Ahead of this weekend’s mouthwatering semi-final second leg between Auckland FC and Melbourne Victory, aleagues.com.au sat down with Black Knights forward, Guillermo May.
Cast your mind back to January 11, 2025.
For most Isuzu UTE A-League fans that date might not signify much but for Auckland FC striker Guillermo May, it was a date that changed everything.
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Despite being the league leaders and facing a side marooned at the wrong end of the table, the Black Knights found themselves trailing 1-0 to Perth Glory on a hot summer evening at HBF Park.
In a bid to find an equaliser, Auckland boss Steve Corica turned to his bench in the 58th minute and threw on striker Max Mata to play alongside May in attack.
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Ultimately the equaliser didn’t come that night as Auckland suffered just their second defeat of the season. However, they did discover a tactic that would ultimately prove to be pivotal in the run to securing the Premiers Plate in the club’s inaugural season.
“Maybe it was one huge decision in the middle of the Premiership,” said the Uruguayan as he sat down to chat with aleagues.com.au after training.
“I mean, Steve made really good decisions in the whole season that led us to be the Premiers but yes, I think he identified really well my characteristics and he dropped me off a little bit.
“He put me another player there so we have more presence in the opposition box. Someone who also makes more forward runs maybe and I can be more in touch with the ball. It was a really, really good decision.”
The reason that tactical tweak by Corica was so pivotal is because May doesn’t see himself as a number nine. In fact, the Uruguayan believes he’s more of an attacking midfielder or even an old-school second striker.
“At first I started playing as a traditional number nine here but if you can watch my first games, I used to drop off the line to get involved in the playmaking. I like playing with the ball, not being like a traditional striker and touch three, four balls per game and just score.
“If I have to say my correct definition it’s going to be like a second striker, maybe offensive midfielder, playing with a number nine next to me.
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“Nowadays most of the of the teams they play with only one striker, two wingers and three players in midfield. In Newell’s (Old Boys) in Argentina, I played as a striker there. I think it always depends on what the coach wants of you and like the way they want to play as a team.
“But my ex-coach, you will know him, Gabriel Heinze who played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, he called me because he loves my way of playing and dropping off the line and getting involved in the game. He didn’t want like a traditional striker who can only score goals.”
Following that Perth Glory defeat Corica then deployed May as part of a two-man strike partnership alongside the likes of Mata and Logan Rogerson and the results speak for themselves.
Recording just one loss – a defeat that occurred on the final day of the season after they’d already wrapped up top spot – Auckland would seal the Premiership courtesy of a run which saw them reel off eight wins and six draws.
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Bagging nine goals for the season, May finished four behind joint Golden Boot winners Adrian Segecic and Archie Goodwin but he certainly won the hearts of the Auckland FC faithful.
Named the club’s MVP at their end of season awards night, May’s attacking prowess throughout the course of his debut Isuzu UTE A-League season has seen him become one of the competition’s premier forwards.
However it’s the 27-year-old’s tenacity, work ethic and competitive drive that’s seen him shine in a team full of similarly minded players in the City of Sails.
For May, the aforementioned traits are just part and parcel of being a Uruguayan. Born and raised in Uruguay’s capital city of Montevideo, May began playing football at the age of three and from then on in he adopted the art of ‘Garra Charrua.’
The literal translation of Garra Charrua refers more to a mindset that’s become instilled in Uruguayans over centuries, particularly when it comes to competing with their heavy-hitting South American rivals.
“Let me explain to you,” smiled May when asked how he became versed in the art of Garra Charrua.
“The Garra Charrua is one definition they give us, the Uruguayan players, because we used to fight every time against the Brazilian teams and the Argentinian teams.
“Football in South America, the south part of South America, is like the real passion. Everyone in the street, every people in the country will be a football fan and would like to be a football player. That’s how we live with football.
“In Uruguay we used to use our technique, but also against bigger countries than us we have to fight and be braver every time and that’s what is called the Garra Charrua. If we cannot win being better than the other one, we need to fight until there is nothing left.”
Growing up in Uruguay and wanting to be a striker, a young May had plenty of players to look up to when it came to iconic centre forwards.
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First there was the goal machine Diego Forlán who shone for Spanish sides Villarreal and Atletico Madrid while also collecting 112 caps for the national team.
After Forlán came ‘El Matador’, Edinson Cavani, who starred in Europe for Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain whilst also earning legendary status for the Uruguay national team.
But above those two was arguably the greatest footballer the small South American country has ever produced: ‘El Pistolero’ – Luis Suarez.
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“Of course,” laughed May when asked if Suarez was who he tried to model his game on when getting into football.
“When I was young, waking up early to watch Suarez playing at Liverpool, for me, was amazing.
“Also Luis Suarez is from Nacional my team, my former team. So, yeah, I think if I have to pick one it’s Suarez.”
But that’s not the only player May has taken inspiration from when it comes to modelling and shaping his technique.
Despite being born a year after Uruguayan star Álvaro Recoba had already signed for Italian giants Inter Milan, it didn’t take him long to work out who the mercurial winger was. In fact, fast forward 22 years and the duo would work together at Nacional.
“The technique of Recoba playing at Inter Milan… I had him as one of my assistant coaches in one team, so I have the opportunity to talk a lot with him and he was unbelievable.”
At this point A-Leagues fans may well have been screaming one name out loud when it comes to Uruguayan strikers, especially given said player has gone on to leave such an indelible mark on Australian football.
Bruno ‘El Tuna’ Fornaroli.
“Of course, I was going to mention him!” laughed May when pressed about the man he’ll likely face again this weekend in the semi-final second leg at Go Media Stadium, a tie Auckland FC currently lead 1-0 on aggregate.
“The first thing he said to me when I arrived here was like, ‘hey, you need to be fit, you need to be prepared to run.’
“He knew me from before so he told me, with your technique and maybe your quality, if you are fit enough you can take some advantage. But he also said that in his best season, he was was in good conditions, physically, you know, if not, I cannot make it here.
“He said, ‘this is a competitive league, every team has good players, they are really strong, you need to be in good condition’. So yeah, Fornaroli here scored more than 100 goals – imagine that!”
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