Xinhua News Agency Nanning April 1st question: C Luo’s youth coach, coaching in China grassroots club
Xinhua News Agency reporter Ma Bangjie Wei Hua Lu Xianting
like a hermit, C Luo’s 13-year-old youth coach dive between Nanning alleys and streets. For more than a year, he has been quietly taking a group of children to train and play football.
During the China Cup, the reporter heard that he was teaching in a grassroots club named Nanning Hongxu. He used to be the youth coach of Ronaldo when he was in the Portuguese sports club. Portuguese sports used to be called “Sporting Lisbon” and was famous. The reporter couldn’t help wondering: how could the youth coach there come to a grassroots club in Nanning to coach?
The reporter went to visit us on a rainy morning. Under the guidance of mobile navigation, he drove into a messy auto parts repair area in Xingning District, the old urban area of Nanning city, no trace of football can be seen at all. After a turn, I looked around and failed.
“I heard that it is an Air Club and the stadium is built on the roof. Everyone should pay attention to whether there is a stadium on the roof around.” A colleague reminded.
The Reporter expanded the search scope, drove out of the auto parts area, and saw the iron Net standing on the roof next to it.
The building has not been completed, the doors and windows in the corridor are not installed, and the bricks and stones are exposed. Climb to the top of the fourth floor along the stairs, and build a house on the left side of the door. The wall reads “Hongxu Football Club”, which is the office of the club. On the right is a 40-meter-long and 20-meter-wide cage Stadium.
In the field, a foreign coach wearing a red jersey and slightly convex abdomen was carrying 10 children to practice passing.
He is the person the reporter is looking for-Jose Alberto. On March 23, the reporter arrived at this day, which was his 57th birthday.
Building the stadium can only develop into the air
The B- level certificate of Uefa obtained by Alberto in 2002 reads his full name: Jose Alberto Geraldo Rosa. In 1998, as an assistant coach and physical coach of the Portuguese sports club, he spent a year together with the 13-year-old C Luo in the youth training camp.
“Can this stadium compare with your Portuguese stadium?” The reporter pointed at the artificial turf court under his feet and asked him.
Hearing this question, Alberto showed an amazing expression on his face: “There is no comparison at all! There is no comparison!”
According to Yang Le, the boss of Hongxu club, this venue was built in last June. Since August 2016, he has been looking for venues for the club everywhere. He opened the satellite map of his mobile phone, studied the roofs of each target area, found them and selected a roof near his home.
“The cost of the ground site is too high, so we can only develop into the air.” Yang Le said, “If you build a stadium on the ground, the monthly rent per square meter will be 20 yuan. If the stadium is built on the roof, it will cost 7 or 8 yuan per square meter. Our grassroots clubs do not make money, they all rely on their own investment, and they must save money.”
In addition, Yang Le built the stadium on the roof for the long-term existence of the stadium.
“If the stadium is built on the ground in the city, there is a danger of being requisitioned. The land price here is expensive and may be developed by real estate developers at any time.” A coach of Hongxu club said, “previously, there were some privately built small stadiums along the Lianjiang River in Nanning, many of which were torn down and built into green belts along the river. We built the stadiums on the roof, relatively safe.”
On March 5 last year, after being introduced, Alberto came to Hongxu club. Previously, he taught in Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Poland, Angola, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other places. Hongxu’s air Stadium is the most special one he has ever used. Although the conditions of the stadium are simple, it is close to the residential area in the city center, which is convenient for children to play football training. He can’t find a better stadium, so he can only commit himself here.
“In fact, there are some courses around us, all in the school, well built, with runways and bathrooms, but they are not open to the outside world. We are very envious, only standing outside drooling.” A coach of Hongxu club said, “there is a school less than one kilometer away from our club. Today is Saturday, where the door is closed and the stadium is idle.”
Yang Le went to Hong Kong to inspect Football venues not long ago. “The population density of Hong Kong is much higher than that of Nanning. I am curious about how the football field is used there. I found that they operate through public welfare organizations, and the venue is open to the public free of charge. They are all very good grasslands. We didn’t see a stadium built on the roof.”
Yang Le said that they had proposed to the relevant departments to open public stadium facilities, so far there is still no following.
