This story is not very traditional, as its hero – unusually – was not a fan of football.
He tried to escape from it, he was ready to go to the farthest point in the world to throw football behind his back and stop those daily exercises that he had to do since his childhood.
But after 12 years of that brave attempt, it seems that Albert Riera Vidal has failed miserably, because he will be the coach who leads Auckland City against Al-Ahly tomorrow night, Wednesday, in the Club World Cup.
In the end, it seems that Riera’s attempts to escape from football did not work, but rather went in reverse, because since that day in the distant past, he began to take great steps forward with football… without knowing it.
Riera joins us via Zoom, and it’s not hard to tell that the face of someone who just woke up.
The time difference between Egypt and New Zealand made the interview night and morning for us, and Riera began the interview by expressing his happiness at facing the…. my parent!
Well, the letter ha does not exist in the Spanish language, and it is not surprising that Riera would have difficulty pronouncing the name of his next opponent: Al-Ahly.
We apologize saying: “I always try to pronounce the name right….”
Of course, Riera wanted to get to the heart of the matter quickly, talking about Al-Ahly and the Club World Cup, because only our questions will be about that, right? No.
First, we would like to know more about this person who visited us as a guest via فوت هوستازي.comBecause the story did not start from the moment the two teams were announced, but much earlier.
Riera says: “It’s been a long time since I told how I got my start with New Zealand, it’s a very popular story here in New Zealand.”
“I played football for many years in Spain but never fully professionalized it, I used to play semi-professionally.”
Then I decided to travel to New Zealand with 2 of my friends to learn English.
So you didn’t speak English until you first traveled to New Zealand in 2011?
“I thought I spoke it well, but when you travel abroad you realize your level, and the accent in New Zealand is very different from Britain.”
“At the same time, my father did research and found out that the Auckland City coach is a Catalan named Ramon Trebulich, and he asked me to contact him to undergo a probationary period there.”
“Personally, I didn’t want to play football. I was 26 years old and I trained every day since I was a kid. I wanted to rest a bit and travel.”
“But my dad was very adamant so I sent an email to Ramon to tell him I was going through Auckland, I just did it so my dad would stop asking me to talk to him, I never thought Ramon would answer me.”
“But within two days I got the answer and I actually went through an audition, a training session, then two sessions, and at the end of the week I signed a professional contract with Auckland City.”
Another reason for Riera’s laziness about continuing to play football was his steady job.
The current coach of Auckland City, he was a paramedic, specializing in saving human lives in emergency situations, far from football.
“I represent the vast majority of people who play football in Spain, the competition there is very intense and the levels are high and therefore not everyone succeeds in reaching the highest professional level.”
“When I was 17 or 18 years old, I was training with a second division team, which is considered a professional level, but with the change of coach they released the young players, and at that moment I realized that I was not obsessed with professional football like the rest of the young men of my age.”
“I loved the idea of competing, but I didn’t have the mania to get to the first division, so I made my way in the labor market and joined the emergency medical services department and worked in an ambulance.”
“They call 112 and we go out immediately in search of an emergency. I worked in this job for 6 years, and it was a special experience. I work in the morning from seven for 12 hours, then I immediately go to training from eight thirty until eleven in the morning, and so on daily.”
Riera then played for small Spanish clubs such as Benívar, Atlético Monzon, Balaguer, Benavent and Muirosa.
But his main focus was on his career as a paramedic, an experience that taught him a lot.
“I remember a lot of situations, the first time is always a milestone in your life, for example the first major car accident, the first cardiopulmonary resuscitation you had to do, it always affects you.”
“After that you get used to it and it becomes normal within a couple of hours.”
“It is an extraordinary life experience, it helps you to know the value of things, you will see things that you would not have noticed if you were not working in the medical sector.”
After 6 years of trying to save lives, Riera devoted himself to playing football by moving to New Zealand, and later became technical director of the team since 2021, immediately after his retirement.
The pressure of a football match must be nothing compared to the pressure of saving someone’s life, right?
“It’s an important question. That experience helped me when I went to a foreign country whose language I don’t speak.”
“Experience working as a paramedic helped me put things into perspective.”
“When you play a derby here in Auckland, you feel pressure from everyone, and that’s sporting pressure, and it’s very positive, it can’t be compared to CPR or trying to keep the pulse of a dying person.”
