Those who knew Christian describe him as the consummate teammate. As a goalkeeper, his leadership was evident, but his style was more unique. The position demands constant and effective communication on the pitch, which usually lends to talkative and forward leaders. Christian was a little different.
“He was definitely a quiet leader,” Lawrey said. “And those quiet leaders, they get remembered really, really well.”
That subdued nature may not be commonplace for goalkeepers, but it didn’t change a thing about the way Christian played the game or led his team.
“He was one of the best keepers I've played with at a young age,” Sanchez said. “He wasn't the most vocal person on the field, but he led by his play and his stature in the goal. You could feel that. I didn't have any worries about the other team scoring or Chris making mistakes. I was always comfortable with him in the goal.”
Though Jonathan’s approach to leadership is more on the noisy side — Lawrey compared it to that of the boisterous club legend Brad Guzan — he still leads like Christian did, by bringing people together and lifting them up.
Above all, Christian was all about putting others before himself. It was the common thread in Lawrey, Sanchez and Jonathan’s memories about him.
“It's the piece that gets lost on professional academies, it's the selflessness,” Lawrey said. “I think we oftentimes look at what professional academies created in terms of their players, this player made it, that player made it, it becomes very individual attention. Christian represented, [the idea that] I'm going to show up every single day and maybe have a bad day, but I'm going to make my teammates better. That's rare in this world and within professional academies, and I think we have to celebrate that.”