Canucks Abroad recently had the opportunity to speak with Fabian Troche while vacationing in his hometown of Montreal.

Fabian at Asteras

Fabian, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. You were recently trialing in Greece with Asteras Tripolis, can you tell us how that went?

I was invited by a D1 team in Greece; Asteras Tripolis. It was Asteras’ first year in the D1 Greek Super League. The team had an amazing year they finished 1 point away from playing the playoffs to go to the Champions League and UEFA.

My uncle and agent Adrian Troche travelled to Argentina with my CV as a player and showed it to various agents. One of the agents (Juan Cruz Oller) was very interested and had a contact in the club Asteras Tripolis in Greece. The team was as interested as the agent so they invited me for a 2 to 3 week trial.

During my tryout I wasn't placed with my respected age group, but with the first team. I played 20 minutes in a friendly match with the reserve team and 3 players from the first team. I played good and gave an assist for my fellow teammate's goal. That game I played on the wing. I also played a friendly match with the first team, I played 10 minutes. I played very good, did nice passes and had a few chances as well, unfortunately I couldn't find the back of the net.

During my weeks of tryout the president was very interested in keeping me and signing a contract. The idea is signing me for a 5 to 7 year contract, I am 16 so until the ages of 21 or 23.

After the tryout I was sent on vacation just like the other players of the team. On my vacation here in Montréal I have been in contact with my agent and it looks like I am going back to continue my soccer career in the Greek Super League.

When I leave for Greece most probably my uncle and agent will be travelling from Uruguay to Greece to negotiate my contract. I should be leaving on the 28th or 29th of June.

You left home at an early age to pursue your dreams at Defensor Sporting in Uruguay, how hard was it to adjust to new surroundings? Did you miss your friends and family?

I left at the age of 14 for Uruguay, I was turning 15 just 2 weeks later in Uruguay.

My father is from Uruguay, he left the country at the age of 6. My father just like my mother have most of their family here established in Canada for more than 25 years. My fathers just like my mothers family kept lots of their traditions. As I was growing up I was living my life with my parent's traditions so when I left to Uruguay and now to Greece, it was very easy for me to adapt to the different cultures.

It is obvious that I missed family and friends, I spent 14 years of my life living here in Canada and I had everything here, but that didn't stop me from trying to fulfill my dream. I sacrificed something big. If I wouldn't have made that move, I wouldn't have been where I am right know in my career. So I am very happy to have taken that risk.

How different was the footballing environment at Defensor in contrast to playing youth club football in Montreal?

Kids in South America are born with a soccer ball on their feet, basically they know how to kick a ball before actually walk. The soccer down there is part of your everyday life.

In Canada I was playing for AAA team Lac St-Louis Lakers we use to practice 2 a week and played 1 game a week, training was 1h30minutes.

In Uruguay with Defensor Sporting I was training 5 to 6 days a week and played on Saturday or Sunday. The training was 3 to 5 hours a day, every age group had 1 or 2 personal trainers for the physical work, you were playing your age group and you felt and were treated like a player playing for the first team.

Being part of a club we have access to talk and see the 1st division
players. They are great people, they treat us like if they knew us and encourage us to keep going. We also have access to every 1st division games for free, every game has from 10 000 to 60 000 fans. It was incredible.

You hold Canadian, Greek and Uruguayan passports, have you given much
thought to your international future?

The dream of every professional soccer player is to one day wear the
national team's jersey. Luckily for me I have the chance to play for 3 different national teams Uruguay, Canada and Greece. With my agent I was looking at my possibilities to play in either one, but until now I haven't really thought with which team I would like to play for.

Has anyone from the CSA contacted you in regards to playing for Canada?

I was never approached by anyone from the Canadian Soccer Association, not when I was Canada, not even when I was in Uruguay. Let’s see now if playing in Greece at a young age I can be approached by them.

Although, when I was in Uruguay I have received a letter from an agent company in Ontario. They wanted to see the possibilities to represent me. This agent company represents Julian De Guzman, known player of the Canadian national team.

Do you think Canada will qualify for the 2010 World Cup?

I really have no idea if they will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It’s like asking me who will win the EURO 2008, I have no idea, but every team has the chance and that is what Canada will have at the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. If they work hard and play to win every game I hope they can make it. It would be great for Canadian soccer.

If I get approached, I could see my possibilities to help the Canadian national team to go to the World Cup.

Are you a Montreal Impact fan? If they were to join MLS, do you see
yourself playing for them one day?

Impact fan? Not really. I am not really a fan of any team, except for the team I play for. But I am a soccer fan and I love to watch every game I can.

I hope all the best for the Impact and hope for them to get in the MLS. Maybe when I decide to retire from my soccer career I would like to come back to finish where everything started for me, here in Montréal. But we never know.

Where do you see yourself playing in five years?

Well that all depends on my contract in Greece. But for sure after Greece my goal is to play in a big club in one of the big countries in Europe (Spain, England and Italy).

In 5 years I am only going to be 21 years old and hopefully going to be at my highest peak as a professional soccer player.

Thank you again for every thing you do for Canadian players and for your interest in where we are in our careers.

Fabian Troche

We’d like to wish Fabian the best of luck with his move to Greece and hopefully we will see him in a Canada jersey in the near future!