Asia is no longer a place for old age professional footballers — Mendieta

AMMAN – Asia is no longer a place for old age professional footballers to end their careers, but a place for opportunities, where footballers gain more experience, a former leading Spanish footballer told The Jordan Times. 

Gaizka Mendieta said that Asia has become a challenge for coaches and players.

“It is becoming a place for opportunities to gain experience, to become a better player and to make a career whether you are a player or a coach. The challenges are clear, Asia has to raise the level of football in a way to help it make an impact internationally,” he added. 

Mendieta will join a number of former players during the 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum that will be held at the Dead Sea May 3-4, sharing his experiences in his module titled “Playing, Coaching and Scouting in Asia”.

Mendieta played 40 matches with the Spanish national team, appearing in one FIFA World Cup and one UEFA European Championship.

The Spanish player described the Soccerex forum as “important”. 

“I think it is an incredible opportunity to have all these people from the world of football in one place like the Asia Forum, sharing knowledge and experiences. It helps to improve and develop football in the world and in this case in Asia,” Mendieta said.

Mendieta believes it is really important for Jordan to host such an event as it will help promote the country among the world of football.

“This will obviously help and allow the host country to let the world know through all the participating legends and experts what the possibilities this country is working on to  make football bigger and better. That will rise the interest of players, coaches and media worldwide to come and experience it by themselves,” he added. 

Mendieta, who joined Valencia in the UEFA Champions League two times against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, said football has changed compared to his time.

“Football has changed a little bit, I think it is more physical and teams are more equal therefore more competitive. Also players are playing more games per season making it more demanding physically and mentally,” he added.

Commenting on the possibility of having an Asian Champions League as attractive as UEFA Champions League, the Spanish footballer said it will take time for Asia to have this happen in the future by bringing renowned players and coaches to the continent. 

“I think it takes time because the history of the clubs in Europe is massive compared to the ones in Asia but by bringing coaches, players, experts and professionals to work in these countries it would help Asian clubs compete better at the international level,” he added.

Mendieta said he thinks media, forums and summits will also give football fans the opportunity to watch more football from anywhere in the world as well as to know more about football in every part of the world, including Asia.

“A lot of the Asian football is already being broadcast in Europe and that means interest is growing,” he added.