Soccer: Aaron hopes cloud has Silva lining

By TERRY MADDAFORD

These are nervous times for Football Kingz star Aaron Silva.

As top goalscorer and one player who dragged the fans to North Harbour Stadium, Silva, surely, should be a shoo-in for a second season with the Kingz.

But that, it seems, is not necessarily the case as the management and coaching staff consider their options.

Silva hopes he will get a second chance and is not forced to look too closely at an offer he has from the Melbourne Knights.

"My first choice is the Kingz," Silva said yesterday. "I want to play in New Zealand."

The 25-year-old Chilean struggled with both the language and a style of football so different from what he played with Santiago-based side Colo Colo.

"It was different soccer," said Silva. "There was too much running. I have worked on my game and now the other players understand how I play."

And so do the hordes of Chileans who have made Auckland their home and Silva their hero.

The only Kingz player to score a hat-trick, Silva celebrated each of the goals he scored at home by racing to celebrate in front of their section of the stand.

"They are my people. I like to wave to them when I score. Some have lived here for more than 20 years but they come to support me and David [fellow Chilean David Moya]," Silva said. "Their support is great."

Silva and Moya return to Santiago next Friday happy with their season here.

"I will be happy to go home. I want to see my girlfriend and my family but I really want to come back and play for the Kingz."

Like countless South Americans, Silva started kicking a ball around in the streets as an 8-year-old. By 10 he was in his first team.

He arrived at the Kingz last year after stints in the United States and Venezuela. It was a difficult time as he struggled with a new culture - off and on the pitch - and a language he and Moya have now mastered reasonably well.

They ran into other off-field problems at the time players' wages were held up and also spent long spells on the sideline as they struggled to convince the club and coaches Wynton and Shane Rufer that they deserved a place in the starting line-up.

"Sometimes I was not playing - and that was not my decision - and that was hard," said Silva. "But now I am happy."

He will be even happier if the Kingz beat the Parramatta Power in Sydney tomorrow and if, come Monday, club chairman Chris Turner makes him an offer he cannot refuse.

Wynton Rufer is keen to see his side end their inaugural season on a winning note before sitting down and going through next season's contracts.

"They all want more money but there isn't any more," said Rufer. "We know Ivan Vicelich and Che Bunce have had offers but we want to retain as many of this year's squad as we can. I would also like to get more Kiwis, but players like Sean Douglas and Paul Urlovic might be beyond our budget."