Wheres My Daddy:

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday November 4, 2008

JAMES GARDINER

EDMUNDO Zura considered himself

blessed to have a son.

In the end it was his longing to be

by the side of four-year-old miracle

Elkin Ronaldhino that led to his emotional

exit from the Newcastle Jets.

Zura departed on LAN airlines flight 800 at

10.45am yesterday bound for Auckland and

then Santiago, Chile.

From there it would be a short trip to his

home in the Ecuadorean capital Quito and

a reunion with the family he has not seen in

more than three months.

Rene Pichardo was Spanish-speaking

Zuras translator and closest friend in

Newcastle.

He drove Zura to Sydney after the Jets

2-1 loss to Queensland on Sunday, where

he stayed overnight with friends from

Ecuador before catching his flight home.

He was really upset and sad, Pichardo

told The Herald yesterday.

He did not want to leave the club, but

he could stand to spend any more time

away from his family.

He said he had to go. He had to do

the right thing.

His wife [Johanna] had three

miscarriages. For him to have this little

boy, he believed he was blessed. Being

away from him for nearly four months he

said: Mate I cant cope any more. I have to

go back. My boy is asking my wife every day

where is daddy, where is daddy. 

Ironically, the deeply religious Zura had

come to Australia to forge a better life for his

young family.

He arrived in Newcastle in August and,

with the help of the Jets and Ecuadorean

embassy staff, has tried since then to have

his family join him.

He was happy with the club, Pichardo

said.

He was starting to learn English. The

main issue was his family.

That was a big deal for him. He could not

focus on playing football.

He told me that if his family was here he

would have stayed for two years if the club

wanted him.

A member of the Newcastle Latin Society,

Pichardo, his wife Linda and three-year-old

son Ethan became like a second family to

Zura.

A soccer fanatic, Pichardo, 35, acted as

a translator for the Jets. He was present at

team meetings before and at half-time at

home matches. He also helped Zura book

his flight home.

I spent time with him nearly every day,

he said. He would go from training back to

his place, talking to no one.

The English language barrier was hard.

He rang home to Ecuador every day.

Sometimes he would be crying when he got

off the phone.

At about the same time Zura was

boarding his flight yesterday, his former Jets

teammates were completing a recovery

session at Merewether Baths.

Most were still stunned and saddened by

his departure.

Jets chief executive John Tsatsimas

was informed of Zuras intention on Friday

afternoon.

We had a discussion, Tsatsimas said.

We tried to make him feel welcome,

asked if it was about his family and this and

that.

He said it was a bit of everything.

He felt as though he did not fit into the

environment. We respected that.

Zura is the second consecutive Jets

marquee player who has failed to see out his

term.

Former Brazilian superstar Mario Jardel

was shown the door after failing to make an

impact in 14 games, 11 off the bench.

Zuras contribution far outweighed that of

his predecessor, but it did not hide the fact

that the 25-year-old failed to score in nine

appearances and 610 minutes of football.

He lasted the full 90 minutes in only

three games.

With that, it made for an easier

decision for the Jets to agree to

terminate his contract.

You do not have to be Einstein

to know that he was here to score

goals, Tsatsimas said.

At the end of the day, he just

was not scoring.

His performances got

better, but not with regards

to what we brought him

here for.

He is not a right

midfi elder. He got a

couple of good crosses in,

but that is not what we were

looking for.

We thought it was best

for all parties to terminate his

contract.

Melbourne-based agent

Peter Kokotis arranged the

loan deal for Zura to come to

the Jets and said the former

Ecuadorean international

would now return to his

club side, Imbabura SC.

Psychologically and emotionally he was

struggling, Kokotis said.

He missed his four-year-old son. That

was pretty much the crux of it.

He was very respectful of the club.

It is not easy assimilating to a new

culture. It was his fi rst time out of Ecuador,

but the family was the major issue.

Kokotis said he had spoken to Zura on

Sunday night.

He was emotional, the agent said.

He is a very proud footballer. You have

to understand, he captained his country to

their only success in the history of the

game. His [under-20] Ecuador team beat

Brazil at the Maracana to win in the

Pan American Games last year.

If he had time he would have

really showed his class,

but it did not work out

that way.

He has gone back

to Imbabura, and that

is the end of his tale

here in Australia.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home