TIME FOR TIKI-TAKA? . . . Barca coaches touch down for high-profile clinic HERE COMES TIKI-TAKA . . . Barcelona Football School coaches Isaac Oriol Guerrero Hernandez (second from left) and Daniel Bigas Alsina pose for a photo with Delta marketing executive Stanley Muchenje (left), SABMiller Africa premium brands manager David Minja (second from right) and Delta Beverages marketing manager Patricia Murambinda (right) after the arrival of the coaches at the Harare International Airport yesterday
HERE COMES TIKI-TAKA . . . Barcelona Football School coaches Isaac Oriol Guerrero Hernandez (second from left) and Daniel Bigas Alsina pose for a photo with Delta marketing executive Stanley Muchenje (left), SABMiller Africa premium brands manager David Minja (second from right) and Delta Beverages marketing manager Patricia Murambinda (right) after the arrival of the coaches at the Harare International Airport yesterday

HERE COMES TIKI-TAKA . . . Barcelona Football School coaches Isaac Oriol Guerrero Hernandez (second from left) and Daniel Bigas Alsina pose for a photo with Delta marketing executive Stanley Muchenje (left), SABMiller Africa premium brands manager David Minja (second from right) and Delta Beverages marketing manager Patricia Murambinda (right) after the arrival of the coaches at the Harare International Airport yesterday

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
A VITAL cog of the machine that helped turn Barcelona into the dominant force in the world a few years ago rolled into Harare yesterday on a landmark tour of duty that could possibly lay a foundation for a tiki-taka revolution in Zimbabwe football.
Daniel Bigas Alsina and Isaac Oriol Guerrero Hernandez, from the famous Barcelona Football School, flew into the country yesterday aboard a private jet for the high-profile coaching two-day clinic that has attracted the cream of the domestic Premiership coaches and their captains.

The two coaches, who have worked with the cream of Barca players, including legendary forward Lionel Messi, were met at the Harare International Airport by Delta marketing executive Stan Muchenje and Delta Beverages marketing manager Patricia Murambinda.

A few hours later, the Barca coaches went straight to work at the National Sports Stadium as they began their main mission of spreading the tiki-taka gospel hoping that their message will help add value to the coaches who attended the clinic.

Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa, who has won three straight Premiership titles, led a host of Premiership coaches who attended the first day of the coaching clinic who included CAPS United’s Taurai Mangwiro, Chicken Inn’s Joey Antipas, Highlanders’ Kelvin Kaindu, Bantu Rovers’ Methembe Ndlovu, ZPC Kariba’s Saul Chaminuka, FC Platinum’s Lloyd Mutasa and newly-appointed Chiredzi FC coach Gishon Ntini.

Zifa technical director Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe led the technical staff from the association who included Mighty Warriors coach Rose Mugadza and Young Mighty Warriors’ coach Langton Giwa while Bhekimpilo Nyoni, the BN Academy founder and a member of the association’s High Performance Technical Team, was also in attendance.

The two coaches took the local coaches through modules in training methodology, tactical development, game philosophy and game system. The clinic is part of a package of the benefits of a partnership that was signed between FC Barcelona and Castle Lager last year, making Castle Lager the official lager for FC Barcelona on the continent.

And it is an opportunity for the local coaches and players to gain skills from coaches who have helped shape careers of some of the world’s best football players.
The two coaches are expected to conclude the coaching clinic with a professional development plan theory and practical sessions at the same venue this afternoon. They will then proceed to Zambia and Tanzania where they will conduct the same clinics.

Alsina said they were delighted to be here and will try to impart as much information as they can during the two days.
“First and foremost we are just happy to be here. The thing that is most important about everything here is that we manage to impart some knowledge to these coaches and players who are here today,” he said.

“That alone makes us satisfied.
“For two days, it’s very hard to try and show or do everything that we do at Barcelona, but for those two days we are just going to try and show you the idea and the general picture of what we do at Barcelona.

“And we will just make sure that the coaches and players who are also here get the feeling and how we do things in Barcelona.
“We cannot do everything but we are just going to give you a glimpse of it.

“We going to try and share and live the Barcelona experience. With that alone they can also come and try to keep on growing with the same philosophy that they would have been taught today of how to play the game, the notion of the game and the idea of the game.

“We would like to show a thing or two about our club. We hope that they can learn something of how we do things in Barcelona and also enjoy the experience.”
Speaking before the coaching clinic started yesterday, PSL technical committee chairman, Kenny Mubaiwa, said they were excited as the Premiership leadership to host such a high-profile event.

“Soccer is the most popular sport in the world which attracts a huge following that has made it a highly profitable industry,” said Mubaiwa.
“And we are happy that today we have coaches from FC Barcelona who are going to be with our local coaches here for our benefit.

“I would like to thank Delta for sponsoring this event and also thank Barcelona coaches for accepting our invitation.”
Mubaiwa said they hope, in the long-term, what will be learned in the two days of the coaching clinic will help in the development not only of the Premiership but Zimbabwe football in general.

Delta marketing executive, Stan Muchenje, said they hope the coaches and players will fully utilise this opportunity and pick vital lessons that will be used for the benefit of the game.

“We are in a three-year partnership with Barcelona and it is the fruits of this partnership that we are beginning to see today where their coaches have come to interact with us and share with us their technical skill.

“This is part of what the Castle Brand is doing to develop soccer in the country.
“And we hope that from the interactions today (yesterday) and tomorrow (today) members of our PSL teams, the coaches that we have here and the payers, are going to enjoy it and hopefully uplift the standard of our soccer in this country.”

Delta marketing director Maxen Karombo, who was part of the group of Castle Lager representatives who travelled to Barcelona last year for the unveiling of their partnership with the Spanish giants, also graced the coaching clinic at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

“We are very excited about this coaching clinics initiative and are happy about this opportunity to give back to the communities that support our brand in a way that will benefit soccer players for a long time to come,” Karombo said ahead of the visit of the two coaches.

“Castle Lager has a long history with soccer on the continent and this event cements the association between the number one sport and number one lager on the continent.”

The organisers of the trip by the Barca coaches believe that this represents a milestone development for Zimbabwe football.
“Castle Lager, the continent’s leading lager and FC Barcelona, one of the top teams on the global soccer stage, have partnered to bring the FC Barcelona tiki-taka experience to local soccer players,” the organisers said in a statement.

“The clinics are part of the benefits of a partnership that was signed between FC Barcelona and Castle Lager last year, making Castle Lager the official lager for FC Barcelona on the continent.

“The coaching clinics represent the community involvement benefits of the deal.
“During these clinics, 36 coaches, and players from the local Castle Premier Soccer League and the national teams will have the opportunity to get coached and gain skills from coaches that have helped shape the careers of some of the most successful soccer players in the world.”

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey