29 Oct 2014
?Doha, 29 October 2014. On the second day of this week’s “Tri-Series Tournament” at Aspire Academy the youth teams of Chelsea FC faced Tokyo Verdy on Tuesday afternoon. The U-15 team of the English club defeated the Japanese 3-1 (2-0), while the Asians succeeded in the other two games winning 4-2 (3-1) against Chelsea’s U-14 and 2-1 (2-0) against the U-13 team of “The Blues”.
Both clubs are happy about the opportunity to be in Doha and compete against international teams. “Like Aspire Academy it’s one of our goals that our youth teams compete against strong opponents that play different styles and systems. In England many teams tend to be play similar and therefore we appreciate these kind of tournaments very much. Games like these can show a young player where his level is right now,” says former Norwegian international and Chelsea-youth coach Tore Andre Flo. Mototaka Ogasawara, youth coach of Tokyo Verdy agrees: “The players can only profit from such an experience. The better the opponents, the better it is for their development.”
The news about the recent success of Qatar’s U-19 national team has also made its way to England. “It’s quite impressive what they achieved at the Asian Championship and that is a generation of Qatari footballers you have to watch out for,” said Flo, who stressed that the next step for these players - breaking into the first team of a professional club - might be the deciding one. “You have to be ready for it and therefore you need to be mentally strong.”
Fellow Chelsea-coach John Harley, a former professional who went through the youth system of Chelsea himself, agrees: “It’s a big step and for many young players it’s the first time they have to deal with setbacks. It’s important that they show patience, keep their motivation high and work hard. I remember Frank Lampard when he was young. He always stayed longer after training and worked very hard to get there where he is now. Technical ability is helpful, but it’s determination that makes the real difference.”
The tournament concludes on Wednesday afternoon with the games between three age-groups (2000, 2001, 2002) of Chelsea FC and Aspire Academy starting at 4:20pm.