Special feature: Phoenix favourite Marco Rojas finds the long way home

Special feature-Phoenix favourite Marco Rojas finds the long way home/

 posted in: A-League (Men), All Whites, News, Uncategorized |

Marco Rojas has returned to the Wellington Phoenix, the club that launched his professional football career, signing a one-year deal for the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season.

Rojas (32) has had stints at Melbourne Victory, VfB Stuttgart and Greuther Fürth in Germany, FC Thun in Switzerland, Dutch club SC Heerenveen and SønderjyskE in Denmark, as well as time at Brisbane Roar, and Colo-Colo in Chile.

He’s been capped 45 times for the All Whites (as well as 15 times at the U-20/U-23 levels) and won the Johnny Warren Medal as the A-League’s Best Player in 2013.

Friends of Football writer Rachel Lilburn spent a decade living in Chile. She caught up with Rojas after a training session at NZCIS in Wellington, to learn about his experience living in Chile and playing for the nation’s biggest club, Colo-Colo.

He shared his thoughts about his return to the club where it all started, and provided advice for young footballers who want to follow his path …

Early football memories

Rojas’s dad was just seven when he arrived in New Zealand as a refugee, forced to flee Chile after the 1973 Chilean military coup. With his Chilean Dad and Kiwi Mum, Rojas grew up in Hamilton, retaining a strong connection to his Chilean heritage.

Lilburn: “How did you start to play football?”

Rojas: “I think it would have been impossible not to, growing up in a Chilean family where all the male members of my family played, whether for fun or competitively. I grew up with football around me.”

Marco Rojas … ‘I’d always wanted to live in Chile.’ Photo credit: Colo-Colo.

Living in Chile and playing for Colo-Colo

Football is by far the number one sport in Chile. With a population just shy of 20 million, the country has 48 professional football teams, divided across three divisions: Primera División (16 teams), Primera B (16 teams), and Segunda División (16 teams). Of these, Colo-Colo is the most supported team, with a large and passionate supporter base across the country.

Lilburn: “Did you grow up a Colo-Colo fan?”

Rojas: “The games weren’t broadcast here in New Zealand, but family would send us CDs that we would watch — I remember watching Colo-Colo with Matias Fernandez and Arturo Vidal. Dad wasn’t massively fanatical, but he was definitely a fan. It was special for him to be around the stadium and the club when I was playing there.”

Lilburn: “Tell me about playing for Colo-Colo.”

Rojas: “It was an incredible experience. I’d always wanted to be able to live in Chile.

“I spent time there with family growing up. We did trips every few years for a few weeks at a time. The longest trip was three months with my grandmother when I was a teenager. There’s huge inequality there and it’s a very different socioeconomical structure to New Zealand. I found that part pretty hard.”

READ MORE: All White Marco Rojas makes winning debut for Chilean club Colo-Colo >>>

Lilburn: “It’s really different, isn’t it? I never really got used to the massive difference between the lower and upper classes.”

The minimum wage in Chile is about NZ$500 a month but some people earn 20 times that. It’s common for middle/upper class families to have staff — housekeepers, nannies, gardeners, drivers.

Rojas: “Society has a bit more of an emphasis on someone’s socioeconomic status too, like what how a person looks like, what they wear, where they live. It creates this different way of life.

“I’ve had two different experiences of Chile though, because I had an incredible experience as a footballer, playing for a big club and that was really exciting.

“I was blessed to have some really good experiences with the fans. I have amazing memories like the first press conference and walking into El Estadio Monumental [Colo-Colo’s home stadium seats 48,000 people, and is also used for the National Team].

“I maxed out at 12 months. I was burnt out, exhausted, and couldn’t keep going the way I had been. I’d been doing it for a long time.”

All Whites winger Marco Rojas to leave Chile after Colo Colo’s next game >>>

Marco Rojas … ‘I have amazing memories’. Photo credit: Colo-Colo.

Taking a break

Lilburn: “You’ve taken a break and found your love of football again?”

Rojas: ”I took a break, and I talked to people. I included my family more, especially my father — I’ve been really honest with him about what I was going through, and I have been working with a psychologist, a nutritionist, all these different experts.

