MetroChile
03 Jun 2004, 02:37 PM
What can you guys tell me about him besides the fact that he plays for Helsingborgs and that he is dubbed the "new Vieira"?
hobbes
04 Jun 2004, 04:21 AM
Dallas didn't want him two years ago. :)
Who called him the 'new Viera'? That might be stretching things a bit (or a lot). Tall, very thin, skillful holding midfielder. Dropped back to central defence at the U20 WYC to shore things up (turning our 3-5-2 into a 4-4-2) and we subsequently produced two clean sheets to get to the quarters and he was named to the all-tourney team. He made a beautiful run through the Aussies to create a goal for Hume. That's the same Aussie team that beat Brazil.
There may or may not still be a clip of that goal here: http://www.zaimuaemedia.com/movie/emirates_2003/01_011203_02.ram
After that he was rumoured to be going all over (he had a brief trial with Udinese) and had big interest from a Russian club, but decided that as a young guy there was still a lot he could learn still in Sweden and was comfortable there, so he transfered to Helsingborgs to get more seasoning.
cheers,
hobbes
MetroChile
04 Jun 2004, 06:15 PM
Who did he play for before (before goin to H'Borgs)?
Pirrip
05 Jun 2004, 10:24 AM
Who did he play for before (before goin to H'Borgs)?
He played for Osters in the Swedish top flilght last year. He had a fine season, earned raves, scored 6 goals, but the team was relegated. At one point, every team inthe Swedish top flight was interested in acquiring him, but the price Osters wanted soon reduced the number of teams interested. Prior to that he played on or two games witht he Toronto Lynx in the A-League.
His new club manager, Hobbes, compared him to Viera at the time of the signing. I don't think he has Viera's grit, but he is very determined in the midfield and is a two way player. At 20, however, it is way to early to compare him to Viera, beyond a generic, "in the style of", comparison. He is, of course, not nearly as good as Viera at this point.