Guillermo May of Auckland FC celebrates scoring a goal. (Photo / Photosport)
Guillermo May of Auckland FC celebrates scoring a goal. (Photo / Photosport)
When Uruguayan striker Guillermo May was considering a contract offer from Auckland FC, one of the first phone calls he made was to his younger brother.
Travelling to Australasia, as well as plying his trade outside South America, was a big step, albeit one that piqued his curiosity. But May– who scored the match-winning goal in Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Macarthur – was also counting on some sibling support.
“I called him straight away,” May told the Herald. “He is a chef and was living in Australia. I told him, okay, if I go to New Zealand, you have to come and live with me, okay.”
His brother Felipe made the move and the duo are living together on Auckland’s North Shore. It’s one of several reasons that May has settled so well here, after a difficult period. After some eye-catching seasons in Uruguay, May scored a big move to Argentina, the most prestigious league in South America alongside Brazil, playing for Newell’s Old Boys, the alma mater of Lionel Messi.
But it was a difficult time. The team struggled for results and May was out of favour after a coaching change. In that context, he decided to take the leap, flying 10,000km to restart his career. It’s proved a smart move. He is thriving in the A-League – as part of the high-flying expansion team – and is happy off the field.
“You have a really good lifestyle in New Zealand,” said May. “Auckland is a nice city, the people are kind, I’m living in a top place and the club have helped me a lot. Of course, it is not easy to move to the other part of the world, another culture – it is different. But I love going to the training ground every day and after that, if the weather is good, sometimes the beach, a little bit of sun.”
Guillermo May of Auckland FC celebrates scoring a goal. Photo / Photosport
May has shown class from the opening match when his delightful one-touch pass released Hiroki Sakai and led to the club’s first goal. He has worked hard to lead the press and contributed in link-up play, but finding the net on Sunday for his new club was special.
“I was looking for this moment,” said May. “As a striker we always need to score goals, it’s the main part.”
It was a well-constructed goal – coach Steve Corica said it was like a “training ground move” – as Auckland struck swiftly on transition.
“It came from a really good press,” said May. “Francis [de Vries] looked for Felipe [Gallegos]. He did a great movement and created a good situation with Jake [Brimmer] and I was asking for that kind of ball. Felipe did it well, he looked for me and my movement was the easy part. I dropped a little bit off and it was a really good cut back.”
His near-post finish was unerring – before an emphatic celebration.
“The feeling after scoring a goal is one of the best of life,” said May.
Corica hopes it will be the first of many.
“It’s a great sign for him,” said Corica. “He has been doing a lot of work for us defensively so it was nice to get his reward [on Sunday]. Strikers are confidence players; once they get one, hopefully get more and more.”
For his part, the 26-year-old is relishing the one-for-all approach of the squad, summed up by the club motto – “We go together” – chosen by the playing group.
“We are a working team,” said May. “Hiroki [Sakai] is a star but the other players, we are workers. We have to press well, stay together, the small details.”
And nothing has been achieved yet, not even close, which is why, a few hours after Sunday’s match, May was already looking ahead.
“If we want to win the next game we have to improve,” said May. “We have to keep our feet on the ground, be all together and be hungry to win. We need to be professional. This is football. Since I started playing I realised that you have good moments and bad moments but you have to be prepared every day, not only weekends. If we had to quote someone it’s [Pep] Guardiola who said, the most difficult part of football is “winning after winning”.
