www.oceaniafootball.com sat down with the Capital Men’s new recruit Niko Béchar who spoke about his career aspirations, his objectives with his new club and the prospect of an OFC Champions League debut in April.
Freshly recruited by ASB Premiership runners-up Team Wellington, Niko Béchar started his Kiwi football adventure positively when he and his team-mates clinched the ASB Charity Cup in a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Auckland City.
‘’I am very happy for the team. Personally, I am very happy to have played this match and to have been part of it,’’ Béchar says.
This first success gives Béchar high hopes for the OFC Champions League season next year and he is pleased to be a part of the club’s first foray into continental competition.
‘’It will be an amazing experience! I can’t still believe it. I feel fortunate to play in the OFC Champions League. I am really looking forward to it. It is one of the main reasons why I signed for Team Wellington.
‘’I think we have a good squad. We have demonstrated our capabilities against Auckland City. I think we have the qualities to make a good result in this competition,’’ he says.
Born in Algeria, Béchar made his debut in the Paris suburb club Etampe before joining the Anderlecht Academy in Belgium at the age of 14.
He graduated from the Academy into the first team squad but despite his ascent he never made a senior appearance.
Béchar’s career then took a turn for the worst after a series of injuries left him struggling for professional contract offers.
‘’I stopped playing football for two years. I was going from small jobs to small jobs. I didn’t want to hear about football anymore,’’ he says.
After joining the long list of forgotten youngsters cast aside by major football clubs, an unlikely rebirth was about to unfold.
And it took a holiday down under to visit his uncle in Brisbane to open a door of opportunity.
‘’I came first to Australia for a yearlong holiday at my uncle’s place in Brisbane, but he had other plans in his mind,’’ he says.
One year became three and Béchar fell in love with the ‘beautiful game’ again in the most unlikely setting.
‘’My uncle organised some trials with some local clubs. I had a two weeks trial with Sunshine Coast FC and they signed me after only one week,’’ he adds.
And success flowed.
Béchar was elected best player in the NPL championship two seasons running first for Sunshine Coast FC then Redlands last season.
It was recognition that opened the door of the Hyundai A-League with Brisbane Roar.
‘’I had a trial with Brisbane Roar and I had some good discussions with the club but due to the foreign player restrictions, they decided to choose a different player,’’ he says.
Despite the disappointment, Béchar’s enthusiasm for football in the Southern Hemisphere is clearly renewed.
And Béchar knows he has to work hard to adapt to the demands of the Kiwi game.
‘’I have just arrived at a new club, everything is new, it is a bit of an unknown situation. I have to work hard to prove the coach Matt Calcott that I can be a regular player in Team Wellington’s starting line-up.’’
‘’The style of play is different than in Australia. Here it is more physical and faster compared to Australia where you have more time to control and pass the ball.
It’s not only on the field of play where Béchar feels he must adapt. Wellington is a different lifestyle with vastly different to the sunnier climes he was used in Australia.
‘’I was living in Brisbane for three years and the weather and the temperatures are good all the time. Summer is hot and winter is very enjoyable. So the day after I landed in Wellington, I went for a walk to visit the city and it was windy, rainy. Very different from Brisbane.
‘’That took me a bit of time to adjust to but thanks to my teammates I am feeling much better now.’’
Team Wellington and Auckland City are the two New Zealand representatives for the 2015 OFC Champions League and are joined by Samoa’s Lupe Ole Soaga, recent winners of the OFC Champions League Preliminaries.
The OFC Champions League kicks off in April in Suva and Ba, Fiji.