Soccer: Rojas' big break may be just around the Benz

Marco Rojas got an early taste of life as a professional football player.

Not only did he get to train with the Wellington Phoenix for a week as part of a fan's scholarship, but he also got to drive around Wellington in a Mercedes Benz.

It wasn't one of those Mercedes-Benz SLR McLarens worth £420,000 that Arsenal defender William Gallas, Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele and Blackburn Rovers striker El Hadji Diouf have just bought for themselves.

Rather, it was a 1978 Mercedes 250 in bright yellow, with 'Phoenix 'til I die' and an image of retro Ricki (Herbert) emblazoned on the side that members of the Yellow Fever picked up off Trade Me.

"It was unique," Rojas says kindly of his temporary wheels, which his father drove more than he did, given he's on a restricted licence.

The 17-year-old, though, could soon be given full licence to play his natural game if he makes his Phoenix debut this season.

There's a unusually high level of curiosity swirling around the striker, especially for a player so young. Much of it centres on the circumstances of his arrival at New Zealand's only professional football club.

Rojas won the Yellow Fever scholarship worth $5000, which allowed him to train with the Phoenix - and drive the yellow Mercedes - for a week.

It was a fans' initiative established last season as a way for them to spend money earned from sales of Yellow Fever T-shirts and give one of New Zealand's most promising, young footballers a leg-up into the professional environment.

"It was really just to give some kid experience and help them to aspire to go further," says Yellow Fever spokesman David Cross. "It was a feel-good story for the club and made the fans feel like they were part of it. You never thought they would actually sign someone."

Sign Rojas, the Phoenix did.

He trained with the side when coach Ricki Herbert was in South Africa with the All Whites but assistants Luciano Trani and Jonathan Gould told him they might have something.

One week became another and Rojas impressed enough in a 1-1 draw with Melbourne in pre-season to earn a two-year contract.

"I wanted to see what I was like as a player against experienced professionals and I never thought it would go further than that," Rojas admits. "I was pleased with how I went but, no, I was never thinking about getting a contract.

"It opened my eyes up to see where I was at. I had a massive smile on my face when I signed. It was my dream to become a professional footballer and to achieve that just out of school and here in New Zealand is unbelievable."

It's even more unbelievable when you consider he has never been part of the national junior set-up and played only 12 NZFC games for Waikato FC, mostly off the bench.

He is a graduate of Wynton Rufer's Wynrs academy and, sadly, sometimes players there slip through the net because of the uneasy relationship between Rufer and New Zealand Football.

"I'm not sure why he slipped through," Herbert says. "It's disappointing that he might have done.

"He reminds me a lot of Mike McGarry [who played 54 A internationals for the All Whites and 87 games in all between 1986 and 1997]. He can drift past people and Mike McGarry could do that.

"Technically he's very good, and he's fearless. He has a nice change of pace, is clever. You could put him on the park and he could make a difference."

The question is whether Herbert will be prepared to find out. The Phoenix boss is relatively conservative and Costa Barbarouses, seen as one of the most exciting footballing talents to come out of New Zealand in recent times, has played only 322 minutes of A-League football in two seasons with the club even when they were struggling up front.

The Phoenix don't have a reserve team and squad players are blocked from playing NZFC because of rules around turning out in an amateur league.

That means there's little chance for the livewire Rojas to impress outside of training.

"Irrespective of his size and his age, I would have no hesitation in using him," Herbert insists and he included Rojas on an extended bench for today's visit of Perth. "I think he's capable."

Rojas isn't getting his hopes up.

"I just want to be training hard every day," he says. "I'm happy with where I'm at. If I train well and make the team, that's great. But I'm in no hurry and there are good people around me who know when I'll be ready."

Wellington wasn't Rojas' first trial. He went to Germany last year with Rufer's son, Caleb, and trialled with Werder Bremen, Hannover 96 and Borussia Monchengladbach but failed to win a contract. Caleb Rufer was signed by SC Langenhagen and is now at SV Wehen Wiesbaden.

"The Phoenix trial was really different because I was training with adults. In Germany, I was training with under-17 and under-19 players," Rojas says. "It also took a long time to get used to things in Germany and I was actually injured most of the time. But it was a good experience.

"Wynton helped me a lot, mainly with his experience. He gave me a lot of hints and guidance about what to do on and off the field.

"I was at Wynrs for a couple of years. He was always there and he took us on trips. He passed on a lot of information about what it's like to be a professional player."

Rojas is finding that out first-hand now. Like most aspiring footballers, he wants to play in the top leagues of England, Italy or Spain.

And if he can do that, he might even be able to afford a shiny, new Mercedes Benz.