Martin Bueno: Football is very equal right now

Eastern Suburbs is close to seal their spot in the next stage of the OFC Champions League; the Lilywhites won their initial match in the competition against the Papua New Guinean powerhouse Hekari United and draw in the final moments of the game against Galaxy FC in the second match in the group A. The New Zealand-based club scored four goals in the tournament so far, all of them scored by the powerful Martin Bueno, a well-known top-scorer from Uruguay that already reached impressing records in New Zealand.

Bueno helped Napier City Rovers to win the traditional Chatham Cup in New Zealand; he was linked to a potential South African top-tier move before the start of the ISPS Handa Premiership in New Zealand, but he ended-up signing for the current title holders Eastern Suburbs – and he is having a very good season so far.

The central striker that is impressing at regional stage, talked to Oceania Football Center about his recent clash against Galaxy FC and his expectations for their final group match against the current title holders Hienghène Sport.

Bueno praised Galaxy from their match against Eastern Suburbs: “It was a really tough game. We faced a pretty good and organized team that had some experience players that knew how to manage the game when they were upfront. We made a few mistaks at the back and they punished us“, explained Bueno. The played also added that the weather conditions were harsh for the New Zealanders: “It was too hot, very warm. It was even hard to breathe“.

“I was impressed with Galaxy quality, to be honest. They are a good team. Strong, fast and they have some experienced players. Football is very equal right now, so we can have a team from Vanuatu playing this excellent football“, added Bueno.

“I am pretty happy with the work the team has been doing, obviously it is very tough conditions for us that we are not used to and I think we are adapting very well and working hard for each other in the moments where everything is not quite going our way“, said Bueno regarding Eastern Suburbs performances in the both matches.

Despite the results, Bueno believes his side can do even better than what they are doing currently: “Our way to play is to try to keep the ball and break lines. Definitely in New Zealand we did better than here [PNG], but we are not afraid to go long as well. So just need to keep trusting and believing what the coach want us to do and I am confident that the result will come next game“, explained the striker.

Eastern Suburbs still has a match to be played to confirm their spot in the knock-out; the newcomers in the tournament will face the current champions Hienghène Sport – a draw will be enough for the Auckland-based team to proceed: “It is going to be a very tough match the next one against Hienghène; it will be big final for us“, states the Uruguayan.

As Bueno stated, football is developing everywhere right now: Oceania needs to keep in this path to get closer the gap from the other Football Confederations – the results from this OFC Champions League are proving that the gap from the New Zealand clubs to other members associations is decreasing, but the job needs to keep on track to bring high-standard football to the region.

Eastern Suburbs will play their final match in the tournament on this Saturday when they face Hienghène Sport at Sir Jonh Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.