New Zealand has full-back Tim Payne hired by Olimpia for the South American competition
The New Zealand team played its first match in the World Cup last Monday (15) against the Iran team, however the transfer movements of the national squad started early: defender Tim Payne, who plays on the right side, will join the squad of Olimpia, from Paraguay.
The outcome of the negotiations was initially announced by press professional Arturo Máximo Rubin and later validated, with the obtaining of details on the way in which the Paraguayan association completed the acquisition of an athlete who was not highly rated on the international market.
The Assunção team was looking for an athlete to occupy the right wing with the aim of competing for position with Raúl Cáceres, a professional with a history on Brazilian pitches and who plays one of the leadership roles in the main group.
The player Tim Payne, currently 32 years old, defended the colors of the Wellington Phoenix — an institution based in his home territory, but which actively participates in the main league in Australia — and aroused the interest of the South American analysis department shortly after the ratification of his call-up for the national team tournament.
The governing body of the Paraguayan team, in view of this, established negotiations with the New Zealand club’s administration and conducted dialogues over the previous weeks.
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The purchase operation for the right winger ended up being completed exactly seven days ago, and the contract lasting eighteen months was signed last Sunday, through the payment of a sum kept confidential to Wellington Phoenix.
The athlete started New Zealand’s inaugural clash between the top eleven and contributed to the 2-2 draw against Iranian opponents in a match valid for group G, remaining on the field for 78 minutes on the pitch at SoFi Stadium, located in the city of Inglewood, in the state of California (United States).
The Paraguayan team will represent the athlete’s seventh professional experience, who has previous stints with Auckland City, Waitakere United, Eastern Suburbs and Wellington Phoenix in his homeland, in addition to experiences with Blackburn (England) and Portland Timbers 2 (United States).
Asunción’s athletes, in addition to their country’s national championship, will compete in the additional half of the year in the knockout phase of CONMEBOL Sul-Americana, a tournament in which they guaranteed the leadership of group G, which also included the presence of Vasco.