“Chinese football generally lacks a stadium. We have such a stadium. Although it is built on the roof, it is very satisfying.” Yang Le said.
Campus football is in danger of being separated
Hongxu club currently has more than 100 children playing football. On the morning of the 23rd, 10 children from the third grade came to train in Alberto. His training always starts on time, 90 minutes each time, which cannot be interrupted.
“Alberto has brought us a lot of impacts on football concepts.” A club coach said, “he is very strict with details. For example, he asked the child to stop the ball with the sole of his feet instead of arch, and then slowly transition to stop the ball with arch as the ball feeling is skillful.”
Watching the children practicing the skill of passing and stopping the ball on the court, Yang Le, who stood outside the court, said gloomily, “These children can still play the ball happily for three years.”
Hongxu club has 18 Chinese coaches and often plays football with some primary school tutoring students nearby. They found that heavy study made it difficult for children to have time to play football.
“It is obvious here that the number of children playing football at the age of 12, that is, the sixth grade of primary school, has decreased significantly.” Yang Le said, “We talked about this problem with our parents. They think that in the sixth grade of primary school, children should focus on their studies and carefully prepare for the senior high school entrance examination.”
A Chinese coach of Hongxu club told reporters that once he went to a nearby school to teach children to play football, and a little girl secretly ran out of the 3D printing extracurricular training class to play football, as a result, she was found by her mother and forcibly pulled her away from the stadium.
“The child was pulled away with tears. She wants to play football, but her mother wants her to learn.” The coach said.
Hongxu club hopes to recruit some children from junior high school to play football. There are several children from junior high school, but none from junior high school and junior high school.
“Our campus football has been separated in the junior high school stage, and junior high school is the key stage of campus football.” A club coach said.
There is no C Luo in China
at 11:30 am, Alberto trained ending on time. He walked back to the office from the stadium with confidence.
Hongxu Club is a grassroots club with poor conditions. Yang Le, the boss, tries his best to meet all reasonable requirements of the other party in order to retain Alberto. In the club, Alberto looks more like a boss.
“When he first arrived in Nanning, he was not used to it. He didn’t expect that the football conditions here were so bad that there was not even a decent venue.” Yang Le said, “We know he has real skills and try every means to keep him. He came in March 5 last year, and it has been more than a year now. He has completely adapted to our life here.”
Alberto decided to stay in Nanning because there were conditions for him to display his talents and solve problems.
“There are some problems in Chinese football.” He said, “there is no system for football here, so Chinese football cannot really reach the World Cup. Qatar started the football youth training program as early as 2008, and won the Asian Cup this year. Do China have a similar system plan?”
In the China Cup football match ended a few days ago, Cannavaro, the coach of the National Football Training Team, reminded Chinese football not to be obsessed with the “quick-acting theory of celebrities”. Lippi’s experience shows: big-name coaches can’t bring the national football team. Chinese football needs to build a system from grassroots football.
Thai head coach yodaya dette, who led the team to beat the Chinese team by 1:0 in the Chinese Cup, said that the main reason for the growing strength of Thai football was healthy grassroots football. He said: “When grassroots football is done, more players and coaches will emerge and the national team will have more choices.”
Without grassroots football, there can be no healthy football culture, nor can there be players like C Luo.
Alberto once taught in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and other places, and traveled a lot. The reporter asked him if he saw any players with C Luo potential in China? He shook his head: “No!” Alberto believed that Ronaldo was a product of developed football culture. He did not see the appropriate football culture in China, so he could not see any sign of Ronaldo.
C Luo was only 13 years old when he was trained in Portuguese sports youth training camp in 1998. Alberto said that Ronaldo knew the importance of football to him and his family at that time and knew what he should do.
“His parents divorced, his mother was a cook, his father did cleaning work, and his family was very poor.” Alberto said, “he is determined to change his life through football. He trains crazily every day, like a machine day after day. He doesn’t touch alcohol and tobacco. Even if he goes out at night, he must return to the dormitory before 12 o’clock.”
Alberto plans to continue working in China for three years, leaving a systematic grass-roots club youth training program for Hongxu club, training a group of coaches and changing the backward training mode.
However, he can’t change the reality that Chinese grassroots clubs lack courts and children lack time to play football.