Beitar Jerusalem bets on 'the spoon'

Cesar Junior Viza, known by his comrades simply as Junior, underwent his baptism by fire with Beitar Jerusalem yesterday. It's hard to say much based on one practice, but he certainly has much to learn. Some players have mumbled comparisons of Viza to other unsuccessful foreigners who dropped in on the team last January, but these sources are unreliable as their minutes on the field are under threat due to the arrival of the Peruvian striker. Among the rest, praise was heard such as the following comment: "It's still early, but you see based on his touch with the ball that he's a player."

Beitar Jerusalem's decision to go with Peruvian forward was no small gamble. The country in the Andes mountains is not one of the lions of Latin American soccer, and you can count on one hand the number of major players the nation has sent to the power leagues of Europe. But, in this case, the gamble could pay off big time. Beitar needs a striker to keep pace with Brazilian Romulo. Viza's young age, 22, only adds to his potential.

Since moving up to the senior leagues at age 16 he was considered very promising, and just last year he started to supply the goods, starring with his team Alianza Lima. Last season he led his team with 12 goals, and he is considered a good dribbler in Peru.

Franco Navarro, who coached Peru's national team in 2006, was the one who promoted him to the senior team in 2002. Navarro, who now coaches Cienciano Cuzco, says he would gladly take Viza back.

"This is an outstanding player who has a wonderful personality," says Navarro. "Since I coached him at Alianza Lima, he has made great progress and turned into a very serious and mature player."

Viza gained exposure outside of Peru during the South American U-21 team championships in Colombia in 2005. He made a great impression playing for his national team, despite its otherwise dismal results. After the championships, he was included on a list of the world's 50 most promising players by the magazine "World Soccer."

But that publicity didn't help him get invited to the men's national team. The only one who did invite him to play with the team was Navarro, who put him in a friendly match in 2006. Navarro claims Viza's inclusion on the national team is only a matter of time.

"No doubt he's a national team player. Currently, Peru's offense is manned by (Chelsea's) Claudio Pizarro and (PSV Eindhoven's) Jefferson Farfan, who both have European experience. However, at the end of the day Viza is the one who will lead the front line. I'm sure his departure for Israel and perhaps later for Europe will help him improve his standing on the national team."

Almost every average South American player has a nickname, but Viza's is particularly odd. The player who grew up in the distinguished Peruvian club Alianza Lima and became a darling of the fans is called "the spoon" in his home country. And it's not because his back is bent over or because he loves pudding. He won that nickname because of his control of the ball, especially the way he carries out the exercise Ronaldinho made famous, known as the spoon, in which he seemingly drags the ball from side to side while keeping his foot right on it.

Viza married the daughter of a Peruvian player killed in a 1987 plane crash and has a son who is several months old. He considers his baby a talisman and talks to him before big games. It apparently worked, as two of his 12 goals were against archrival Universitario de Deportes. Those goals made him a hot item on the Peruvian market. A team official for Universitario revealed yesterday that the team offered Lima a high sum for the young striker, "which would have made him the highest paid player in the Peruvian league, but we couldn't match the offer he got from abroad."

Still, before turning Viza into the Maradonna of the Andes, it's worth recalling that he's coming to the Israeli capital without a long list of accomplishments. A Peruvian journalist noted it took Viza nearly four years to become dominant on his team. "It's hard to tell how long it will take him get acclimated and if he'll have a hard time," commented the journalist. "It's not only the first time he's leaving Peru, but also the first time he's leaving the team of his youth."

Viza arrived here without wife or son. In the meantime, he'll have to make do with Chilean defender Cristian Alvarez as his talisman.