Kolkata: Soccer legend Ruud Gullit, a member of the Dutch teams that gave the world the attractive 'total football', said on Sunday that he is enjoying the Spanish domination of world soccer. "Spain deservedly won all those trophies. They play excellent football, we love to watch that. The good thing is they play attacking football," Gullit gushed, according to a report in The Times Of India.
"We all remember that when Greece won the Euro, they were a very defensive team," he added, quickly reminding that "it was necessary because they didn't have the quality to attack". Even as he praised Spain, he reminded that the game and its exponents have always surprised. "When Brazil were playing so well in the 60s and 70s, everyone said there's never going to be a team that plays better football. Luckily for us, that's not been the case. Hope there'll be a new team which will be better than the Spaniards."
Talking about international football, Gullit highlighted the issue of racism, says a report in The Indian Express. “Racism is not a football problem. It’s a social problem. With the European economy facing crisis, it has become a culture of sorts to single out the minorities,” he says.
“There have been many instances of racial abuse in football off late. The black players in the Dutch national team had to endure monkey chants during the Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. FIFA and UEFA are trying to curb the menace. But they have to be more strict and vigilant,” Gullit adds. He is also unhappy with English and Spanish clubs, who lure away local talent with big money.
According to a report in Business Standard, Gullit said Indian football is in safe hands with compatriot Wim Koevermans at the helm but added that the country, ranked 163rd in the world, needed to have better training facilities and more pitches for youth development. Gullit, who led the Netherlands to the Euro 1988 triumph with a team that also included Koevermans, said he was proud that Indians had adapted to their system.
"If you ain't Dutch, it ain't much," he uttered the famous Dutch colloquial proverb. "I think Indian football is in good hands. The most important for these coaches is to develop youth football because that is where it all starts. It's important to have training facilities, the pitches. Every club there has an amateur team and each team has about three or four pitches. For this reason, every kid has got the opportunity to play in the pitches," he told reporters.