Luchi Gonzalez-New Yank abroad

No question about it. The player of the year should do better. Not sure what the career advantages are of going to Sweden D2 (ok, the ladies...).

 

Ummm lets see Sweden? A-League? Sweden? A-League? Ahh Sweden (On a side note a friend of mine was the leading scorer in the Swedish 2nd division probably 6-7 years ago) The league is not too bad with a higher standard than the the majority of the A-League teams with a much better supportive fan base. Some decent clubs in the 2nd Division are Vastra Frolunda, BK Hacken,and Gais out of Gothenburg, and Bromma from the Stockholm area.

 

I take it they signed Leighton O'Brien, too?
http://www.bodensbk.bd.se/fotboll/default.asp?ID=65

 

from what i had been reading, o'brien was probably going to be loaned out to a euro side

that was a few days ago, in an article discussing another player (who i can't think of at the moment)



to me, it says that mls didn't offer the same amount of money for leighton that the swedish team did

 

$

I imagine they pay better too.

 

Interesting. I've seen Leighton O'Brien play many times for the Sounders. Always figured he was destined for bigger and better -- but I always figured that would MLS. He certainly has more on-the-ball skill than many in MLS.

 

There are some posts on this in the "Son of..." thread. Looks like Bodens is looking at Bryce Wegerle as well.

 

Re: $

so are taxes.

 

What is the work permit situation in Sweden?

Good luck to Luchi.

We might see more players testing Scandanavia in the future.

 

I should make a macro for this....

"Work permits" of the kind you're thinking of are a matter of British labor law, not FIFA soccer law. So far as I know (and it's been commented on a million times), it's only Britain. In all other nations, you can get a WP so long as you don't have something bad on your criminal record.

 

Sorry superdave, by work permit I meant the general can they sign Non European players. You do have to qualify for work permits in most European countries.
The Dutch have a minimum salary requirement. Belgium reportedly issues work permits to Americans rather easily. France limits the non-Euro to 2 players in the 2nd division, and 5 in the first division.

Germany has a bunch of screwed up rules now and they don't even know themselves.

So, what are the restrictions in place in Sweden.

 

You have a pulse.

 

came across the article again this morning, figured i'd post it here:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sounders/134661116_sounders25.html

 

To put this in a bit of perspective.....

our favourite Diallo has just joined IFK Göteborg. Boden isn't a really interesting club at all.....

 

I wonder if he is going to hurt any goalkeepers.

 

An interview w/Luchi was posted on Bodens' website.

http://www.bodensbk.bd.se/fotboll/default.asp?ID=69

 

Wow, how did he learn Swedish so quickly?

 

Swedes always do that. I've been in swedish magazines (when i speak english to the person) but when it goes into print it says what i said in Swedish....

 

Välkommen till Boden. Vad tycker du om ditt första träningspass?
- Det gick bra, det är bra killar i laget. De verkar spela en fotboll som passar mig bra.

Welcome to Boden. What did you think about your first training session?
-It went well, there are some good guys in the team. They play football that is suited to my own.





Berätta lite om din karriär som fotbollsspelare.
- Jag har spelat fyra år på college i USA och det tycker jag gick bra. Sedan blev jag draftad i första omgången av San Jose i MLS och det var en kul upplevelse. De hade en del bra spelare och man fick jobba hårt för att få spela någonting. I januari 2003 gick jag till Columbus där jag varit fram till nu. Där har vi bl a varit på träningsläger i Portugal och jag har gjort fyra mål på försäsongen.
- Jag har också spelat U17-VM med USA och var också med i 20-mannatruppen till U20-VM i Nigeria, men fick inte plats i den slutgiltiga truppen.

Say a little about you career as a footballer.
- I have played 4 years of college in the states and thought i did good. The i was drafted in the first round by San José in the MLS and it was a good experience. They had a lot of good players and it was hard work to play at all. In January 2003 I went to Columbus, which is where i was until now. There we played a few training matches and I scored 4 goals in preseason.
-I have also played in the U-17 World Cup with the USA and was also in the 20-man squad for the U20 World Cup in Nigeria, but i didn't get a place in the final squad.






Hur skulle du beskriva dig som spelare, har du t ex några styrkor?
- Jag vill helst visa det på planen. Men jag gillar att vara med i anfallen och springer mycket bakom försvaret. Jag försöker alltid att röra mig. Jag är en lite lurig spelare också...

How would you describe yourself as a player? What are your strengths?
- I will show you on the pitch. But I like to be with the attackers and run from behind the strikers. I always try to move around. I am a little cunning as well.






Varför började du spela fotboll? Det är ju ingen direkt stor sport i USA som jag förstått det.
- Det är faktiskt den största sporten bland ungdomar i USA, men det är få lag i USA och det måste bli fler lag. Själv så började jag spela tack vare min far som är från Peru. Han gillar sydamerikansk fotboll och tog ofta med mig till parken för att sparka lite boll. I början gillade jag inte fotboll, men jag insåg att jag hade talang för det och fortsatte.


