Rojas rises to the challenge
Six years after he first left the A-League, Marco Rojas is in a good place in Europe. Andrew Voerman reports.
‘‘ As long as I’m playing football, I want to continue to learn and I want to be improving.’’ Marco Rojas
Marco Rojas has finally found himself a gig as a regular starter in Europe, six years after he first left the A-League. The 28-year-old footballer joined SønderjyskE in the Danish Superliga midway through last season, making 11 appearances as they finished 11th, and has gone on to start 13 of their 16 matches in their 2019-20 campaign, where they sit 10th, four rounds out from the winter break.
In Dublin with the All Whites this week, the player once-dubbed ‘‘Kiwi Messi’’ said it felt good to have joined a club and a league where he feels at home. ‘‘It’s nice to have finally found somewhere where they have this belief in me, that I can play, and the consistency has been good.
‘‘It’s been slow and steady progress, but I’m just happy with the situation and how it is and how I managed to just keep sticking in there.
‘‘I went back to the A-League, but I had the purpose of repeating what had happened before and coming back to Europe . . . it’s all worked out.’’
Rojas first went to Europe in 2013 after a breakout season in the A-League with Melbourne Victory where he won the Johnny Warren Medal – the award handed out to the league’s best player.
Germany was his first destination, as he signed for Bundesliga club Stuttgart, but he never played a firstteam game there, going out on loan to lower league club Greuther Fu¨ rth and FC Thun in Switzerland.
In 2016, having a tick over 2000 minutes of first-team football in three seasons, he returned to the Victory and starred as they made it to the grand final, only to lose to Sydney FC on penalties (with Rojas missing his).
His time back in Australia coincided with a run of 11 starts for the All Whites under Anthony Hudson, including three at the Confederations Cup in June 2017.
But having proven himself to be a standout in the A-League, where he’s scored 28 goals and assisted 22 in 6000 minutes of action, he opted to head back to Europe once more, joining SC Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Like his move to Stuttgart, it didn’t work out. He played just over 800 minutes during his first season and 60 in his second, at which point he decided his future lay in Denmark.
‘‘I’ve had my ups and downs and I’ve had situations where I’ve probably made it more difficult than what it was,’’ Rojas said this week, while explaining why playing in Europe remained his aim, even though he’s found less success there (nine goals and five assists in about 4500 minutes so far).
‘‘But I’ve learnt a lot, and that’s the most important thing. As long as I’m playing football, I want to continue to learn and I want to be improving.
‘‘Coming to Europe and establishing myself as a player in a team was the first challenge, then the next one was building on that and becoming a key player and really helping a team.
‘‘I’ve always tried to pick the things that would challenge me the most, because those are the only places where you can learn about yourself and improve, both as a person and a player.
‘‘I’m just really happy that I’m in a place now where it’s all coming together, with the consistency and the game time.’’
In the All Whites setup, Rojas now has a bunch of young forwards nipping at his heels, including Elijah Just and Callum McCowatt, who made their debuts up front alongside Chris Wood in this week’s loss to the Republic of Ireland.
Rojas didn’t feature in that match, having sat out training the day before after picking up a knock, but as he assumes a new position as a senior figure in the national team – his 41 caps are the third most of anyone in the current squad – he feels he still has plenty to offer.
‘‘I still feel pretty good myself. It’s a good age, 28. But it hit me [on Monday] in training when we did an exercise and they called out the four oldest guys and I was part of that group.
‘‘It just means I now need to take on another role and that’s a positive for me, because I’ve always tried to improve myself as a person and a player and I get the chance to do that now.
‘‘No longer should I just be the one happy to come in and train, or stuff like that, there are younger guys now that I can help make sure are comfortable in this environment, because they’re going to be extremely important for us.’’
Rojas was somewhat of a revelation when he first emerged at the Wellington Phoenix during the 2010-11 season, taking players on down the flanks and beating them, while showing good control of the ball, but eight years on, there are more and more Kiwis exhibiting such qualities.
New All Whites coach Danny Hay has made it his mission to harness that technical ability, and while it has him turning to a new generation of players, it is also an approach that could get the best out of Rojas, who has rarely had a chance to show his full range of skills on the international stage.
‘‘Danny is extremely passionate about what he does and extremely passionate about being in the role he is now and you feel that as a player,’’ Rojas said.
‘‘It’s only going to be good for us when somebody is driving us that hard. The style of play, if we can put it all together, will be really good, and I think we’re going to put out some exciting stuff for football people in New Zealand to watch.’’
The All Whites play Lithuania in Vilnius tomorrow, , where Rojas could get a chance to show Hay that his positive club situation can help the country’s cause as well.