24 Nov 2019
Doha, 24 November 2019. The Tri-Series Tournament from November 17 to 21, 2019 saw Aspire Academy’s feeder teams facing Karachi United and Fenerbahce SK. Among the many visitors was Serdat Dayat, Director of Fenerbahce’s Football Academy, who praised Aspire Academy as the number 1 youth academy in the world.
The 50-year-old, who had gained a lot of international experiences in the past as head coach, assistant coach and football director in Sweden, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Germany, stressed the importance of youth development in football. “Youth players are the most important resource for clubs and therefore it’s crucial that they invest in their academies. Especially countries that don’t have as much money as the big football nations have realized this and you can see a lot of positive examples in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands or Portugal.”
The Turkish citizen, who got his UEFA Pro License from the German Sport University in Cologne applauds Aspire Academy’s philosophy. “Players at this young age need the right education and that’s not only about football. At this stage it’s also about developing human beings and their characters, so they can do well in any kind of environment. That’s why Aspire Academy is such an amazing organization. The players get so much support from coaches, sport scientists, teachers and many more. In my opinion it’s the number 1 football academy in the world, because of the idea and the concept behind it and because the way they put their philosophy into practice. I think, Aspire Academy is a role model for other academies and you can get useful impulses from them.”
The football expert, who has worked with top coaches such as Vladimir Petkovic and Thomas Doll and also spent some time as TV pundit, thinks that the football in his native country Turkey and at his club Fenerbahce is on the right track. “I think we are doing a good job in our country. We have good and talented players around the city of Istanbul and in Turkey and we also keep an eye on players that are living abroad in Germany, Austria, Netherlands or in Belgium. We have a very good scouting system and I think that in the near future we will be able to compete with the biggest names in Europe.”