New job but Figueria commited Wellington
Coach Jose Figueria has no plans to up and leave Team Wellington, especially with Club World Cup qualification still up for grabs.
Despite taking on new roles as New Zealand under-17 coach and All Whites assistant, Figueria said he remains fully committed to the ISPS Handa Premiership side as they attempt to win the OFC Champions League as well as a third consecutive domestic title.
‘‘I’m obviously based in Wellington and I’ve bought a house here, my daughter was born in Wellington and she’s actually a Wellingtonian,’’ he said.
‘‘We have the Team Wellington season and some really important months coming up and hopefully if we achieve the goals that we want to achieve then some potentially bigger and better things will happen next year, so no I’ll be based in Wellington and looking to do those roles from there.’’
Figueria was a surprising choice as New Zealand under-17 coach, not because of his record or credentials - which includes winning New Zealand Football coach of the year - but because he and assistant Paul Temple were dumped during a previous stint with the Young All Whites in 2015, even though they had qualified the team for the World Cup.
But he does not hold a grudge and said there was no ill-feeling towards New Zealand Football for their decision to replace him with Danny Hay.
‘‘Since I arrived here in New Zealand 13 years ago I have always been part of the NZF structure, whether that be with the federations, NTC or working with age group teams. I’m always one of the many coaches out there who want to see the game develop and see us perform on the international stage. To be able to have the opportunity to do that again is obviously really exciting,’’ he said.
‘‘In football, things happen pretty quickly and pretty much out of the blue, but time also goes by very fast. It’s a fresh new cycle which means an exciting time ahead. There’s some really top young players, some of which are already playing national league or certainly Central League, Northern Premier League and elsewhere in the top leagues, and it’s really exciting to be part of that again.’’
Meanwhile, Team Wellington put more pressure on Auckland City and Eastern Suburbs by beating Tasman United 4-1 in Nelson on Saturday, with 19-year-old JackHenry Sinclair scoring a double.