THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 SPORTS India inspired by Iceland in grassroots expansion GENEVA: The size of the task facing grassroots programme of which Hubers is Dutchman Piet Hubers when he agreed to technical director. help develop grassroots soccer in India The most talented players are selected quickly became apparent with one simple for a residential programme, based near comparison. Mumbai, known as Young Champs. Hubers discovered there are more full- Started in 2014, the scheme’s first target sized pitches in his home town of Wijchen, is to give 500,000 children between the which has a population of around 40,000, ages of six and 14 the chance to play foot- than in the whole of Mumbai, which has ball and get coaching. more than 20 million inhabitants. Hubers said finding spaces to play was “That makes it very challenging,” he told one of the major challenges in India’s teem- Reuters in an interview held at the ing cities and that children needed to play International Sports Convention in Geneva. regularly. Iceland, who reached the quarter-finals of “One training session every week and a Euro 2016, are a good guide to what can be grassroots match every week for 20 weeks achieved. a season is the absolute minimum but that “I use Iceland very much as an example,” is also the biggest challenge because you said Hubers. “They invested a lot of money need good facilities, you need a playing in facilities, in halls, in artificial pitches but system, you need good coaches, you must also in coaches. organise teams and that is not so easy,” he “It’s mandatory that every coach is quali- said. Improvisation is often the key and the fied otherwise you can’t even coach a concept of pop-up pitches, where organis- youth team and that in my opinion is one ers bring portable goals and announce of the basics of the success of Icelandic venues on social media, has become popu- football.” lar. Officials have also attempted to per- Cricket-loving India is a sleeping giant as suade private clubs and schools to make far as football is concerned. The national their facilities available. side are 137th in the world rankings and, “There are square metres you can use on the only occasion they qualified for the here and there, for example for playing a World Cup in 1950, pulled out without kick- small game which can be four against four, ing a ball. or seven against seven,” Hubers said. However, the country of 1.3 billion is Coaching is another key element. “The finally waking up to the most popular sport most important thing for the ISL clubs is to on the planet. The Indian Super League educate the coaches ... so that parents can (ISL) is in its third season and Kushal Das, be confident their children are improving,” BOURNEMOUTH: Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake, left, vies for the ball with Leicester City’s Shinji Okazaki, right, during the English Premier League secretary general of the All India Football added Hubers. He said it can take 10 years soccer match between Bournemouth and Leicester City, at the Vitality Stadium, in Bournemouth, England, Tuesday. — AP Federation, has said the country is aiming of investment in grassroots football to pay to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. off at international level and believes Hubers, a former defender for Dutch India’s goal of reaching the 2026 World Cup top-flight club NEC Nijmegen, believes that is achievable. Marc Pugh’s goal brings developing the sport at grassroots level is “You always must set targets ... and fundamental to India’s plans. that’s just a target, not an obligation “The more players you get into the sys- although it is certainly high on our wish tem, the better the quality will be at the list,” he explained. Leicester down to earth top,” he said. “I think that qualifying for the World Cup in 2026 is a realistic objective. When you YOUNG CHAMPS look at the national team and the national 14th. It was not how Ranieri would have wanted had a sight of goal after rounding Artur Boruc, The ISL, promoted by billionaire Mukesh youth teams, they’re progressing very well to mark his 200th Premier League game as a only for a sliding Steve Cook to intervene. Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Rupert and they will progress more if the grass- Bournemouth 1 manager. It was a rare sight of goal for the visitors and Murdoch’s Star India TV, have their own roots system increases.” — Reuters The Italian has not seen his side win back-to- after Wilshere had warmed the palms of back league games since April and they have not Leicester goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler with a won away from the King Power Stadium since crisp effort, the home side took the lead. Leicester 0 the start of the campaign. Adam Smith cut the ball back from the right From contemplating the prospect of a for Benik Afobe, whose shot was parried by Champions League last 16 encounter against Zieler, but Pugh was on hand to smash the BOURNEMOUTH: Premier League champions Sevilla, with whom they were paired in Monday’s rebound home. Ranieri sent for the cavalry in Leicester City crashed to earth with a bump as draw, Leicester find themselves facing up to a the second half, throwing on forwards Ahmed Marc Pugh’s 34th-minute goal earned relegation scrap. Musa, Shinji Okazaki and Leonardo Ulloa, but Bournemouth a 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium Ranieri made only one change to the team still a goal eluded his side. Vardy hooked an on Tuesday. that had outclassed City at the weekend, with effort straight at Boruc from Hernandez’s long Leicester overwhelmed Pep Guardiola’s Luis Hernandez coming in for the suspended throw, while Robert Huth headed wide from Manchester City 4-2 on Saturday in a thrilling Danny Simpson at right-back. Riyad Mahrez’s corner and Okazaki saw an effort return to the form that carried them to last sea- But it was Bournemouth, for whom Jack brilliantly blocked by the valiant Cook. son’s fairytale title triumph. Wilshere returned to the starting XI, who made There was one last sight of goal for the cham- But Pugh marked his first start of the season the early running, with Charlie Daniels flashing a pions when Ulloa took aim from point-blank with the game’s only goal to lift Bournemouth cross across the face of goal. range, but Boruc thwarted him to give up to eighth place and keep Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester talisman Jamie Vardy returned to his Bournemouth a first win over Leicester since Leicester four points above the drop zone in brilliant best with a hat-trick against City and he March 1989.— AFP Griffiths propels Celtic 11 pts clear NEW DELHI: Delhi Dynamos FC midfielder Marcos Ramiro Tebar (L) vies for the ball against Kerala Blasters FC forward Mohammad Rafiq (R) during the second leg of the GLASGOW: Runaway leaders Celtic further extended second semi-final Indian Super League (ISL) football match between Delhi Dynamos FC their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 1- and Kerala Blasters FC at The Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi yesterday. — AFP 0 defeat of Hamilton at Celtic Park on Tuesday. A first-half strike from Leigh Griffiths was enough to claim Celtic’s 10th consecutive victory and condemn Hamilton to their first defeat in six games. The Hoops Sochaux topple Marseille now hold an 11-point advantage over Rangers, having played two games less than their fierce Glasgow rivals. in French League Cup Aberdeen missed the chance to narrow the gap to second-place Rangers when their game against PARIS: Marseille crashed out of the French players remain focused while fatigued, Motherwell at Pittodrie was abandoned due to flood- League Cup on Tuesday after losing 4-3 on even if the context is obviously not the light failure. penalties to second-tier Sochaux following same.” Earlier, former Portugal international Despite the victory, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers a 1-1 draw in their last-16 tie. Sergio Conceicao made a winning start as thought his side had not been at their usual standard. “I Bouna Sarr fired the three-time champi- Nantes manager with a 3-1 victory over think throughout most of this season we’ve performed ons ahead at the Stade Bonal but Moussa Montpellier. at a really high level, but some games we haven’t,” the Sao swiftly responded to level for hosts Argentine striker Emiliano Sala struck former Liverpool manager said. “Tonight was one of Sochaux. Goalkeeper Christopher Dilo then either side of a Kevin Berigaud goal at the those games that we didn’t quite hit those heights, but saved spot-kicks from Doria and Aaron Stade de la Beaujoire as Nantes became the we showed a great desire and persistence to keep going YOKOHAMA: Real Madrid’s head coach Zinedine Zidane speaks during a press con- Leya Iseka in the shootout as Sochaux, the first team through to the last eight. and we got the job done in the end.” ference at the FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament in Yokohama, near Tokyo, yes- only non top-flight team left in the compe- Poland international Mariusz Stepinski Hamilton manager Martin Canning thought his side terday. Real Madrid and Club America will play today semifinal. — AP tition, advanced to the quarter-finals. added a third for Nantes on the hour, had been excellent. “I thought their work-rate was dif- “We’re frustrated because we should although the hosts played out the final few ferent class and they did what they were asked to do,” he have qualified, but that’s the Cup for you,” minutes with 10 men after the dismissal of said.