10%

BEHIND THE STRIPES

Thiago Cruz

By Atlanta United FC

March 25^th, 2026

At Atlanta United’s newest GA100 pitch opening in Rome, Ga. this Wednesday, a community will come together to celebrate the beautiful game planting its roots in their hometown. One kid in the crowd will take the pitch for the first time with extra enthusiasm.

There were times when Thiago Cruz thought he may never feel what he feels when he steps on the pitch ever again. The sport he loves most, and his life, were nearly taken away from him.

Nowadays, the now 9-year-old’s battle with liver cancer feels like a far cry from the happy, healthy, football-focused life he’s living now. But his parents, Yesenia Cisneros and Salvador Cruz, remember a time when even seeing him standing on his own would’ve felt like a miracle.

“You wouldn't even be able to tell what he's been through when you see him,” Yesenia said. “You’d have no idea, there's not a clue … he’s a trooper.”

Not knowing any better, Thiago used to say his cancer came from his brother. In reality, the story is an incredible coincidence that may have saved his life.

Back in March of 2021, the two boys were playing on the trampoline, and Thiago’s brother accidentally kicked him in the stomach. What his parents thought was just a stomach issue from the kick persisted much longer. His parents said they knew things were serious when Thiago, who never wanted to go to the doctor, insisted he go.

Initially, they thought Thiago was dealing with appendicitis, which led the family to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. There, they learned things were even more serious — Thiago had a tumor in his liver.

“His brother kicking him actually helped us diagnose him, because [it] aggravated the tumor enough to send signals,” Yesenia said. “If not, we probably would have never found out, because there were no other signs that we knew of that were obvious that he had that at that time.”

They really did catch the cancer just in time, as it was already spreading to Thiago’s lungs when doctors first detected it. His first few rounds of chemotherapy cleared out the issues in his lungs, but the tumor in liver wasn’t shrinking. The healthcare professionals got together and determined a transplant was needed.

A month later, Thiago’s family got a call for a liver, and Thiago’s recovery was almost miraculously quick.

“He was supposed to be in the [PICU] for two weeks and another two weeks in the hospital,” Yesenia said. “He was in and out of the hospital in total in like 10 days.”

“You give him a goal, and he's going to try to surpass the goal before he's supposed to. That was his mindset in the hospital, too.”

Thiago rang the bell in August of 2021, but come early October, Salvador and Yesenia started to notice yellowing in his eyes. That fall was spent mostly in the hospital, as Thiago’s body was rejecting the transplanted liver. By the turn of the new year, doctors decided he would need a new one again.

This time, Thiago was further down the list having already received a transplant. Yesenia and Salvador knew this wait was going to be much more trying than the first.

Though he was struggling, Thiago always kept a positive attitude. His childlike imagination and sense of humor never left him, even when he said he was “becoming a bumblebee”.

“Most times I think he gave us the strength,” Yesenia said. “As parents, you try to be strong for them, but he was just always so positive, always.”

That’s why it was so hard when, one day in December, Thiago had finally had enough. The usually upbeat and surprisingly mature kid gave his parents some heart-shattering honesty.

“I’m done,” Thiago said, according to Yesenia. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I'm tired of getting pricked and prodded, could you just tell Jesus to come get me?”

It was then that Thiago’s parents truly began to reckon with the idea of losing him, something they had never let enter their minds. A few months later, they had their second incredible coincidence.

In March of 2022, Yesenia drove Thiago down from Rome to Atlanta for a weekly checkup. Yesenia’s friend was flying in and asked if she could pick him up, but by complete coincidence, wasn’t allowed to board his flight. He got rebooked the next day, meaning Yesenia and Thiago would have to drive two hours down the city again the next day.

“The human in me, I [thought], ‘I don't want to come again tomorrow,’” Yesenia said. “Thiago was like, ‘It's okay. We can go get breakfast and stuff.’”

That’s just what they did. At a café in the city, Yesenia had her phone in her purse. It was buzzing with call after call from Salvador, and by lucky chance she checked it. The hospital was calling her too, asking how far she was from Atlanta. There was a liver for Thiago, but they would need to get there in the next 30 minutes or it would go to the next person.

“Thiago had just ordered a hot chocolate. I remember he was so excited to drink it,” Yesenia said. “… I said ‘Do not drink that hot chocolate. Put it down. We got to go.’”

Making it there in time was something they never would’ve been able to do had they not already been in the city. But, by some unbelievable chance, they were. Thiago got his second new liver, and things turned for the better. The process was slow, but his cheeks started to fill, his eyes lost their yellow tint. All the indicators were trending in the right direction.

Of course, Salvador’s mind was already onto bigger things. The first question the father asked at Thiago’s year out checkup after his second transplant seemed superfluous but was said with sincerity: When can he play soccer again?

Salvador passed his love for football straight down to Thiago. They’re both Cruz Azul fans as well as Atlanta United, and their shared love for the game is an integral part of their relationship. Even at just 9 years old, Thiago is a seasoned 17.

“He loves going for the games, loves doing all the chants,” Yesenia said. “He just likes the hype.”

Thiago was Atlanta United’s honorary captain for the club’s March 21 match against D.C. United, something his parents kept a surprise until they got to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He was ecstatic to witness the spectacle of soccer, the bright lights, the players, but he admitted he was nervous walking out onto the pitch. His smile didn’t show it.

Whether it’s love and care or play time, Thiago is thankful for what his parents have given him.

“What I love about my mom is she takes care of me whenever I’m sick and whenever I need her. [What I love about] my dad is he puts me in [to soccer games] when I’m on the bench whenever I want to go,” Thiago said with a smile.

Salvador is Thiago’s coach in life and on the pitch, where the father says he doesn’t treat his son like a typical coach’s kid, even knowing all he’s been through.

“Everybody always asks me, am I his dad or am I his coach?” Salvador said. “I'm his coach. I don't treat him any different, right? And I think he likes that. He [doesn’t] want special treatment.”

It’s now been just more than four years since his second transplant, and Thiago is building his stamina on the pitch while being a straight-A student in the classroom.

There’s nothing quite like the first goal back from a time away from soccer, and Thiago’s was more than a wave of emotion.

“I was crying. It was 2-2, and he scored the game-winning goal,” Salvador said. “I still got the video of it. He made a good move and then place it in the corner. It wasn't right away, it took a while for him to finally score, but [I was] waiting for [it].”

Footnotes

Story by Adam Jasper / Photos by Julian Alexander, Mitch Martin

Button Label

FootNotes

Story by Adam Jasper / Photos by Julian Alexander, Mitch Martin

Story Told With

Start publishing stories like this