvarez’s childhood club has also benefited from Álvarez’s success. With the money he earned from his transfers to River Plate, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, the club has built modern grass pitches, automatic irrigation systems and various infrastructure improvements.

Álvarez came to the attention of Renato Cesarini, a Santa Fe-based club known for spotting talent. However, the family did not want to leave Calchin for a long time. For them, life meant cycling, being close to nature and growing up in the quiet atmosphere of a small town.

In an interview with FIFA, Alvarez said, "When I hear about Calchin, I think of my friends and family. This city is my childhood. I lived here until I was 15. Those times were extraordinary, which I will always remember."

Today, Alvarez is the biggest identity of Calchin. Some tourists come to the city to see his birthplace. And local children dream of being like him. After Argentina won the title in the 2022 World Cup, he has become the biggest pride of the city.

As a child, his friends called him Spider. In games of hide-and-seek or chase, he seemed to be everywhere at once. Due to his extraordinary speed and hardworking mentality, he seemed to have more hands and feet than everyone else. That's where the Spider nickname was born.

However, despite becoming a world-winning star, Alvarez remains as humble as ever. "When Julian returns home, he spends time with friends and family in a very personal way," said Claudio Caon, the mayor of Calchin. When the news spread, the whole town would gather in front of his house. And Julian was the kind of person who would open the door to everyone.

The people of Calchin believe that after the game, Alvarez will return to his roots and be with them. There, he is not a World Cup-winning star, but one of them.