“Finding balance for me has been really important. Enjoying my football, and taking time out for myself. I love variety, and introducing new things. Yoga, meditation, breathwork, eating well. I just came out of the cryo-chamber, to reduce inflammation. I try and look after my mind, my body, the spiritual side as well, so that I can be my best when I confront pressure.”

Returning to the Wellington Phoenix

Lilburn: “You started your professional career here in Wellington and now you are back as a senior player with a lot of experience behind you. How does that feel?“

Rojas: “It’s quite special, I think. In the last four or five years, from the last time I left Europe, I started making more conscious choices on where I wanted to play, based on more than just football opportunity. Each step has had a significant meaning for me. The familiarity is really nice here, it helps you settle in. I’ve had some nice messages from the Yellow Fever too.”

Lilburn: “The ‘Nix is a club with a lot of young players, many with aspirations to go on and play in Europe like you have. What sort of advice will you have for them?”

Rojas: “I’m really hesitant to just offer advice. I’ve got a bit of experience, but it doesn’t always mean I have the best advice for the next generation coming through because the football world is changing all the time.”

Lilburn: “There’s no ‘one right way’?”

Rojas: “Yeah, definitely. To be honest I feel like the longer you play, the longer you live, the more you realise you don’t know. There’s always things that can be done in a different way. Football is constantly changing. I want to keep learning too — I’m looking forward to learning from them.

“But I’m here if anyone would like advice. If they have a desire to go overseas, I can talk to them about my experiences. I’m not a big talker in groups, though. Hopefully, I can lead by example through my actions, playing and working hard.”

WATCH: Wellington Phoenix unveil Marco Rojas signing at media conference >>>

READ MORE: All Whites winger Marco Rojas returns to Wellington Phoenix >>>

Marco Rojas playing for the Brisbane Roar against the Wellington Phoenix in early 2024.

Find your own way

Rojas: “There’s a lot of ways to become a professional. Me, I just played. I played a lot of football in Hamilton, club, school, with friends, up until I was 17 when I got a Yellow Fever scholarship with the Nix, and for me it started like that. Chris Wood was 15, I think, when he went to England and went through the academies, and you’ve got players in Chile who are 11, in clubs going year by year up until they reach the senior team. Getting to be a pro’ player can look like so many different things.

“And what worked for me isn’t going to work for someone else. You have to find your own space. You have to find what works for you.

“I think surround yourself with family and friends, and take them with you on the journey. Find those people who celebrate you first, and then your success.”

Supporting women’s football

Lilburn: “Last year, you donated $20,000 to women’s football at Melbourne Victory. Tell me about that?

All White Marco Rojas …’Keep dreaming.’  Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.

Rojas: “I don’t really want to talk about my donation in particular, because it’s not about me. I did that because I saw differences in what we had in the men’s game and what the women’s team had, and I wanted to help with that. And I think that’s important, looking out for the people next to you and just checking they’re doing OK, and doing what you can to help.

“The men’s game looks different because it’s been systemically supported for a long time, much longer than the women’s game. Understanding the privileges we have because of that is important.”

READ MORE: All White Marco Rojas donates $20,000 to help bridge players’ gender gap >>>

Encouraging young dreams

Lilburn: “Lastly, what advice have you got for those kids out there who dream of playing football professionally?”

Rojas: “Keep dreaming, it is possible. I played in Hamilton for Western United as a Junior and then Hamilton Wanderers until I was 17.

“Find out what works for you as you grow older. Find out what makes you happy because it’s important to be happy when you play. Make sure you’re having fun, whatever that means to you.

“It’s important to balance yourself along the way. Find that happiness, that joy, because afterwards, when it’s a job, it does change.”

The new season

The Wellington Phoenix kick off the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League season on October 20, 2024, with a home game at Sky Stadium against Western United.

Rachel Lilburn

Taupō-based Rachel Lilburn is the mother of a football-mad youngster. She writes for Friends of Football, specialising in feature stories about young footballers, their pathways and junior/youth tournaments. She lived in Chile for more than 10 years.

This story was first published on August 20, 2024.