New Melbourne Heart FC defender Rob Wielaert arrived in Melbourne on Monday and spoke about his desire to make an impact in the A-League with the Red and White.
New Melbourne Heart FC defender Rob Wielaert arrived in Melbourne on Monday and spoke about his desire to make an impact in the A-League with the Red and White.
Wielaert, a former Ajax and Roda JC central defender, comes to the Hyundai A-League with over 350 matches in Holland-s Eredivise and has experience in Europe-s top club competitions.
The defender experienced European Champions League football (where he captained FC Twente), the Europa League and has two international caps for Holland-s B team.
“I played all my life in Holland and I wanted once in my career to go abroad,” Wielaert said.
“I spoke to a lot of players who had played here and still play here and they said the competition is great and living in Australia is great.
“So when the Club contacted me, I said to me family ‘I am going to do this- and now I am here.”
Click play on the video below to watch the full interview with Rob Wielaert.
Wielaert also drew on the international talent as a drawcard of the A-League.
“I spoke with a few players that played here and they said that the level is getting better every year, you can see that [Alessandro] Del Piero is coming here and even Harry Kewell is coming here now.
“I think that the level is better than most people think… I-m looking forward to it.”
Wielaert joins Iain Ramsay, Massimo Murdocca and Kewell as the Red and White-s off-season recruits, and the Dutchman brings vast experience from his playing career.
“I think Arsenal was the best team I played against,” Wielaert said.
“I played with a lot of big players in my squads; I played with [Liverpool-s] Luis Suarez at Ajax… [Ruud] Van Nistelrooy – a lot of big players and I-ve learned a lot of them.
“Now I am going to play with Harry Kewell who is also a big player in Europe.”