Why did you start to play football? As I understand, it isn't really a big sport in the USA
- It is actually the biggest sports with kids in the USA, but there are few teams in the USA and there must be more teams. I started playing thanks to my father who is from Peru. He likes south american football and took me to the park a lot to kick the ball around. In the beginning i didn't like football, but then i realised i had talent for it and continued.






Varför blev det BBK före Columbus? Rent lönemässigt är det väl stora skillnader mellan klubbarna?
- Helt klart hade jag tjänat mer där, men pengar är inte det viktigaste för mig. Det är inte ens det näst viktigaste. Jag såg Sverige i VM 94 och 98, det kommer jag alltid att komma ihåg. Jag ville ta chansen att spela i Europa, det är inte många amerikaner som får den chansen. Samtidigt stöttade Columbus mig i beslutet.
- Jag ville också uppleva en annan kultur, så efter att ha gjort lite efterforskning så valde jag att komma till Sverige.

Why pick Boden before Columbus? What are the biggest differences between the clubs?
-Of course I would have earned more there, but money is not what is important for me. It isn't even what is 2'nd more important. I watched sweden in the world cup in 94 and 98 (splarg's note.... sweden didn't qualify in 98) that is something i will always remember. I want to take the chance to play in europe, and there are not many Americans who get that chance. Columbus has supported my decision.
-I also want to live in another culture, so after a bit of investigation i chose to come to Sweden.





Vad vet du om BBK?
- Väldigt lite. Jag vet att staden ligger långt upp i norr eftersom jag är relativt bra på geografi, sedan har jag försökt att ta reda på lite annan info också.

What do you know about Boden?
- Very little. I know that the city is pretty far north because i'm good at geography. Recently i have tried to find out a little more information too.





Vad vet du om den svenska ligan i allmänhet?
- Jag vet inte så mycket om den heller. Jag känner i alla fall till några lag som AIK och Göteborg från TV-spel.

What do you know about the swedish league in general?
-I don't know so much about it. I am framiliar with a few teams like AIK and IFK Göteborg from video games.





Har du hunnit sätta upp några personliga mål för säsongen ännu?
- Jag vill ta en plats i laget och lära känna grabbarna i laget. Sedan kommer jag göra allt jag kan för att hjälpa laget i serien.

Have you given yourself and personal goals for the season?
- I want to take a place in the team and know the guys in the team. Then I'm going to do all i can to help the team in the league.






Du är en av totalt åtta spelare som fått Hermann Trophy och MAC Player of the year-utmärkelsen under samma år tillsammans med spelare som Claudio Reyna, Tony Meola och Alexi Lalas. Hur känns det?
- Det var en ära och jag gjorde en bra säsong. Säsongen innan skadade jag knäet och gjorde "bara" 12 mål och 15 assists. Men jag kände att jag kunde göra bättre ifrån mig och tack vare hårt arbete fick jag en lyckad säsong året efter.

You are one of a total of eight players who have gotten the Hermann Trophy and the MAC player of the year awards in the same year - along with Reyna, Meola, and Lalas. How does that feel?
- I was an honour and i had a good season. The season before, i injured my knee and "only" had 12 goals and 15 assists. But i knew i could do better and thanks to hard work i had a good season the year after.





Har du några intressen vid sidan av fotbollen?
- Musik är ett stort intresse. Min bror är musiker själv och jag har många kompisar som är DJs. Själv har jag också varit DJ tidigare, men jag har lagt det åt sidan nu. Jag äger dessutom över 1500 skivor och gillar faktiskt mycket europeisk musik. Sedan gillar jag också att spela tennis på somrarna, avslutade Luchi och promenerade ut i den kyliga kvällen för att avnjuta en sen middag på hotellet.

Do you have any interests outside of football?
-Music is a big interest. My brother is a musician and i have lots of friends who are DJs. I've done some DJ-ing myself, but i have put that to the side now. I own over 1,500 albums and really like a lot of european music. I also like to play tennis in the summer.
Luchi's interview comes to and end and he walks out into the cool night to enjoy a late dinner at the hotel.

 

I guess that is an english to swedish back to english translation

 

Thanks, Cpt. Splarg.

Just a few tidbits -- I've contacted someone at the club and he says that while Luchi looks good he is actually more excited about Leighton O'Brien at this point. I can't say I'm surprised, considering that he's a seasoned pro and the A-league is probably a higher level than Bodens plays at.

Also, Bryce Wegerle was in town for a week, didn't blow 'em away, and moved on to points unknown.

 

...nudge nudge know what I mean...

 

Hey,

I'm the webmaster for Boden and I've gotten mails from Dave, so I thought I should visit the site I just wanted to tell you that if you want to know anything about Des, Luchi, Leighton or anything else in Boden, feel free to drop me an e-mail. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have, since it's always fun to have people interested in the club from other countries than Sweden.

Oh, and Luchi is making his debut for Boden tomorrow in our last pre-season match. He's in the starting XI and it'll be interesting to see how he'll feel about playing on a field where it's mostly snow around it We've gotten a large amount of snow (in April, believe it or not...) the recent days so the match has been moved from Boden to Piteå which is about 100 kms away from here. I'll be attending the match and I'll be sure to tell you about Luchis performance after the match.

// Jens
jeckz@home.se