United's Christian Nava featured in Showtime soccer docu-series

Dec. 15—Cristian Nava never expected to see himself featured along with Lionel Messi in a major soccer docu-series.

Thanks to Trevor Noah, such is now the case.

Nava, the 20-year-old Albuquerque native and midfielder for New Mexico United, shared his family's story for Noah's recently dropped streaming series "The World According to Football" on Showtime/Paramount+. Nava is featured in episode two of the five-part series, a segment exploring the pay-to-play nature of youth soccer in the United States as opposed to the way the sport operates in other countries.

How did Messi, an international superstar, and Nava, an Albuquerque High School alum, end up as part of the same documentary? Largely because of some attributes they share and one they do not.

While their professional careers are in different stratospheres, Nava and Messi are similar in that both are small in stature, come from underprivileged financial backgrounds and both are blessed with rare soccer skills.

A key difference, according to the documentary, is that Nava grew up in the U.S., while Messi came of age in Argentina. American players typically advance to college and professional programs through expensive travel teams and a pay-to-play system that brings young players to events where recruiters can see them. In other countries, particularly less affluent ones, scouts travel and find talented players without relying on club programs.

"No one would've known Messi if he'd been born in America," narrator and executive producer Noah says during the episode. "Messi's family was poor. In America you either pay a king's ransom or your soccer dreams are derailed."

Nava, who is rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered early last season, says he easily could have been one of the young players who slipped through the soccer cracks. Instead, he signed on with New Mexico United's academy program which is operated by the nonprofit Somos Unidos Foundation and is free to players.

"The academy gave me and other kids an opportunity," Nava said in a Thursday interview. "There's not a lot of exposure in New Mexico if you don't play club. Before I joined the academy, I had no opportunities. I can't tell you what I would have done."

"The World According to Football" spotlights United's youth academy and Portland's PCFC as examples of programs that do not follow the traditional pay-to-play model. Both instead create opportunities for players, including minorities, who might otherwise lack the coaching and exposure needed to catch the attention of college programs or professional organizations.

David Estrada, a former MLS and United player who is now NMU academy's head coach, also is interviewed in the documentary.

"Pay to play limits players' opportunities," he said. "Academies like this help to address a systemic issue."

Nava and his family were filmed and interviewed during the 2022 USL Championship, when Nava became the first United academy player to sign a full first-team professional contract. Nava said he and his mother, Martha Rios, decided to tell their story in hopes of helping other underprivileged young players.

"We decided we wanted to talk about our struggle," Nava said. "It's not easy putting your business out there like that, but it's not so easy to play in New Mexico and other states as it is anywhere else. Hopefully, something like this can help raise awareness."

Rios got emotional when discussing her son's rise through youth soccer. She described buying T-shirts at dollar stores when she couldn't afford uniform jerseys and using markers to add names and numbers.

"We were always asking ourselves, 'How can we help him?'" Rios said in the documentary. "If they want to see him somewhere, how are we going to take him if we can't afford it?"

Nava said he initially didn't want to watch the episode because of its emotional ties to his family. He recently did watch, however, and was pleased with the presentation.

Nava said he never actually met Noah, who did not accompany the show's crew to Albuquerque. Noah, an Emmy winner and former host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, describes himself during the episode as a "football fanatic, best-selling author and also a comedian."

BOUNCING BACK: Nava, who has been rehabbing since undergoing knee surgery on April 24, said he is on track and planning to be ready in time for the 2024 season.

"It's going good," he said. "I'm not 100% but when the season comes I will be. Rehab's been hard but not playing and watching everyone else last season was the hardest part."

Adrian Gonzales, a conditioning coach at Elevate PHW, has been working with Nava during his rehab.

"I think this has given him a chance to mature and really understand what it means to be a professional athlete," Gonzales said. "Cristian lives to play soccer and his goal is not just to be ready for the season, but to contribute at a high level. He's working hard to get there and he's doing well."