About 200 young soccer players in St. Thomas and London, will soon enjoy the opportunity to take the game they love to the next level. Saturday morning at the BMO Centre in London via a live video conference, it was announced the London-St. Thomas Croatia Soccer Club has entered into an academy affiliation with Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia’s top football club.
Mike Mastrandrea, president of the London-St. Thomas Croatia Soccer Club, explains how important this initial two-year agreement with Dinamo Zagreb will be in the development of young area players.
Dinamo Zagreb is the most successful team in Croatian football, having won 21 top league titles and is the only team in that country to have won a Champions League title, having defeated Leeds United of England in 1967. Champions League is the top club competition in European football, operated by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
This past week, Dinamo Zagreb advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa Cup, the second most important team competition in Europe.
Andjelko Ivanjko, Dinamo Zagreb Academy assistant director, noted via video Saturday morning, “There is good potential in your area. And hopefully we will have good news in the future,” regarding a young area player earning an invite to the academy.
London-St. Thomas Croatia Soccer Club technical director Mladen Vugrinicek added soccer is all about education and learning receiving guidance and coaching from the staff at the Dinamo Zagreb Academy – one of the best in Europe – will help in the long process of player development in this country.
Mastrandrea explained this affiliation with Dinamo Zagreb is an amazing opportunity for the developing players, starting with those as young as eight years of age.
With the opportunity to take some of the players with the greatest potential over to Croatia to learn at the academy itself.
