Boca Juniors are to train young Chinese soccer players in Buenos Aires and also prepare coaches in Beijing in a deal sponsored by a leading Chinese drink, the Argentine club announced on Wednesday.
The initiative, sponsored by Jiaduobao, aims to improve the skill levels of Beijing’s players.
Boca Juniors president Daniel Angelici welcomed a first batch of Chinese players, who have begun work at the Argentine team’s Casa Amarilla training camp, and said his club would also be sending instructors to teach soccer coaches in China.
Photo: AFP
“It’s been a few days now that these young men have been living and practicing at our training camp,” Angelici said at a press conference. “Yesterday morning, I went to see them and I saw them playing with our juniors, and this made me very happy because Boca always try to be pioneers in questions of exchanges, to continue growing in a country with millions of people like China, to have a market that we can explore with sports schools.”
“With this agreement that we are going to sign for social and sports cooperation, we promise to continue working and to send our coaches to China,” Angelici said.
Under the agreement, which also involves the Beijing Sports Fund created for the development of sports in China, 60 junior players from Beijing are to visit Argentina, in three separate groups, for training.
“Argentina’s national team is [among] the best in the world, and for that reason it is very interesting for these Chinese young men to come and learn the techniques, philosophy and strategy of Argentine football,” Chinese Cultural Attache to Buenos Aires Han Mengtang said.
Twice World Cup winners Argentina finished runners-up to Germany in this year’s final in Brazil after a 1-0 defeat in Sunday’s showpiece at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
RSS