MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan youngster faces Dutch challenge

Dutch Champions PSV persuaded 20-year old Pereiro to sign a 5-year contract last July. In the picture with Patrick Watts

By Patrick Watts in Eindhoven. - 20 year old Uruguayan sensation Gaston Periero is loving every minute of his new footballing career in the city of Eindhoven, where he now plays for the Netherlands Champions PSV before crowds of 50,000 fanatical supporters.

In 2013, at the age of 18, he joined Nacional of Montevideo and scored an amazing 11 goals for the first team in just 39 games. Selected for the Uruguayan Under-20 National team he impressed also with 5 goals in just 8 appearances. His goals enabled the team to qualify for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup which will be played in New Zealand in June 2016.

Gaston Rodrigo Pereiro Lopez, to give him his full name, is already been spoken of as 'the new Suarez' and his goal-scoring exploits were spotted by the Dutch Champions PSV who persuaded him to sign a 5-year contract in July of this year.

“I never had any hesitation in joining PSV as for me it is an opportunity of a life-time to try and establish myself in the very competitive leagues of Europe”, said the tall 1.88m striker.

Pereiro has a very mature head on young shoulders and when asked if he felt 'home-sick' given that he left behind many friends and family members in Montevideo he answered:
'No, I have my Mother living with me here in Eindhoven and my girl-friend is expected to arrive in Holland in early September. I also have a car here and the traffic is not as crazy as it is in Montevideo. I am learning the difficult Dutch language as I want to be able to converse with my team mates in their national language”.

He admits that the training methods in Uruguay and Holland differ considerably. 'At Nacional we ran and ran and ran everyday in order to keep fit, but here at PSV we spend far more time practising with the ball and improving our individual footballing skills'.

Pereiro has yet to start a game for PSV but he has featured as a substitute on several occasions. On Sunday he was brought on in the 85th minute during the top of the table clash against eternal rivals Feyenoord of Rotterdam.
He twice worked his way into the penalty area before being dispossessed before he could fire a shot a goal.

The Rotterdamers shocked the Champions by going ahead in the 5th minute when central defender Jeffrey Bruma kicked the ball into his own net when trying to clear a dangerous cross by Feyenoord's most effective player Bilal Basacikoglu.

Incessant pressure by PSV brought a deserved equalizer in the 36th minute when Belgium Maxime Lestienne cracked home an unstoppable shot from 12 yards out. With the game evenly poised it was the 23 year old Colombian player Santiago Arias who got free on the right side and steered the ball over the diving Feyenoord goal-keeper Kenneth Vermeer.

A debatable penalty for PSV was awarded by referee Bjorn Kuipers, who is one of Holland's most experienced and respected officials. Locadia made no mistake with the spot-kick to give PSV an unassailable 3-1 lead but Kuipers amazingly later admitted that he had acted on a call from his Assistant Referee, and that he did not believe himself that it was valid penalty! His admission was of little consolation to Feyenoord however.

Gaston Pereiro would like to have played from the very first minute on Sunday but he understands that at just 20 years of age there are far more experienced players than him at the club, but for sure his time will come and there will be no doubting his 100% commitment and determination when the Coach does put his name on the team sheet.