He wanted to learn English, he ended up a soccer star in New Zealand, and now he can face Madrid: “They called me crazy”

Albert Riera played in the third division and had a steady job, but he left everything to study English in Oceania. A decade later, he is a star in the league and now leads Auckland City in the Club World Cup, where he could cross paths with Madrid. “The trip is extended,” he jokes with EL MUNDO.

In 2011, Albert Riera (Barcelona, ​​1983) Worked as a medical transport technician and no longer felt like playing football. At the age of 28, he passed through various ranks of the Catalan middle class (Balakar, Benavente…) And it seemed that he and Ball must part ways. He was not satisfied with his day-to-day and had to disconnect. Football and work consumed him. So, half jokingly and half seriously, he began planning the trip of a lifetime with several friends: a sabbatical New Zealand. I left everything behind and crossed the planet Learn English in Oceana.

Today, twelve years later, that sabbatical has made him a legend Auckland CityA soccer team from a New Zealand city, kicking off this afternoon Club World Cup 2023 And his coach is in Raira, who was originally his player. This is his story.

I didn’t know about this when I packed my bags twelve years ago. I am I still travel, but it took a long timeThere were jokes Tangier In a telephone conversation with the world. In Morocco City, one of the next two Rabat It will be held till February 11 Club World CupHis team takes on today (8:00 pm). Al Ahli Egyptian. Whoever wins will play them in the quarterfinals Seattle Sounders They will face the American on Saturday and whoever wins that fight Real Madrid on Wednesday 8th. Coaching was not something I planned or wanted to do. But look… I didn’t go to New Zealand to play footballIt was quite the opposite, but I discovered that football was connected to my life. I am now in my first year of training.

“Why don’t you play football there?”

Albert’s sabbatical was changed by his father’s proposal. He said why don’t you play football in New Zealand. I replied that the last thing I wanted to do was walk away from it. But my father discovered that there was a Catalan coach in Auckland City. ramn tribulietx, and he convinced me to write to him, he explains. Earlier, Raira had asked a Leave from work In Catalonia and was the first positive Working Holiday Visa From New Zealand, a one-year permit to study and work in the country. We wanted to go to Australia to learn English, but no visas. We saw New Zealand introduce that working holiday visa for the first time, and we asked for it. “I think we asked for it first because they only gave 200 seats,” he sums up.

His father’s idea came to fruition and Tribulieux allowed him to try out for the team, after which he offered him a six-month contract. Think: Well, I play until the end of the year and I’m out, remember. But no. When it was time to return to Spain after the visa expired, Tribulieux persuaded Raira, and she made the best decision of her life.

At first I told him that it was impossible, that I couldn’t leave a six-year job in Spain, that it was too big a change, and financially no big deal. We are going to play Oceana Championsto travel Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia… I loved it, and I accepted options like the Club World Cup. Everyone said I was crazy. It’s not one year, not two, not three… he insists. As a player, in Oceana He has won the Champions League twice Played in the Australian League with Auckland Wellington and came to play a match against Juventus With an all-star team from the area. Now, he dreams of leading his team to the semi-finals against Madrid. Coaching is not something I like to do, but…this is how it starts.