SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Ruud Gullit promotes community projects Johannesburg

Record ID: 452754

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Ruud Gullit promotes community projects Johannesburg
  • Date: 29th June 2011
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG; SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 28, 2011) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) WIDE OF DUTCH SOCCER LEGEND RUUD GULLIT AND OFFICIALS SEATED DELEGATES LISTENING MORE OF RUUD GULLIT AND OFFICIALS SEATED MORE OF DELEGATES LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUTCH SOCCER LEGEND RUUD GULLIT SAYING: "I'm very proud to be part of that, it's not only a game but also to give back something to society and that's also the reason why I'm very proud to participate because as a football player where you are taking, taking, taking to earn your money. It's also very good to give back to society so to come back here and also do something that is backed up also by the Football Association of South Africa and of course SAB to promote the development of coaches is a wonderful initiative." MORE OF DELEGATES LISTENING MORE OF RUUD GULLIT AND OFFICIALS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUTCH SOCCER LEGEND RUUD GULLIT SAYING: "More important is also the psychological part of being a coach, you can always draw trainings or tactics or whatever but the psychological part is important because you have to do with a lot of individuals, with different characters, different social backgrounds and also sometimes coming from different countries, for that reason it's more that you are involved with the player's psychological part than any other part." MORE OF DELEGATES LISTENING MORE OF RUUD GULLIT WITH OFFICIALS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUTCH SOCCER LEGEND RUUD GULLIT SAYING: "I think that Holland as a nation was the first time that we tried, you know to get the bid, I think we have a strong bid but you must understand also that you can lose. The good is that I think that people talk about it, in the way we promoted ourselves and this could be a help also for the future, so I'm particularly proud how we did it, and I wish Russia good luck with the next World Cup." DELEGATES APPLAUDING
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa, South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA39PRUHMQYAGBVIE6BREGIBG5A
  • Story Text: Dutch soccer legend Ruud Gullit is in South Africa on Tuesday (June 28) to promote soccer development projects linked to a new competition featuring the country's two biggest soccer clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.
    At the media briefing on Tuesday (June 28) Gullit explained the coaching initiatives, devised by South African Football Association (SAFA) working with South African Breweries (SAB), to increase the number of international coaches in South Africa.
    The "Coaches Academy" initiative, sponsored by an SAB lager, will send 36 aspirant soccer coaches from the SAFA regional league to take part in coaching workshops at the end of July. The aim is to develop coaching in South Africa to produce world class Coaches.
    "I'm very proud to be part of that, it's not only a game but also to give back something to society and that's also the reason why I'm very proud to participate because as a football player where you are taking, taking, taking to earn your money. It's also very good to give back to society so to come back here and also do something that is backed up also by the Football Association of South Africa and of course SAB to promote the development of coaches is a wonderful initiative," Gullit told the media.
    He is also promoting the "Be The Coach" promotion, sponsored by the same lager. Fans of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates can vote for their team line-up for a match on July 30. The most popular line-up of players will take to the field for the game at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium.
    During the game fans will also be able to vote by SMS to substitute players that are not performing well.
    Gullit comes to South Africa after being fired as coach of the Chechen club Terk Grozny last week after poor results. The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who happens to be the team's president too, criticised Gullit's commitment and suggested he was devoting too much attention to nightclubs and bars. He left, barely six months into his contract.
    Gullit said that being able to motivate a team was a vital task for a coach.
    "More important is also the psychological part of being a coach, you can always draw trainings or tactics or whatever but the psychological part is important because you have to deal with a lot of individuals, with different characters, different social backgrounds and also sometimes coming from different countries, for that reason it's more that you are involved with the player's psychological part than any other part" added Gullit.
    Gullit was major advocate of the shared Netherlands and Belgium bid for the 2018 World Cup, which failed, as Russia received the nod. Gullit says he is proud of what they achieved.
    "I think that Holland as a nation was the first time that we tried, you know to get the bid, I think we have a strong bid but you must understand also that you can lose. The good is that I think that people talk about it, in the way we promoted ourselves and this could be a help also for the future, so I'm particularly proud how we did it, and I wish Russia good luck with the next World Cup," he said.
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