MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Chilean striker stars for Vitesse
22 year old striker Juan Lorca<br><i>Photo by Rudy Peters Colo Colo are one of the big names of Chilean football and 22 year old striker Juan Lorca quickly became a star at the club which he joined as a junior player at the age of 12.
His breakthrough in the Colo Colo team came at the age of 19, and he became a regular member of the Chilean champions team for the past three seasons, impressing everyone with his speed, ball control and strike power. Now though Lorca, who was born in the district of La Feria in Santiago, has left his native home and tackled the big challenge of establishing himself on the European scene. He starred for Chile in the Copa America in Venezuela and attracted the attentions of the Dutch Premier Division team Vitesse Arnhem, and has signed a one year contract with the side that finished 12th in the table last season and just missed out playing in a European competition in a play-off. 'If I do well and score some goals then I am hoping that they might offer me a longer contract' said Juan. Lorca said that he had no hesitation about playing in Holland although he admits that he has found the standard of football in Holland 'much tougher than it is in Chile'. He said that, 'In Chile you get time to hold the ball and run with it, but in Holland someone is always challenging you. But the style of football is similar because as in Chile the Dutch fans like players who have skill and control of the ball'. He has recently had an opportunity to establish himself in the Vitesse team, after several games when he was brought on as a second half substitute by the coach Aad de Mos. He made a number of excellent solo runs, after coming on in the second half against Dutch Champions PSV before a crowd of 40,000 in the Phillips Stadium in Eindhoven. His tight ball control troubled the PSV defenders who resorted to bringing him down and giving away a succession of free kicks. Vitesse were unlucky to lose the game by 1-0. Against newly promoted De Graafschap, Lorca was brought on after 50 minutes and came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. Despite almost total control of the game Vitesse conceded two late goals to former player Purrel Frankel, and Berry Powell and lost 2-0. Injuries to other players has recently opened the door for Lorca and he started the game against Utrecht, which Vitesse impressively won by 4 goals to 2, and he played the full ninety minutes in the losing game on Sunday to highly rated Feneyoord (0-1). Against the famous Rotterdamers he had a great opportunity to score but headed the ball wide of the goal. After the game he expressed his disappointment at missing the chance. 'I took it too quickly when I had more time than I thought', he said. He was also involved in an impressive 3-man movement with the Chinese player Yu Hai, which saw substitute Harry Gommans head the ball over the bar when it looked easier to score, and he set up an excellent opportunity for the Danish player Mads Junker who squandered the chance by hitting the ball straight at the goalkeeper. Vitesse also had good claims for a penalty rejected when Lorca was brought down by a clumsy tackle by Hofland. It was ironic that a former Vitesse player Nicky Hoffs scored the only goal of the game for Feneyoord in the 54th minute. The young Chilean did score for Vitesse in a Dutch Cup game against lowly FC Eindhoven, but in one of the big shocks of the season so far, Vitesse crashed out of the competition, losing by 4 goals to 2. It was a giant step for Juan Lorca to leave his family and friends in Santiago and travel 7,000 miles to Holland. Juan who speaks a few halting words of English, said in Spanish, 'My father Juan senior came with me to Arnhem so that I would not feel too lonely on my own, but I left behind my Mother, three sisters and a brother. I miss them all very much. I am beginning to learn to speak the Dutch language but it's quite difficult. But everyone at Vitesse is very kind and helpful to me and the other players are trying to teach me Dutch and joking with me'. Asked about his future plans, Juan Lorca was understandably reluctant to say too much so soon into his career in Europe. 'Of course I dream that a team in England or Spain might one day be interested in me but first of all I have to establish myself in Holland for Vitesse. The Brazilian Afonso Alves has scored many goals here for Heerenveen and now other big clubs are looking at him, but I have a long way to go yet'. The Dutch Eredivisie takes a break this weekend as the International teams of Europe are involved in qualifying for the European 2008 Championships. Juan Lorca says that he is looking forward to a resumption of the Championship as he wants to repay the faith that Vitesse have shown in him. But he is also looking forward very much to the 1st November when his 'novia' (girlfriend) from Santiago will fly across from Chile to spend sometime with him in Holland. Special report by Patrick Watts – European Correspondent.
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