India has bright future in football, they have many good players: Odisha FC's Kino Garcia
Odisha FC head coach Kino Garcia seems impressed with the Indian talent in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). The Spaniard believes that India has a bright future in football.
Odisha FC head coach Kino Garcia is impressed with the Indian talent in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) and the Spaniard believes that India has a bright future in football.
Garcia had joined OFC as an assistant coach ahead of the 2021-22 season and took over as interim head coach after Kiko Ramirez was sacked on January 14 following a defeat to Kerala Blasters FC.
While speaking to Sportstar, he said, “I think India has a bright future in football. I think there are a lot of good players here.”
“The players are coachable – they want to learn, they want to improve. They follow instructions, they want to be better players, they work hard. The Indian players that we have in the team, like Nandhakumar (Sekar) and Jerry (Mawihmingthanga)– I think they have evolved and the level of the players is improving as the competition gets better.” he furthed added.
The Spaniard suggested that India needs more academies at the school level and need to groom their talent from an early age, he said, “For me, one of the keys for a country to evolve – because I have been in countries with professional and academy teams – is a good system for tough competitions.”
“India is a big country. You have talent, you have good players. You need to develop a system of high-level competition, so when the players arrive in the first team, they are ready to compete,” he added.
Odisha FC had a poor spell in Hero ISL 2020-21, they found themselves at the bottom of the points table, as they secured 12 points from 20 matches.
The Spaniard wishes that he could continue to coach the Odisha side next season also, as he said, “I hope so (laughs). This is a decision not in my hands. I am really happy in India. The bubble has been really hard for everybody, but the club made sure and we were in good mood in the camp, the staff is good together. So, if I have a chance and the club agrees, I would love to stay in India."
Odisha FC will be up against Jamshedpur FC on next Friday. The Kalinga Warriors would be looking to finish their campaign on a high.
