Marco Rojas - The retirement of the Kiwi Messi

So there's a Rojas in the Chile world cup squad and even the commentator here pronounces it "Rock-arse" like Dewhurst did that one time.

Beat me to it...

I asked an actual Chilean (boyfriend of a friend) and he said definitely pronounced Rock-ass.

It is pronounced like that...from Marco's mouth on an All Whites video I'm too lazy to find on youtube

Thats bloody odd. I have a Chilean friend who says that the language is Spanish and its ro-has.

Very odd.

Well there you go. I guess if he calls himself rock ass then rock ass it is.

All you need to know (from Wikipedia, so it must be correct) ...

In the 16th century, as the Spanish colonization of the Americas was beginning, the phoneme represented by the letter "j" had begun to change its place of articulation from palato-alveolar [ʃ] to palatal [ç] and to velar [x], like German "ch" in Bach (see History of Spanish). In southern Spanish dialects and in those American dialects strongly influenced by southern settlers (e.g. Caribbean Spanish), rather than the velar fricative [x], the result was a softer glottal sound [h], like English "h" in hope. Glottal [h] is nowadays the standard pronunciation for "j" in Caribbean dialects (Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican) as well as in mainland Venezuela, much of Central America, and southern Mexico.[9] Both coastal and inland dialects of Colombian Spanish show [h] for "j". In the rest of the Americas, the velar fricative [x] is prevalent. In most of Argentina (Rioplatense) and Chile, [x] becomes the more frontal [ç] (like German "ch" in ich) when it precedes palatal vowels [i], [e]: gente [ˈçẽ̞nte̞], jinete [çiˈne̞te̞]. In Spain, glottal [h] is common in the Canary Islands and western Andalusia; in the rest of the country, [x] alternates with a "raspy" uvular fricative [χ], sometimes accompanied by uvular vibration.

In short, there appears to be a more of a "ch" (as per German ch in ich) type sound for a J in Chile, whereas more of an h sound in other places.  Hence "Rock-ars".  However, that is a slightly lazy (or misheard) version of the more correct Roch-ars (ch as in German Ich).  All makes sense.

Glad we've got this important football issue sorted.  Meanwhile VfB 1st team squad started training yesterday under new trainer Armin Veh.  Marco spotted amongst the numerous snaps on the Stuttgarter-zeitung website.  Hoping to get to FC Bayern v VfB in September, so it would be great if he could fluke his way into the match-day squad by then.

Well that ^^ settles the pronunciation thing

Scored a double in a 10-0 friendly win

Marco played this week in the 3-0 friendly win over lower league side Gmund:

http://www.vfb.de/en/aktuell/meldungen/news/2014/t...

Pre-season schedule:

VfB Stuttgart vs. Sv Darmstadt 98 will be streaming here for free at 4.30 am NZT tomorrow morning:

http://www.laola1.tv/en-int/live/vfb-stuttgart-sv-...

A legal Austrian website (they operate VfB TV for the Stuttgart club) - some of their matches are only available in Germany and Austria.

Streams for free - no need to register or log on - (log on tab is for "Premium Membership" which you pay for & get ad-free in HD etc.)

But to watch in NZ and other countries, just download the "Hola" app, click on the icon at top right of your address bar and choose the "Austria" (or I guess "Germany") option. This fools the website into thinking you are in the appropriate territory.

Download "Hola" for free here for any device:

http://hola.org/download?list=1

LAOLA TV broadcasts Bundesliga, Austrian Bundesliga, la Liga etc.

LEAGUES THEY BROADCAST AND TERRITORIES:

Mr Rojas with the opening goal of a 2-1 win. Getting some good visibility on the VfB website. Early days, but good start to preseason (vital with new Trainer).

Sweet

broke away and slotted home the equaliser against 4th division FK 03 Pirmasens in the last minute - finally starting to get some traction and attention with the manager through the pre-season.

http://www.vfb.de/en/aktuell/meldungen/news/2014/testspiel-fk-pirmasens-vfb/page/3154-1-1-.html?f2

Great stuff. Hope he keeps it up. Had about a tough a start as anyone can to his European career.

Great stuff. Hope he keeps it up. Had about a tough a start as anyone can to his European career.

Came on for the last 15 minutes of a friendly at Aue (2. Liga).  I managed to catch it live as it was being streamed free live.  Unfortunately ball didn't come his way and touched it only a handful of times although managed one wee jink followed by an off target shot at goal - at which point there was a short spiel (clever German pun right there) on him from commentator about him being from NZ and being out injured most of last season from what I could gather through my pigeon-deutsch.  Line-ups & pecking order to date suggest if he continues to perform, then could be a fringe squad player at least as the season commences (ie, a maybe for the bench).  That is progress.

Another friendly match on the weekend at Heidenheim (just promoted to 2. Liga), then training camp for a week before the final pre-season match (and "VfB opening day") against might Hull City on the 10th of August.

Traore has moved to the foals (they are looking much stronger this year) so hopefully he is closer to game day squad. 

Another goal in a 4-2 win. Playing well. Good chance of making the first team?

the rest of the vfb pre-season including two Turkish first division sides and Hull City.....Tigers. There is no doubt Marco is starting to make an impact as he continues to score goals against stronger opposition - he was a later sub in the Heidenheim game and still scored. From what I've seen in the german media they have written off last season as a year of injury and bad luck for Marco and they are expecting first team game time this season from him.

piece from the Stuttgart newspaper three days ago...."it soon became clear, he was more kiwi than messi"

http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.vfb-stuttgart-marco-rojas-startet-den-zweiten-anlauf.5d6d19f4-bcd0-4287-89e7-307b50bfb06e.html

no goals, no game-time but his confidence is still high......his father has been replaced by his girlfriend and his injuries have finally cleared. Even after last season he feels his move to VfB was the right move.

