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‘Football structure key to Germany’s success at Confederations Cup’

By Samuel Ifetoye
04 July 2017   |   4:21 am
Former Super Eagles striker, Victor Agali has ascribed Germany’s success at the just concluded Confederations Cup to the almost perfect structure the country has put in place for youth football development in the last two decades.

Germany’s players lift the trophy after winning the 2017 Confederations Cup final football match between Chile and Germany at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg on July 2, 2017. FRANCOIS XAVIER MARIT / AFP

Former Super Eagles striker, Victor Agali has ascribed Germany’s success at the just concluded Confederations Cup to the almost perfect structure the country has put in place for youth football development in the last two decades.

Germany presented a youthful team that defeated the highly experienced Chilean side 1-0 at the weekend in the final of the Confederations Cup held in Russia. The victory came despite not featuring their established stars.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday Agali said he got to know about the structure in the German football when he got there in 1999 at the youth level.

“The German’s success in the world football is as a result of the structure that they put on ground in the past decades. That is what has been helping them. I was there in 1999 and I experienced the structure in their football youth development programme.

“They have been trying to maximise the potential of their youths, giving them the platform to grow. They also have a good platform for their league that allows these players to enjoy and be part of it. This starts from the tender age, teaching them the basics of football and this has really helped them. It is not only the Germans that have this, even the French have it too but the Germans have been exceptional with theirs,” he said.

The former Hansa Rostock and Schalke 04 player said it would be difficult for Nigeria to imitate them due to the financial muscle involved in such a project.

“It will be tough for us because financially it is demanding, in terms of structure we are far behind. For individuals who run football academies in the nation, most of them pay for these facilities because they are not there in the first place. Even when they are available, they are not up to the international standard.”

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