Guardiola eager to shine at Southern
Omar Guardiola has become the second Nelson Suburbs player to sign for Southern United.
After knocking on the door of the ISPS Handa Premiership for the past two years, even earning a trial with Canterbury United in 2015, the Blenheim-based winger has finally been given a chance to compete on New Zealand’s domestic stage.
Guardiola, who has scored three goals in 17 games but assisted on many more in 2017, will join Suburbs team-mate Kristian Gibson in Dunedin over summer, with the former Northern Ireland age grade defender also committing to Southern earlier this month.
Unable to compete with the budget of the leading North Island sides, Southern coach Paul O’Reilly said he decided to scout right across the South Island this year, hoping to unearth some hidden gems.
He attended three Suburbs games and said Guardiola and Gibson were two players that immediately impressed and he was surprised to learn that the pair had been largely overlooked by Tasman United.
‘‘We think Omar has a lot to offer at national league level and if I’m being honest I was surprised that no one else has taken a shot at them before now. We watched them against Cashmere Tech and we thought he was excellent and a threat the whole way through,’’ O’Reilly said.
With the Southern scoring just 20 goals last season and set to lose top scorer Eric Molloy to Team Wellington, O’Reilly was in the market for some new attackers for the 2017-18 campaign and he believed Guardiola would be a valuable asset to their strikeforce.
‘‘He’s got good pace, he’s got a lot of creativity in the final third and it’s something we could do with. We’ve obviously lost a couple of players, with Eric moving on up to Wellington.
‘‘Usually for us it’s a struggle to sign players because we don’t have a big budget and some teams like to chuck some dollars around and that rules us out, but Omar, from talking to him, has really bought into what we are trying to do and we are certainly going to be giving him a chance to showcase that talent in the national league.’’
Born in Colombia, Guardiola moved to New Zealand with his family 10 years ago. He was educated at Marlborough Boys’ College.
The 22-year-old said he was in the process of applying for New Zealand citizenship, which would allow him to relinquish his import status.
Guardiola has previously played for both the Nelson Marlborough Falcons and Heartland Wairarapa in the National Youth League and although he is fully aware that the Premiership will be a considerable step up, he is determined to reward O’Reilly for showing faith in his ability.
‘‘It was my goal to play in the national league because it’s one of the biggest challenges in New Zealand,’’ he said. ‘‘I just want to put my name forward, help the team and do my best. I want to prove to a lot of people that I’m supposed to play in this league because I know I’m good enough to be playing.’’