Jerson Lagos On Balancing Barbering And Football As Amateurs Auckland City Prepare For FIFA Club World Cup | OneFootball

After years of planning and debate, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is set to get underway, with 32 teams from six different confederations battling it out to be crowned World Champions. The tournament promises to be a unique event, a breath of fresh air, showcasing unfamiliar fixtures and clubs from continents not often seen on this stage.

Representing Oceania are Auckland City, 13-time OFC Champions League winners from New Zealand. What makes this team particularly unique is that they are an amateur club, with players balancing football alongside full-time jobs or studies

Despite being an amateur club, Auckland City have remarkably appeared in 15 previous editions of the FIFA Club World Cup. Their greatest achievement came in 2014, when they won the bronze medal.

In a dramatic semi-final, Argentine side San Lorenzo needed extra time to edge past Auckland, a match that, had they won, would have seen the New Zealanders face Real Madrid in the final. Instead, they faced Cruz Azul in the third-place match, securing a historic victory via a penalty shootout.

Their current crop of players is made up mainly of New Zealanders, with only six born in another country.

One of those six is Colombian Jerson Lagos, who has had an interesting pathway from Bogotá to Auckland.

“I was born and raised in Colombia until I was about 3, and then moved to Ecuador with my whole family,” Jerson Lagos tells WFI.

“I remember mostly playing in Ecuador in dirt and concrete fields. There was one team that I mostly remember I played for, called Falcon FC.

“I grew up watching players like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo (O Fenômeno), Robinho, Neymar, and Messi; they inspired me.

“I love dribbling, I love running with the ball at my feet. I’d say my style is very expressive. I like to take players on, create space, and bring energy to the game.”

After developing his skills on rough surfaces, Lagos was on the move again — this time, an astonishing 11,277 km away to New Zealand.

At just eight years old, Lagos found himself far from home in an unfamiliar country, with a new culture and language to adjust to. But from day one, football proved to be a powerful bridge.

“I was 8 years old when we moved to New Zealand. It was very tough and different, but very exciting to learn new things, meet new people, learn a new language, and mostly live a different lifestyle,” he said.

“When you are young is so much easier to make friends, football was that thing that really made it extremely easy for me. I remember my first day of school, I didn’t know much English to communicate with people, but I made a lot of friends at the end of the day by just playing football.”

Before joining the ranks at Auckland in 2024, Lagos began his youth career with Melville United — a club where he progressed through the academy and made his senior debut.

He then had a short spell with Manurewa before joining what many consider the world’s best amateur club.

“Melville was a beautiful experience for me. I grew up there, from the academy to the first team. The experience and confidence I gained growing up there, the freedom of being able to try things on the pitch, and learn more about the game, was with them. It was home. Melville to me is like what Barcelona is to Messi,” said Lagos.

“Manurewa was a whole different experience, a whole new environment, players, coaches. I went from driving 5–10 minutes to get to training and games to needing to drive an hour 3–4 times a week to make it to training and games. It was a big change for me, but I really enjoyed the time and the people I met there.”

Lagos’s first season with Auckland was a successful one. He played a key role as the club lifted the 2024 NZ National League title with an extra-time win over Birkenhead. He featured in 18 matches, playing a total of 1,429 minutes in the title-winning campaign.

Lagos ended 2024 by scoring a goal in a 6-2 defeat to Al-Ain FC in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. Despite the loss, the experience gained was a special moment for the Colombian.

“An amazing experience I will never forget! Being able to step on the pitch with lots of people watching was insane; the atmosphere gave me butterflies every time I heard it. I loved it,” he said.

“Wearing the Auckland City shirt and being part of a big game like that to me was very special, and knowing I scored the first goal for our team was even more than special. It was a beautiful feeling, you literally can’t describe it.”

2025 would start successfully as Auckland lifted their 13th Champions League title in the Solomon Islands, conceding only once in their five matches, with Lagos playing in every single round, and in the final, he provided an assist during a 2-0 victory over Papua New Guinea’s Hekari United.

“Lifting the trophy was another experience that I was able to have with Auckland City, and it meant a lot. I really wanted it especially cause it was my first time playing in the OFC, my first time on the island.”

The all-new format of the Club World Cup means that, unlike the Intercontinental Cup in 2024, Auckland are guaranteed to play at least three matches in the United States.

They have been drawn into a challenging group alongside Argentine giants Boca Juniors, six-time European champions Bayern Munich, and Portuguese powerhouse Benfica.

“Honestly, I don’t have any proper thoughts about it until the next day. It really blew my mind, knowing I will be able to play against the players that I used to play with on FIFA, just doesn’t sound right. It sounds like a dream,” Lagos said on the draw,

“It’s unbelievable and a privilege to be part of it. It’s an amazing feeling knowing you will be part of football history.

“My main goal is to try to be in the best mental and physical condition I can be for this tournament so I can enjoy it to the maximum.”

Auckland’s amateur status means football isn’t the only focus for their players.

For Jerson Lagos, life is a constant balancing act because when he’s not training or playing, he’s working toward becoming a qualified barber… He will go from cutting hair to running at the Bayern Munich defence.

Lagos spoke about the challenge of balancing barbering, football, and personal life:

“I am studying to become a qualified barber. My time is very limited every day  I am occupied, which makes it hard to manage,” He added.

“The main thing I always have to sacrifice is my time, travelling 1 to 2 hours each day there and back to training.

“It’s hard not being able to have much time with my family, my two sons and partner, or even have time to do anything after, but I always try and keep a positive mind set and use as much free time as I can when I can for extra training or family and see it later as a good sacrifice that hopefully pay out in the future.”

Still early in his footballing career, the tournament presents a major opportunity for Lagos to showcase his skills on the world stage. It has also given him the chance to set personal goals, both for the tournament and his future beyond it.

“My personal goal is to become a professional footballer, being able to just focus my time on football and be able to support my family,” said Lagos.

“I would love to one day play in Europe, any team in La Liga, if I have an opportunity… Barcelona would be my dream team.”