In Weifang City there is the best football academy of China. Is the Academy of Shangdong Luneng. A huge and modern sport center, with more than 20 football court, with natural and artificial grass, gymnasium, library, school, accomodation for players, apartment for coaches, Offices, Club house and museum, recreation center, a big canteen, specialized gym for players recovery and a very beautiful chinese garden. An Oasis where develop the future stars of Chinese football. The technical director of the school is Portuguese, and the majority of the foreigner coahes are Portuguese too, even there are a Japanese, 2 Brazilians and a Serbian, 12 in total, instead the chinese coaches are more than 50, and many many staff to keep the modern sport center in super excellent condition. Compared with general level i have met in China, here everything is at European style and even better, and for how the coaches work here, i will be not surprised if China wil become in a soon future a power in football too. There are more than 400 kids, from U.9 (7-8-9) till under 19, selected from every corner of China (the scouting system is excellent, because the quality of kids is really high and most of them can easily play in Europe). The club was found in 1956; in 1997 the club held a consultation with the Shandong Electric Power Group Corporation and in 1998 Shandong Electric Power Group Corporation became the majority shareholders of the club and changed the club's name to Shandong Luneng football team, and the academy was built....since that time, this academy has given more than 200 players to Chinese national teams.

My project, under support of CFA, was to work with U.9, and bring Futsal Methodology in footbaal and see how much kids could improve with this methodology.....It has been amazing, these 2 week are flown away so fast and today will be my last day. With these wonderful kids, we had immediately understood each other and great feeling immediately rise up.....passion, desire of play, dream to become professional.....and their quality, really really high. They never were tired, they would never stop to run behind the ball.....this experience has recharged my batteries and at the end of these 2 weeks may be is more what they have given to me that what i have given to them.

I have had 3 targets, in just 11 trainigs, improve the game understanding and the quick decision making process, improve the movement without ball to support the bal possession and play compact, improve the finishing. A lot of exercises to stimulate the decision making, where players, related to a tactical situation has to decide by themselves, take their own decision, giving confidence to create the attitude and the giving quality to the choice.....they were not used to, but kids learn fast..... The result was excellent, yesterday we played a friendly game against a team of Jinang and see these kids play, was like a perfect orchestra moving. Im really proud of them and how they improved!!! Thank you!!! It was an unforgettable experience and i will never forget you all.

The other part of my experience here was to teach to coaches how futsal can be a powerful instrument to help them to create better football players.....at beginning the coaches were very suspicious.....the course at night after a long working day....(here the life start with common breakfast in the canteen at 7)....but after that....at every lesson there were more coaches....and the feeling at last was that i have given them a different way to develope their players, to integrate their normal training with something that can improve some points of their players. Another important step, wanted by CFA, to help Futsal to grow up and become more popular. Let's FUTSAL become part of the football family.   

The time of gretings is come, today there will be the last game, and surely i will be delighted again by the quality of these players and their growth, players that i started to call my kids.....from monday,new challeng,  camp with national team to prepare a 4 nations tournament in december.  

Thanks to Mr. Li for the opportunity, thanks to my translator, Mr. Shen, thanks to my assistant during training mr. Liu Han, thanks to coach Zhao, to have shared his kids with me, thanks to Coach Simao, Keeper coach Ivan, Analist David Pereira and Rodolpho and to all other coaches and staff that supported my during my stay in the academy.