2023-08-19 13:40:39
The Laos national football team is one of the worst ranked on the planet. But a Romand coach, Guglielmo “Guli” Arena, has taken on the somewhat crazy challenge of qualifying for the next World Cup in 2026.
Guglielmo Arena, “Guli” for friends, has taken up residence in Laos, a distant country better known for its temples, waterfalls and elephants than for its soccer stars. At 49, this Valais coach born in Montreux has been training the national team of this country since the end of June.
And to prepare his team for the high level, Guglielmo Arena has introduced training worthy of professionals, a shock for these amateur players. “At first, they were a little surprised, he says in the 7:30 p.m. of the RTS. Here, they are trained in the street. They have talent but at the tactical level and at the mental level, they have a big deficit. “
And to add: “But they are very disciplined. That’s really the very positive point here. If we manage to put all these elements together, it can do something interesting.”
Bottom of the ranking
To compete with the best Asian nations, however, “Guli” and his staff still have a lot of work to do. Laos is indeed a regular in the bottom rows of the FIFA rankings: the country currently occupies 187th place.
Yet in this country of 7.5 million people, football is king. “It’s very important to be able to work with a foreign coach. Compared to Laotian coaches, Guglielmo Arena is more demanding on the way we play. And on the physical aspect too,” explains Phudthachak Vongsili, 17, one of great hopes of the Laotian selection.
The training stadium of the Laos national team. [RTS]
Call system D
“Guli” is a real football backpacker. For more than twenty years, he has led teams around the world, from Burkina Faso, Morocco and Algeria, via Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. A career choice, far from Europe, which he does not regret.
“If I started to travel for football, around the world, it’s because the doors in Europe were closed. I absolutely wanted to live football, to experience the emotions that football gives us”, says- he.
The Swiss coach must adapt to the lack of sports infrastructure in Laos. In this country, the poorest in the region, you often have to call on the D system. We manage with the means we have and it’s going very well too”, concludes Guglielmo Arena.
TV reportage: William de Tamaris, Constantin Simon and Aruna Popuri
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