Former French star lauds Alex grassroots football development

One of the world’s greatest players of African origin in the World Cup winning French team of 1998 and ambassador of the Spanish La Liga, Christian Karembeu, was in Alexandra to conduct coaching clinics and lifestyle workshops for grassroots football.

A former star of Spanish team Real Madrid, Karembeu described grassroots football in Alexandra as ‘beautifully taking off for greater heights’.

Karembeu, while with Real Madrid, was an integral part of the team that lifted the 1998 and 2000 Uefa Champions League trophies and the French national side that won the 2000 Uefa European championship. He said, “It’s an honour for me to represent La Liga in Alex, and to help and collaborate in the expansion that it has been undergoing for many years, bringing it closer to fans the world over, and above all help the talented youngsters in Alexandra, both girls and boys, to reach their dreams of football stardom.”

When asked about his thoughts on the talent in Alex, Karembeu said he had seen amazing and talented youngsters who, with specialised guidance, would grow with the game and become the future Karembeus of this world.

“I believe that the starting point for football stardom is grassroots, and if we can get the basics right in terms of infrastructure development and modern artificial turfs for these youngsters, I am convinced Alexandra and its pool of talent will be destined for greater heights.”

Karembeu said another element in the development of grassroots football was the creation of competitive leagues that could enable the youngsters to grow their talent. “I have been made to understand that Alexandra has one of the best run local leagues in the country and I think if they can maintain the momentum, very soon the entire South African national team will comprise players from this township.

“That’s the only recipe for success, not just for Bafana but for the clubs in the country too who feed on the talent that comes out of grassroots football.”

He said the lifestyle workshops he conducted, which also touched on the dreaded HIV/Aids disease, were part of La Liga’s efforts to fight the pandemic in Africa which, he said, was eating away at the core of its talent pool.

La Liga understands the importance of soccer development and training for the youth in becoming the soccer stars of the future. To this end, he said they had partnered with Grassroots Soccer, an adolescent health organisation. The partnership aims to leverage the power of soccer to educate, inspire and mobilise youth in developing countries to overcome their greatest health challenges, live healthier, more productive lives, and be agents of change in their communities.