26 Jun 2014
Thursday 26 June 2014, Doha, Qatar:
The British football managers David Moyes and David Pleat as well as the former England international Emile Heskey and the retired professional football referee Mark Halsey visited the prestigious Aspire Academy today and were welcomed by Director of Football Development & Science, Professor Valter Di Salvo.
He took his popular visitors on a guided tour through the different facilities of the academy and explained the vision and mission of Aspire Academy. The former manager of Manchester United, David Moyes, was impressed by the possibilities that Aspire Academy offered. “The facilities are really impressive and a professional environment combined with good coaches are the best way to make young players excel”, the Scottish football expert commented on the idea behind the academy.
He and his fellow visitors were also taking the chance to watch a few minutes of a training session of the Qatari Olympic football team taking place at the indoor pitch of Aspire Dome and had a look at the state-of-the-art training device of Aspire Academy, the “Footbonaut”. “This is really the best of the best. When I was young we also had academies in England, but we had just the essentials. These facilities go far beyond that,” said Emile Heskey, former England international who has represented his country at two World Cups.