Five youth football coaches from Croatia visited Qingdao, Shandong province, and exchanged ideas on football training and coaching with the local coaches at Qingdao Jonoon Football Club on Feb 17, Qingdao Daily reported.

Croatian youth football training experts take part in a meeting with local coaches of Qingdao Jonoon Football Club on Feb 17. [Photo/dailyqd.com]

The Croatian coaches, with A-level coaching licenses issued by the Union of European Football Association (UEFA), are expected to join the Jonoon Football Club and work on Qingdao youth football training, integrating the ideas and experience of Croatian youth football training with Qingdao football’s development.

When the Croatian football team came third in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, outstanding Croatian players, such as Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban and Robert Prosinecki, came to world attention. These players were all trained under the Croatian youth football training system and Qingdao hopes that some of that magic will rub off on young players from the city.

A Croatian expert shares his experiences of youth football training at the meeting. [Photo/dailyqd.com]

After learning that Jonoon Football Club has a history of 23 years and has set up youth football camps at more than 100 schools, the director of the Croatian youth football training team was impressed and said that China had a great future in the sport.

The experts also mentioned the similarity between Croatian and Qingdao youth football training which links youth football training with school education, and recommended the club establish ties with schools of all levels.