Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with Wynton Rufer Rufer on life outside the hotbed of world football… Diegos: "You, along with many high profile Aussie soccer legends In talking to the Aussie boys they've confessed to, at times, longing for the intense life and death soccer culture that exists overseas. How have you felt in this regard?" Rufer: " Its probably worse for me because at least in Australia, through SBS TV, Australians have been able to see a lot of football from overseas for many years. This has not been the case for many New Zealanders. There are various soccer magazines throughout Australia that satisfy many of the young fans by promoting the game in Australia. Throw in the successful Australian youth development programs that produce so many talented young players and the fact that the Aussies regularly compete in the Olympic games, Youth and Under 17 World cups and you can clearly see the difference between the two countries. The last generation here in New Zealand unfortunately has gone backwards. In the 1982 World cup we were fortunate enough to beat Australia but since then we, as a soccer-playing nation, have stood still. There has, up until this year, been no development and no national league. Having said that, in the coming year, I believe things are really going to happen. New Zealand is hosting the World Under 17 Youth Championships. There is a new board at Soccer New Zealand who is very passionate about the game and very skilled on the business side of things. There is a new full time soccer academy for boys and girls from 17 to 21 years of age in Auckland. The ultimate development in my mind though, is that the Auckland Football Kings will be playing in the Ericsson cup next season, providing our young kids with a clear pathway to professional football. I also shouldn't forget that our national team is competing in the Confederation's cup. So as you can see, things are definitely looking up." Soft Sombrero Moment 1999
Diegos: " Why did you have to bring up the Confederations cup? We specifically told you not to bring up the Confederations cup." Rufer: " That's right Diegos, wasn't that the last time that New Zealand beat Australia? Seriously though, I thought it was a shame that Australia didn't qualify because now we have to take on USA, Brazil and Germany and to be realistic, we have to acknowledge that there might be a chance that we may get a hammering." Soft Sombrero Moment 1999
Diegos: "Australia is regarded as a fine exporter of soccer talent with some of our players currently playing in the elite competitions in the world. This reputation has been built over time with Eddie Krncevic and Craig Johnston being our first successful exports. New Zealand, on the other hand, has never been known as a recruiting ground for world clubs, which makes your playing achievements even the more remarkable. What led to your European opportunity?" Rufer: "Probably a similar story to Frank Farina and David Mitchell. I remember playing against David in Fiji in a Youth tournament between Australia and New Zealand a long time ago. We were just young players who dreamed of going to Europe. I was lucky enough to go on trial overseas and get picked up by a club. It was then very similar to the boys today who go over to England or other parts of Europe endeavoring to clinch a contract. Some of the Australian players who I'm trying to sign up for the Kings at the moment, are all making their first option overseas." Soft Sombrero Moment 1999
Diegos: "You have been appointed coach of the Auckland Football Kings for their inaugural year in the Ericsson Cup next season. Many Aussie pundits believe that the Kings will be like 'sheep to the slaughter', pardon the pun, when coming up against hardened Aussie Ericsson Cup outfits. Will your team be a competitive one?" Rufer: "That's fair comment because to be honest, the results over the past 5 or 10 years against Australia have not been good. My job though, is to see that the team is competitive and I'm quietly confident that we will put up a good showing. The whole country is buzzing and we know how the crowd will get behind us if we have some success against Australian opposition. The build up to that first game in October will be unbelievable. I will be surprised if we don't have a sell out crowd of 24,000 at North Harbour Stadium here in Auckland for the opener. If we can get a win in that first game and build on that, I believe we will definitely be a force to be reckoned with." Diegos: " Can you give us an insight into the make up of the Auckland Kings? Will it be a team of young enthusiastic, mountain climbing Kiwis or will it be a deadly mix of Aussies and Kiwis?" Rufer: " We have got to work within the budget available. Our budget could be described as 'reasonable' in comparison to the budgets of other Ericsson cup clubs. We've currently signed up about half our squad. Of our final 20 players we will have a number of 'All Whites', a few Australians and a few foreign players. It will be quite a mixture but I believe an effective one." Soft Sombrero Moment 1999
Diegos: "You recently played and scored for the FIFA All Stars versus The Socceroos at the official opening of Stadium Australia. In the pre-game world team photo, The Diegos noticed that you had your arms around the neck of Italian star, Christian Vieri, and Brazilian, Leonardo. Was this a display of the close camaraderie developed between yourself and Christian or were you merely trying to strangle some of the $75 million world record transfer fee out of him?" Rufer: "Unfortunately he didn't have his long pants on that night because if he did I would've spent all my time feeling into his pockets to try and find some of that transfer fee. The whole thing was all very friendly. I know Leonardo quite well from the time I played in Japan so catching up with him was great. The occasion was a special one. Such games don't come round everyday so it was good to give such world superstars a big hug." Soft Sombrero Moment 1999 |