Castro has his heart in SA and Bogota
SOMETIMES Leonardo Castro wishes he was not here.
Don’t misunderstand, it’s not that the Mamelodi Sundowns striker does not like being in South Africa.
The thing is his high school sweetheart, who he is now married to, is pregnant and it kills him that he is not back in Colombia to take care of her. It’s good though that the man is scoring on the pitch . . . and at home too.
It does not show how it affects him when he is on the pitch, however, because he’s scoring crucial goals for Sundowns. But he would love to be there to take his wife to the doctor for checkups and scans and do whatever else a wife needs during the nine months of pregnancy. She’s due to give birth in March.
“I left my wife and she is pregnant with a little girl. It was the best news I ever received,” said the 26-year-old Castro, who had an interpreter with him.
“This is the longest my wife and I have been separated. I am supposed to be with her.”
Castro has scored six goals and has two assists in 13 matches since arriving as a trialist at the start of the season. So far, the Bogota-born player is proving himself as a quality signing, playing ahead of Zimbabwean marksman Cuthbert Malajila.
“My agent told me there’s a possibility to come here. I am happy here and I am happy that in a short period of time I got into the team. The language is the hardest part,” he says.
“But I came here because I want to learn another culture, another language and another way of playing soccer.
“The main reason for coming here is to play in the biggest competition in Africa, the Champions League.”
Sundowns went out looking for a defender to replace Dutch- man Alje Schut, but they found the striker instead.
Different positions, but the two players have something in common: they are usually at the right place at the right time.
Schut would make timely tackles at the back and win almost every contest in the air, while Castro loves getting himself into good areas on the opposite end to finish off the assists that usually come from his partner in crime, Khama Billiat, who has created three of Castro’s goals — their combination is now known as “Billiastro”.
“Khama and I have an understanding of football. I can visualise his next move and he can do the same with me,” he says. “I have been working very hard to understand and fit into the Sundowns game model. My target is to score 15 or more goals in all competitions.”
Colombia have the likes of James Rodrigues, Radamel Falcao and Jackson Martinez playing in Europe and Castro would love to join them at some point.
“I would love to play in England. I followed Arsenal growing up and my role model was [Frenchman] Thierry Henry.”
After watching his nation reach the knockout phase at the 2014 Brazil World Cup, Castro is also working towards a national team call-up.
“It was very exciting watching them. I’ll keep on working hard and scoring goals. If the call-up comes I will gladly accept it.”