KARACHI: He admitted his 10-day stay in the city wouldn’t be enough. But United States-based Brazilian football coach Romildo Sanchez hopes what he does in that time will be of some service to the game in Pakistan.

“I agree it isn’t much time to change much,” he said in response to a question at a news conference here on Monday, which kicked off his stay in Karachi where he has been invited by the Foundation United Soccer Academy (FUSA).

“But I hope I can help the local coaches here which will eventually help them in training future footballers in the country.”

The FUSA comes under the management of the Foundation Public School (FPS) and is designed to train school kids from across the city.

While he would largely be training students of FPS and the Head Start School (HSS), Sanchez has a special session with the youngsters of Lyari as well as the women players of the city.

“But most importantly, I’ll be training the coaches and the local physical education teachers and tell them about the finer points of football coaching,” said the Brazilian who hopes to draw on his vast experience during his trip.

Starting his playing career with Cruzeiro in 1979, Sanchez moved to the US in 1986 before moving into coaching a decade later. He is currently the director at Players Club of Tampa Bay in Florida.

He might have just a B-license as coach but former Pakistan youth team coach Siddique Sheikh, who will assist Sanchez during his trip, says the Brazilian’s experience holds him in good stead.

“We have several A-license coaches in Pakistan but Sanchez has years of experience under his belt and he comes from Brazil, which is the home of football,” Sheikh told Dawn.

“If he could teach local coaches to play football Brazilian style, I think it will help Pakistan in the future.”

Published in Dawn January 17th, 2017