Dubai: The fourth edition of the ‘Future Goalkeepers Programme’ camp held under the auspices of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) concluded in Italy on Thursday.
Eight young goalkeepers representing various clubs from Dubai had been going through an intensive training programme being held at the National Training Centre in Coverciano, Italy.
The ten-day programme, which could potentially produce the UAE’s version of Italian hero Gianluigi Buffon, was organised by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), the governing body for Italian football in coordination with the DSC under its ‘Future Goalkeeper Programme’.
Launched in 2012, the scheme targets the grassroots and youth sectors in an attempt to find and develop specialised goalkeepers and goalkeeper coaches.
The young stoppers and coaches are exposed to technicalities, skills, medical and physical tests under specialised supervision during the course of the external camps.
The eight UAE youngsters, including Suhail Abdullah Al Mutawa, Rashid Jasim Ali, Ali Eisa Al Ka’abi, Abdullah Khalifa Al Ka’abi, Ali Hassan Al Ghallaf, Khalid Ebrahim Al Jasmi, Mansour Abdulla Al Za’abi and Abdullah Tareq Fairooz, met Italy’s new head coach Giampiero Ventura, who took over from Antonio Conte at the end of the Euro Championship earlier this month.
Ventura was thrilled to meet the young goalkeepers and their coaches at the FIGC base on Wednesday, and the former Torina FC coach obliged the youngsters from UAE with selfies and photographs.
“This is an experience of a lifetime for these young players, who are the future of our national and clubs teams,” Ahmad Salem Al Muhairi, head of the programme told Gulf News from Italy.
“One of the goals of this programme was to allow our young players and coaches to gain knowledge on this highly-specialised art of goalkeeping at the right age. For a country like the UAE, this specialised training gains even more significance as the UAE FA does not allow (foreign) professional goalkeepers to be recruited for the professional league,” he added.
On the sidelines of his visit, Al Muhairi also held talks with Renzo Ulivieri, the current chairman of the Italian Football Managers’ Association. The talks centred round areas of common interest and cooperation between FIGC and the DSC in the future. The UAE delegation also paid a visit to the Italian Football Museum.
“We had six goalkeepers graduating through the third edition of the programme last year, and this year we had eight. This shows the clubs are getting serious about specialised positions in a team starting at the lower age groups,” Al Muhairi noted.
