Victor Cristaldo is an Australian football coach of and a former footballer of the 1980s and 1990s.

Career

After finishing a youth

Youth system

Youth system is a sporting terminology used to refer to a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show enough promise, and to fill up squads numbers in some teams...

 apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

 with Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

, Cristaldo began his career with Melbourne Knights

Melbourne Knights

Melbourne Knights Football Club is a football club representing Melbourne, Australia in the Victorian Premier League . The club is one of the most successful football clubs in Australia, being a two-time championship and four-time premiership winner in the now defunct National Soccer League...

 in the NSL

NSL

- Business :* Northwestern Shiprepairers Limited, a British shipbuilding and repair company trading as NSL* NSL Buses, a bus operator in London, England, United Kingdom, owned by the NSL Services Group...

, he went on to become the first Australian to play in Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

, and the second Australian to play in South America (after John Crawley

John Crawley (footballer)

John Crawley is a former football player. He is currently the goalkeeping coach for Australian A-League club the Central Coast Mariners.-Biography:...

), when he joined Sport Colombia

Club Sport Colombia

Club Sport Colombia, is a Paraguayan football club based in the city of Fernando de la Mora. The club was founded November 1, 1924. Since 2010 it plays in the Paraguayan first division league...

 and Presidente Hayes

Club Presidente Hayes

Presidente Hayes is a Paraguayan football club from Tacumbu, a section of Asunción, Paraguay. The club is also known colloquially by its nicknames The Yankees and The Little Star...

. Due to his descent he was able to obtain a Mercosur

Mercosur

Mercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...

 DNI

Documento Nacional de Identidad

The Documento nacional de identidad or carné de identidad is Spain national identity card. It is a laminated card or polycarbonate, which details the name and surnames of the holder, date of birth, address, parents, sex, residencial address, city and province of birth, and contains a photograph...

 which made him eligible to play anywhere in South America. After finishing 4th in the 1996 Torneo Clausura, Cristaldo's Sport Colombia would finished 10th in the Torneo Apertura before he would sign with Presidente Hayes. After his return from South America, Cristaldo signed with Western Suburbs

Western Suburbs SC

Western Suburbs Football Club is an Australian football club from Sunshine, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was formed in 1965, and currently play in the Victorian State League Division 1...

 in the Victorian State League Division 1

Victorian State League Division 1

The Victorian State League Division 1 is the second tier association football competition in Victoria, Australia, and the third nationally, including the A-League...

 until the end of the 1999 season. From 2000 to 2006 he played for Melbourne City in Victoria's State Leagues before becoming a qualified coach.

Coaching career

After receiving coaching qualifications from Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia

Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...

 Cristaldo took up the position as the Sunshine George Cross

Sunshine George Cross FC

Sunshine George Cross Football Club is an Australian football club from Sunshine, a western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in the Victorian State League Division 1. Sunshine George Cross have played at Chaplin Reserve after agreement was reached with Sunshine City Soccer Club...

 Reserve team

Reserve team

Large professional sports clubs often have far more players under contract than could possibly play in a match. As a result, many of these clubs create second teams composed of players who need playing time, but have little hope of playing on the first team. The players on this second team are...

 coach in 2007 and 2008.

Personal life

Victor is the father of VIS

Victorian Institute of Sport Football (Soccer) Program

The Victorian Institute of Sport is run by the Victorian Institute of Sport, in Melbourne, for Victorian youth players. VIS runs this program for both men and women.-Program:...

footballer Christopher Cristaldo.