For the better part of 12 years, Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder Roly Bonevacia watched in admiration of the stars at Ajax. From the age of 10, the midfielder progressed through the famed halls of arguably the world's greatest football factory. As a kid, he watched the likes of Aaron Winter, Edgar Davids and Rafael Van der Vaart, scribbling notes and watching with inspiration. During his teens, he trained alongside Christian Eriksen, Luis Suarez, Wesley Sneijder and Toby Alderweireld where he had to survive against those who would go on to play at the highest level.
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They taught Bonevacia how to read the game on the training pitch and as he watched from the reserves bench at the Amsterdam Arena, he saw how they applied that awareness in Ajax's biggest games, particularly in derbies against Feyenoord and PSV. However, Bonevacia was limited to just two games for the famed Dutch club before moving to NAC Breda, Roda JC and then Wellington Phoenix, meaning he would never get to replicate his mentors' feats in derbies of his own.
For all his talents, Bonevacia was starved of showcasing those in big occasions and that's what prompted him to move Western Sydney Wanderers at the start of the season.
"If I have to be honest, yeah," he said. "Because the fans and the support, they make the game exciting. In New Zealand, it was great but it did not really have the feeling of playing in a proper match. Here I guess the people care. There are more fans as well so you feel proper support."
Save for a match against Willem II, Bonevacia has never had first-hand experience of playing in a heated rivalry despite growing up with the concept of derbies firmly ingrained in his football education and that pressure is what the 26-year-old craved.
"In the big games you see, I can show people my skills, my qualities and I love to play with pressure. It's good for me to play a game like this. I can prove myself in these big games and I love to prove myself to the world and the fans," he said.
For the bulk of his career since leaving Ajax, Bonevacia had to capture the attention at smaller clubs within their respective leagues. Now at the Wanderers, he has a chance to showcase the lessons he learnt first hand from this mentors in The Netherlands with the attention firmly on him.
"The guys that affected me the most was Gabri [Garcia], Sneijder and Suarez," Bonevacia said. "The way they play, they make it look so easy, they constantly read the game two steps before anyone else on the pitch so they read the game constantly and they get the ball in good spaces and they hardly lose the ball, you can't get near them so these small things made them a good player."
Already, Bonevacia has flourished in the spotlight at Western Sydney. A man-of-the-match performance in his A-League debut was followed up with a goal in his second match for the Wanderers, making him their form player heading into Saturday's derby across town. Skilful, creative yet hard working, he is quickly emerging into a potential fan favourite with the red and black half of the city.
For all his talents refined by such pedigree, he's never showcased those in a game bigger than the Sydney derby. There's a burning desire to do so, but for Bonevacia, it doesn't outweigh his thirst for success in a grudge match that's evaded his career.
"Actually I just want to win and I don't care how, I just want to win this game," he said.
