There’s a New Sheriff in Town…

By: Inara | July 17th, 2007

Say hello to Lyon’s new captain.

In honor of this occasion, I thought I would take this opportunity to do a profile on Cristiano Marques Gomes, otherwise known as Cris.

He began his career at Corinthians, going next to Cruzeiro, which was broken up by a brief stint at Bayer Leverkusen. He came to Lyon in 2004 and has won three titles with the club so far. He has 22 caps (and 1 goal) with Brazil, and also won the Copa America with them.

He’s known as “The Police Officer” because of his absolute authority in Lyon’s back line and the strict way he marshals Lyon’s defenses. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he is the most feared player in L1. A hothead, he’s the closest thing Lyon has to a badass and sometimes gets into scuffles with the opposition if he feels one of his teammates were unfairly fouled. With Sebastien Squillaci, Cris forms the most effective CB pairing in France and one of the best in Europe.

He’s an aggressive defender but is also a goalscorer, unafraid to help out in the attack if necessary. He’s scored some valuable goals at crucial moments for Lyon - he’s particularly good with headers.

Unlike most other Lyon players, Cris may end up staying at the club for the rest of his career. Like Juninho, he has been subject to more lucrative offers but has so far preferred personal happiness to material wealth and recognition. Last year he was heavily courted by AC Milan, and just one month ago, he was subjected to a very big offer from Juventus, who offered a hefty increase to his salary and a starting spot. Instead, Cris extended his Lyon contract until 2011.

Thanks to Sidney Govou and his big mouth, Juninho turned down next year’s captaincy for the sake of team harmony. So after a few weeks of consideration, Alain Perrin has decided to award Cris the armband.

So perhaps his captaincy is partially a reward for his fidelity and in recognition for all he’s done for Lyon.

He’s not calm and soothing like Juninho, and he’s more apt to inflame tempers than to soothe them. But he’s a warrior and has a lot of fighting spirit, and maybe that’s just what Lyon needs to wake the players up from mediocrity. He can also be relied upon his sense of humor, is quick to take new recruits under his wing, and is a cheerful presence in the locker room.

Who’s the boss?

Cris follows the tradition of Brazilian leadership at Lyon. The previous three named captains were Sonny Anderson, Claudio Cacapa, and Juninho (though Sidney Govou held the armband temporarily under Paul le Guen).

Here is an interesting interview of Cris, taken just before the game against Reading. In it, he talks about why he chose to remain at Lyon, his faith in Fred’s abilities, his relationship with Juninho, and his wish that the club recruit Willian using his soon to be vacated non-EU spot.

Interesting facts:

* His first stint in Europe with Bayer Leverkusen was a failure, and he returned to Cruzeiro afterwards.

* Cris prefers to play in the right position in central defense, which is the spot he occupied when partnered with Claudio Cacapa (whom Cris adores as a brother). But in order to accommodate Squillaci, former OL manager Gerard Houllier forced Cris to move to the left, which caused lingering tensions between coach and player.

* His wife, Tatiane, already has a blog post dedicated to her.

* During Lyon’s search for a successor to Edmilson, Lyon were contemplating Phillipe Mexes. But Bernard Lacombe, convinced he had found a “pearl” in Brazil, persuaded Paul Le Guen to take Cris instead.

* Right before he signed for Lyon, he got into a fight during Cruziero’s game against Atletico Mineiro (see the video below). He was suspended for six months, but after extensive pleading from Lyon, the Brazilian Football Federation decided to keep his suspension from applying overseas.

*During a France-Brazil match in 2004, the physical duel between him and Thierry Henry gave Cris the reputation of a tough, rigid defender.

* Out of all the opponents in all the teams he has ever come across, Cris considers Emmanuel Adebayor (when at Monaco) to be the only player who gave him serious problems.