“That is why I always try to convey this information to the players: We are under this pressure because we love football and we like playing this sport. We should not escape from this pressure.”
But until joining Auckland City and starting to rack up silverware, Riera’s life in New Zealand wasn’t too easy.
Upon arriving in the faraway country of Oceania, to earn money, he and his two friends work for a kiwi packing company.
It must not have been a high-pressure job like racing an ambulance, but it held other life lessons.
Riera laughing says:
“It was agony, I’m not going to lie to you, the hours were way too long.”
“We wanted to do something different, but we knew it was temporary work, and that gives you a different perspective, because we’ve known a lot of people doing this kind of very hard work for 20 years, while we’ve only been working for a few months.”
“It helps you appreciate what you have and where you come from, and respect people who have to do this job because they don’t have other opportunities. It’s a very respectable job, and they pay well.”
For us, it was a way to get to know many people from different backgrounds
And as I tell you, it was a very important life experience.”
It’s been 12 years since Riera crossed into the other half of the world thinking he would go back to his daily life in the ambulance in a few months…but he never did!
“My residency visa was for one year. I was planning to return to my ambulance job, but at the end of the year I made the most important decision of my life.”
“Coach Ramon Trebulich called me and told me that he wanted to renew my contract, so I explained to him that I could not leave my job, which I have been in for 6 years, because I have a fixed contract, and it is a good job.”
“The decision tormented me a lot at the time, because I knew it was a step that would change my life, and Tripulic managed to convince me after a week. In the end, football did not stop chasing me.”
“And so it went on year after year. This decision changed my life for the better, because the economic crisis began all over the world and many of my colleagues lost their jobs, and therefore I never regretted making that decision at the time.”
“As time went on it went well on a sporting level here in New Zealand, I had a lot of fun, but I was new for one year, I never had the intention of being there for 10 years.”
“I actually got to know a Costa Rican boy who was my classmate, and he was laughing a lot at me because he had been there for 5 years when I was a freshman.”
“He used to tell me: You will be like me, in a short time you will find yourself here for 5 years, and I always answered him: Louis, that is impossible, I will be back in a year or two.”
“Now I always think of him, because I’ve been here for 10 years, so just imagine how fast time goes by!”
A huge career with Auckland City and numerous trophies, but he’s not the only Spaniard who is an icon of this club.
Among other Spaniards, Ángel Berlanga stands out as the current club player who holds the record of being the European with the most appearances in Club World Cup history, equal to Toni Kroos.
Will Berlanga have a role in front of Al-Ahly?
Riera’s answer was very blunt:
“In fact, we don’t know that yet. Angel is an entity in itself. He is a big icon in Auckland City and the entire Oceania continent. He participated a lot in the Club World Cup.”
“He’s like a legend here, but he’s getting old, he knows it, we’re good friends, and last year he had a lot of injuries that didn’t help him.”
“Therefore, it is difficult for him to have a major role, he will not play mainly, and he also realizes that it is not the right moment for him, but rather the moment to give the opportunity to others.”
“He is proud of all his participation in the World Cup, especially scoring a very important goal for the club, but now his role is secondary and this is the reality and he accepts that.”
“This happens to all of us, and the most important thing is to accept him as he does and help his teammates, especially the youngsters, because he is very important and has a lot of experience, especially in similar matches.”
Riera has been coaching Auckland City since the beginning of last season, but he is participating in the Club World Cup for the first time as a coach.
The opportunity to debut was present in the last edition, but the strict quarantine imposed by New Zealand to combat the spread of the Corona virus forced Auckland to withdraw in the end.
Was that a strong blow to the ambitions of the young coach?
“It was not a strong blow, it was a sad moment of course, but we were aware that it was a possible thing due to the global pandemic, which very complicated things, especially in our country, in sports and group activities.”
“The restrictions imposed by the government made us understand that we have little chance of going to the World Cup. They tried to find a solution, but in the end people’s health is more important than anything.”
“Our government approved it, and there was nothing we could do. We understand, and I especially, that torturing yourself for something over which you have no control is not entirely helpful.”
