AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE former National Team ‘Taifa Stars’ Head Coach Kim Poulsen said he would like to come back to Tanzania describing it as his second home.
Speaking via a telephone interview from Denmark, Poulsen reminisced good times he had in the country as he managed to work at different levels towards the development of football in the country.
“During the period of my stay in Tanzania, I learned many things from players whom I spent more time with. It was really a very interesting thing for me,” he said.
He added that Tanzania has got many talented players who simply need to be nurtured well and that the training atmosphere for them is perfect.
“I was happy to see many young players eager to learn basic skills of football and that situation was giving me energy to double my efforts,” he said.
Asked what criteria he used to do to select potential players to be included in the Under-17 Serengeti Boys, Poulsen replied that he used to watch many youth tournaments to identify quality players.
“Watching competitions like Copa Coca-Cola and others was the number one priority we used to identify the required players who were later assembled for a place in the Serengeti Boys team,” he said.
He added that to identify the talent from a player, it is not an easy job and that it needs a person to have a good eye.
“With the football skills I have, I am able to point the talent installed in a player and I have a good eye as well,” he said.
Additionally, the Danish coach pointed out that some people look at performance of players but insisted that potential is what all matters.
“At first sight, some players might look like they do not have potential but when you give them a chance to play on the good pitch backed by qualified coaches with enough facilities, they can surely produce something special,” he said.
Again, Poulsen said when he was working at the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF); he had a long term youth development plan which he was imparting to upcoming young players.
“The key word for me when working with youth is development which falls into tactical, technical and football fitness and this starts from individual aspect before it grows to team approach,” he added.
Furthermore, Poulsen disclosed that to have talent is not everything since it requires attitude and desire to learn more.
