Jeffren Suarez sees Pedro Rodriguez as role model
Barcelona winger Jeffren Suarez has spoken of his admiration of teammate Pedro Rodriguez, saying that he sees his fellow 22-year-old as a role model. Barca youth academy graduate Jeffren gave high praise to the World Cup winner as he stated his aim to become a force at the Camp Nou.
Jeffren has confidence in himself and his ability to force his way into coach Pep Guardiola’s thoughts for the upcoming La Liga season. He revealed his admiration for Pedro at a post-training press conference for “all that he has won and the level of play he has shown. I hope that I can reach his level and earn what he has achieved."
While competition for places at Barca has once again intensified with the arrival of Spain international David Villa from Valencia, Jeffren believes he has what it takes to become a potent attacking force in Guardiola’s side. He said: "This year will be even more difficult because of the quality of Pedro, Villa, (Lionel) Messi, Ibra(himovic) and Bojan, but I believe I have a place in this team. I am confident in myself and I know that everything will turn out well. I am at the coach's disposal. If I play as a forward, all the better, but if I am a wing-back, there is no problem there."
Jeffren is aiming to become much more of a prominent figure this season and is aiming to play the "greatest number of minutes possible" and “to take advantage of pre-season matches to earn the coach's confidence.”
National decision
Although Jeffren was born in Venezuela, he has dismissed any notion of playing for the Venezuela national side. He insisted that decision had "already (been) firmly made for some time.” At a young age, he moved with his family from Ciudad Bolivar to Tenerife in Spain. Jeffren has worked his way up the various age groups of the Spanish national set-up and was part of the squad that captured the Under-19 European Championship in 2006, playing eight matches and scoring three goals. In 2007, he was called up by Venezuela national coach Richard Paez for the 2007 Copa America tournament, but Jeffren said at that time it was too soon to make a decision as to which country to play for. As he has not featured for either senior team, he is still eligible to play for both countries at full international level. However, the youngster has expressed his desire to play for the country he has lived in for more than 20 years. He said: "With my family, I made a decision a while ago; I will play with the Spanish national team. The Venezuelan national team coach could come to me personally, but I have already made a decision and I will not change it."
Jeffren joined CD Tenerife’s youth set-up in 2003, but made the move to Barcelona’s youth academy at La Masia the following year. His first coach at the Catalan club was Guillemo Hoyos, who initially decided it best to play Jeffren in midfield, but it soon became apparent that his skills would be far better utilised on the wings. He made his first-team debut in October 2006 in a Copa del Rey tie against Badalona, a match Barcelona won 2-1. He spent most of the 2007-08 season playing for Barcelona B, taking part in 30 of the 38 matches that season, scoring six goals in the process and helping the team gain promotion back to Segunda División B. In total, he has featured 14 times for the senior Barcelona team, and has scored twice, both goals coming in April 2010.
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