“So we came together and decided that the best thing is to look forward and plan for the next season and win the OFC Champions League in order to ensure our participation in the next edition of the World Cup, and therefore this gave us more strength and desire to participate in the next World Cup.”
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Speaking more about the Club World Cup, Auckland City will face a major crisis when it faces Al-Ahly, as it will have been 3 months since the last official match it played.
Riera says:
“Our last official appearance dates back to December 4 in the Grand National League Final. It was a very long season in which we played more than 40 games. We played all possible championships, which are 4 competitions, and won all four championships.”
“It was a beautiful and stressful season both physically and mentally, so I gave the players a month off.”
“But with the Club World Cup approaching, we realized that training should start early, so I will not deceive you. Our task is very difficult. The players, coaching staff and management understand that.”
“We will face a team that has already played many matches this season and is the leader of the Egyptian League, and they will be in full physical readiness, and that will be an advantage for them, and a great weakness for us.”
By dedicating the conversation more about Al-Ahly, do you like a specific player?
“I admire several players. For me Aliou Diang is a key player in the team. I was also very impressed with the two full-backs… Let me see if I pronounce the names correctly… Maaloul?”
Ali Maaloul?
“Yes, Maaloul Al-Tunisi is a very distinguished player, and Mohamed Hani is also a distinguished player.”
“These two fullbacks have a great ability to stretch the field and make two runs.”
“Also, Al-Soleh is there, who helps Diang a lot. Diang specifically keeps the team balanced.”
“Also, Bruno Savio is very dangerous and can show up when you least expect it.”
“Coach Kohler has a lot of experience and knows what he’s doing very well. The results are positive, the pressure is great in this team and the position of coach is not easy there, but in the end they always show a winning mentality.”
In a previous interview he did فوت هوستازي.com With Ramon Tripulich, the historic coach of Auckland City and the bronze medalist of the Club World Cup in 2014, we understood how the Catalan mentality in football became a doctrine within the New Zealand club.
Riera, in turn, did not change much and followed in the footsteps of his teacher, beautiful football, possession, building from the back, quick pressure after losing the ball, passing from foot to foot and abandoning the English long balls that the New Zealand player resorted to.
Are these romantic ideas applicable in a match like Al-Ahly?
“Our identity and our DNA is the search for possession, and I would dare say that I think most coaches and players would like to play this way.”
“For me, it’s the way everyone dreams of playing. If you ask any coach if he wants to control the ball, and he can do it, he will.”
“But the reality is that not all teams can do that, you need the perfect players for this kind of play.”
“And we have this type for New Zealand. Auckland City is a long-term project that is being developed to implement this style of play. Ramon Tripulich was the first to implement it, and things went well with him.”
“But as you say, flexibility is very important, we are well aware of our limitations, and I think we will suffer physically, and therefore we must adapt to facing a team that will be faster and better physically than ours.”
“Of course we will not hide, and when we have the ball we will try to play with a clear goal and control the game.”
“It’s a knockout game, so everything is possible. We have to reduce mistakes and not expose ourselves, and create chances when we have the ball.”
It will be a miracle, but Auckland City may face Real Madrid in that version, only he has to first overcome Al-Ahly and then the Seattle Sounders, an almost impossible task, of course.
But what if that happened? How will coach Riera prepare for such a match in front of his countrymen?
“I will sum it up for you quickly, I will ask the players to have maximum fun, we will not train, we will not do video lectures, it will not be necessary, I will only ask them to exchange all the shirts they can because they will live a dream, that is what I will tell them.”
In the end, there is only one thing left to ask: What is life like when you share the same name and surname with Albert Riera, the former Liverpool and Spain player?
Riera laughed a lot and revealed to us: “Two days ago I was interviewing an Egyptian media outlet, and while I was waiting for translation, I heard the presenter speaking in Arabic and I was able to distinguish that he was talking about the other Albert Riera, because he said Liverpool and Galatsaray while reviewing my biography.”
“I didn’t want to deceive him, so I told him I was the other Albert Riera, less famous.”
“It was also the case when I moved to Wellinton Phoenix. At first the fans thought they had signed Albert Riera who played for Liverpool, but when they saw me they were disappointed.”
Well, it’s not bad to have played for Liverpool, right?
No, no, it’s not bad that I played for Liverpool.
