Nadi and Fiji stars Savenaca Waqa (GK) (left) and Henry Dyer, Namotomoto Village Extension, Nadi Town, 27 August 2015. |
A Tribute to Rudi Gutendorf, Fiji National Team Coach
All the coaches who came before
Rudi only lifted the morale of the team. However, Rudi implemented a European
pattern of soccer that was appreciated and absorbed by the soccer people of
Fiji. In that European pattern of soccer you had to be extra fit and you had to
have the guts to take the hard knocks and to give them too. He would really
talk in a harsh and direct and sometimes offensive way using terms that would
offend you. However, then all of a sudden, he would come to you as a father and
as a parent and give you that kind of loving talk which would lift your morale
and bring you back to where you should be after you had been shattered by his
scolding. He would not tell you directly that he was talking to you in a
fatherly way. You would feel remorse as if you had been in the wrong and you
had to make up. You felt that you had to prove yourself and show him as if he
was a parent or a father. This is how it was when you were in the squad or in
the first XI. It is a pity that, after he had left, Fiji football slowly lost
touch with that style of play and with that high standard of coaching. It was
fortunate that the players of that era carried the rhythm of that play for some
time – until they retired. At the time of Fiji’s 1-0 win over Australia in 1988
there was still some Rudi influence as Billy Singh had been under him.
Rudi Gutendorf. |
Like every human
being you have a hidden secret of what is close to your heart. Before Rudi
selected his teams, I sensed that he was talking mostly to the boys who were on
his list of chosen players. I caught on to this. He would only tend to scold
those players whom he really wanted to teach. These were the players he really
wanted for the team. He mentioned that if he is talking to someone over and
over again do not think that he is angry with him. He has something in mind for
him. He has the goal of motivating that person to become a better player. He
had the skills at an old age to have kicks at training and this really inspired
us further to better our kicks.
At the Natabua
High School grounds we had just been starting to learn this European soccer
pattern. The two left and right-backs would run down the flanks and become the
hidden wingers. This was designed to catch the defence off-guard as these two
would become the extras in attack. At Natabua grounds, Rudi Gutendorf was still
trying to get us to understand the tactics of the new pattern of European
soccer that he was introducing to us. It was a new thing for both him as
teacher and us as students. When he gave the command to the boys to cross from
the corner of both flanks into goal, and for the midfield and the strikers to
strike at a volley-kick (the one-touch of the corner kick into the goal), this
was really his dream which he wished to implement. He wanted to see a classy
finish which is really what the Fiji soccer of today lacks. You could see this
at the 2013 IDC tournament at Churchill Park where Lautoka scored zero goals
for the whole tournament despite having numerous chances in opposition territory.
Henry Dyer helps the English PhD student Jack Sugden. |
In this training
at Natabua Grounds we started to understand what the European soccer pattern
was all about. We started to gain momentum and confidence. At this training it
came to my turn to receive the cross. I would say that I am not boasting but
this is the truth. I scored one of the best goals of that training that day.
Rudi yelled out in delight because what he wanted to implement had come to
pass.
The senior
players in that 1983 training squad (to go to the South Pacific Games in Samoa
at which we won the silver) gave me some friendly remarks such as “your name is
in the book now and you have a tick”. I really felt great for myself. The ball
struck the bottom of the crossbar from my kick and Rudi shouted out: “This is
the goal which I was talking about.” That goal instilled me with confidence and
it gave meaning and direction to the boys. When I kicked the ball I was around
six metres out from goal and I was directly in front of it. I remember my
friend Mohd. Salim from Rewa and my club-mate Emasi “Bacardi” Koroi (from
Airport Soccer Club) were joking with me that now I had been able to satisfy
Rudi. I would say that Rudi’s coaching was a challenge to us to either make it
or drop out at the early stages. You had to be fit, you had to perform; you had
to have a positive attitude; and you had to be able to take the hard knocks and
the scolding. The other players were also doing their bit to become a part of
the team.
Henry Dyer, Semi Tabaiwalu (Ba / Fiji), Kieran James. |
Rudi thought
that Savenaca Waqa (goalkeeper) was an excellent player. He did not make any
attempts to take the players overseas to play as Fiji Football probably did not
want him to take any of the players away. He mentioned to me that he wanted to
take me to a club in Europe but nothing happened. This is why today I am living
in Nakavu Village, Nadi instead of perhaps Hamburg, Budapest or Prague! Fiji
Football should do more liaisons with Oceania and European football to give our
younger players at club level some exposure. Out of this squad Tony Kabakoro,
Stan Morrel, Kelemedi “Cheetah” Vosuga, and Abdul Manaan all made it overseas
to play abroad (in either Australia or New Zealand). Furthermore, Ivor Evans
went over to Canada to play for Vancouver and eventually he migrated. He was
one of the lucky ones. He had the connections and the network from Ba. He was a
part-European. He went over there and he fitted into a team where most of the
guys there were from Fiji or Ba. He was absolutely at home away from home. Very
few Fiji players played in Europe during this era. I can say that Rudi’s time
in Fiji as a coach was bound up with the futures of most of the players of that
era.
[By
the former Fiji national team player Henry Dyer, as told to Dr Kieran James of
University of Fiji in Nadi, 25 March 2015.]
Comment by Gurjit Singh (Facebook, 15 February 2019): I did coaching course under Rudi Gutendorf. He actually followed German system. Players to be physically fit and tough. He believed in close marking, not giving any chance to for opponents to move. Believed in Discipline.
Comment by Vono Tag (Facebook, 16 February 2019): Came under his coaching style when at 17 years fresh from high school to be reserve goal keeper for Fiji at No 3. Savenaca Waqa was No 1 and Iliesa Bolabiu was at No 2. During our warm up to play Minx Dynamo from Russia a ball was kicked out of the 18 meters box.
While Save (No 1) was concentrating on a cross ball from the right side. A player behind me outside the 18 meters kicked a low bouncing ball that went straight on the face of Save putting him down like a chopped banana tree.
They have to take No 1 to CMW hospital and No 2 GK become No 1 and me No 3 become No 2 shivering on the bench as first time appearance for national duty.
He was a great coach with his short stint with Fiji team we learned alot from him. We drew that game and I was not able to go in the field. Imagine if something wrong with our goal keeper again.
Comment by Gurjit Singh (Facebook, 15 February 2019): I did coaching course under Rudi Gutendorf. He actually followed German system. Players to be physically fit and tough. He believed in close marking, not giving any chance to for opponents to move. Believed in Discipline.
Comment by Vono Tag (Facebook, 16 February 2019): Came under his coaching style when at 17 years fresh from high school to be reserve goal keeper for Fiji at No 3. Savenaca Waqa was No 1 and Iliesa Bolabiu was at No 2. During our warm up to play Minx Dynamo from Russia a ball was kicked out of the 18 meters box.
While Save (No 1) was concentrating on a cross ball from the right side. A player behind me outside the 18 meters kicked a low bouncing ball that went straight on the face of Save putting him down like a chopped banana tree.
They have to take No 1 to CMW hospital and No 2 GK become No 1 and me No 3 become No 2 shivering on the bench as first time appearance for national duty.
He was a great coach with his short stint with Fiji team we learned alot from him. We drew that game and I was not able to go in the field. Imagine if something wrong with our goal keeper again.
Kieran James and Inia Bola aka "Golden Header" @ Ba Town, 17 June 2015. |
Fiji teammates / domestic soccer rivals Henry Dyer (Nadi / Lautoka) (left) and Meli Vuilabasa (Ba), Ba Town, 2 June 2015. |
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