I don't know what the quote is suppose to imply?

it is a rather direct and kind of mean german attempt at humour - it is a direct quote from the text. There is an undercurrent of disappointment with Marco's performance following the hype of his signing which pervades the whole article

I don't think it's disappointment with his performances because there haven't been any and it's not talking about any reserve team games or recent pre-season friendlies - it's more disappointment that he's been injured since pre-season last year:

"Only Rojas broke the right metatarsal, and later had knee problems, which made him miss playing for the first team completely. Is it all a question of the transition from Australian to German football? "No," says Rojas, but certainly admits that the step in the Bundesliga was a great one for him. "The speed and intensity of the game here are much higher than in Australia," he explains. However, his injuries had nothing to do with this. The first came from a tackle, the second a consequence of injury due to a physical imbalance. Either way, Rojas' first year in Germany was sobering. So at least say the statistics: nil Bundesliga games, zero goals, only appearances for the reserves.  And yet a lot of confidence.."

Stuttgart v Getafe (Spain) 1-2 loss:

NB You can't always trust the English version of Stuttgart's website - it's much inferior with shorter reports and inaccuracies. It had the lineups wrong for the Getafe friendly .Instead check out the original German website and use Google Translate if necessary (but not for lineups as it can translate names):

http://www.vfb.de/de/aktuell/meldungen/news/2014/t...

Marco on for last 20 mins.

"....a little later, Marco Rojas entered the field (70 min.) but not much worth mentioning happened in these minutes. VfB had the game largely under control, FC Getafe was only after turnovers and VfB  was twice a little threatening going forward...".

Ulreich – Klein (46. Hlousek), Schwaab, Rüdiger (46. Niedermeier), Sakai – Gentner, Gruezo (46. Leitner) – Maxim (70. Rojas), Didavi (46. Holzhauser), Rausch (46. Haggui) – Ibisevic (62. Sararer).

Marco in action in this friendly:

Marco has two young team mates (VfB II last season) at Stuttgart likely to feature in the FIFA u-20 World Cup in NZ next year:

Felix Lohkemper (striker) played for Germany who beat Portugal to qualify as UEFA u-20 champions in the Final this morning.

Francesco Lovric (centre-back) played for semi-finalist Austria who also qualified for NZ next year.

http://www.vfb.de/de/aktuell/meldungen/news/2014/u...

Lets hope we see Marco in Stuttgart's first game of the season which seems to be live on Sommet Sports in NZ:

25/08/2014 3:30 AM NZT Bundesliga Round 1 Monchengladbach v Stuttgart

Schedule from Setanta Sports Australia who supply Sommet's Bundesliga coverage:

http://www.setanta.com/au/Our-Sports/soccer/German...

Should be free live streams here:

VfB Stuttgart - Eskisehirspor (Turkey) 5 pm local time  / 3 am NZT tomorrow morning (Sunday)

http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=271684...

http://www.vipboxoc.co/football/241158/1/vfb-stutt...

The article is pretty neutral, it's not mean at all. The 'more Kiwi than Messi' pun is a more realistic view on him, not sure who came up with 'Kiwi Messi'.

Australian journalists

Marco on as 80th min. sub in 2-1 friendly win vs. Eskisehirspor (Turkish club) in their Zillertal (Austrian Alps) training camp:

http://www.vfb.de/de/aktuell/meldungen/news/2014/t...

 VfB Lineup:

Kirschbaum – Klein, Schwaab (64. Niedermeier), Rüdiger (80. Haggui), Sakai (46. Rausch) – Leitner (46. Werner), Gruezo (64. Kvist) – Harnik (64. Sararer), Maxim (80. Rojas), Didavi (80. Ferati) – Ibisevic (80. Hlousek).

Seems certain Marco will be part of the first team this season because VfB II (reserve team) played their opening game of the Third Div. season on the same day.

Didn't play or sit on the bench against Hull......hope he isn't injured, second game in a row he has missed.

rob.  Is your Avatar an Allegro?

5 gold stars for you, yes it is an Austin Allegro - how did you tell without the bulbous butt or 'pimp my marina' front?

How about the allegro vanden plas with luxury grill, leather seats, walnut dash and that square steering 'wheel'.

Probably the only car in history which looks like it has been sneaking sweetened condensed milk from the pantry while you were sleeping

Also, slightly worrying that VfB have just signed  very promising young Serb attacking midfielder, Kostic. 

I'll be watching VfB at the AllianzArena against FC Bayern in a month's time and I suspect he's still along way from being up for that.

For those who understand German (I don't), here's an interview with Marco about pre-season from three weeks ago:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=6876090712886...

Comment from a German fan:

Micha Achtzehnhundertdreiundneunzig Dein Deutsch ist sehr gut geworden, noch ein Jahr dann sprichst du fließend. Du bist jetzt schon 20 mal besser wie Guardiola 

^^Your German has become very good, in a year then you will speak fluently. You're now already 20 times better than Guardiola ^^

I hope he does break into the first team, or at least gets loaned out somewhere he gets regular game time, I just want to see him play!