SKN U20 Football Team Get Training from Italian Soccer Federation Coach
Basseterre, St. Kitts June 30, 2023 (ZIZ Newsroom):The St. Kitts and Nevis Under-20 national football team is currently receiving training from Italian Soccer Federation Coach, Matteo Barella.
In an interview with ZIZ News, Director of Sport within the Ministry of Sport, Jeffrey Hazel explained how the initiative came about.
He stated, “The Ambassador, His Excellency, Ernest Amory would’ve gotten the assistance of the Italian government and the Italian Football Federation to provide some technical assistance on this time coaching- the coaching services of Mr. Matteo Barella, the under 18 assistant coach for the Italy national team to just provide some training sessions to our national team program.”
He also explained the areas Coach Barella will be focusing on during the training.
“He’s focusing more on the basic football technique. He’s delved a little bit more into the tactics, how you’re supposed to be positioning when defending when attacking what you’re supposed to be doing when we are in possession of the ball, and the players are very receptive. They understood what he requires, and he’s bringing his methodology from the Italian football and hopefully, we can use some of that into our national program to build our philosophy. So, it’s the international standard, we know Italy has been performing creditably well at the various levels of World Cup, and we are quite happy that he’s here to assist us.”
Mr. Hazel said after the training, the hope is for the team to progress to the CONCACAF finals and for team members to progress in the sport professionally.
“We hope that this time around in the under 20, this specific group, they’ll be able to advance to the CONCACAF finals again just as some previous under 20 teams would’ve done and, you know, get more success for St. Kitts and Nevis, if some of them can be scouted and get scholarships or even professional trials, we’ll be happy for that and this is part of, what Coach Barella is here to do, recruit and see if we can establish long-term relationships with the Italian government and the Italian Football Federation.”
The training runs from June 29th to July 4th at the Cayon Football Field.