European football stars have arrived in Beijing to conduct a training program for Chinese teens. The program is part of the collaboration between China's Ministry of Education and the Global Legends Series to help promote the sport in schools in China.
Joining Italian player Alessandro Nesta in China are fellow Italian Marco Materazzi and Spanish Michel Salgado.
Nesta has shared his desire to help boost the level of football in China.
"I have played soccer for more than 20 years with rich experience, I am delighted to have this platform, I hope I can bring Italian soccer elite to China," said the former AC Milan player.
On Feb. 3, more than 50 students from the Beijing Bayi school took part in the football training conducted by Nesta, Materazzi and Salgado.
The clinic is one of the regular sessions GLS would conduct in partnership with the Ministry of Education in China. Other football stars including former Italian national team captain Fabio Cannavaro and Portugal's Luis Figo are scheduled to visit China to promote the sport through trainings.
GLS CEO and founder James Davies Yandle hopes that with the program, the level of football in China would improve.
"The important aspect of GLS is leaving a legacy of youth development programs in the countries we play," he noted. "Our experiences and influences in football, where we have Brazilian attacking, Dutchman field and Italian defending as well as Spanish passing, will be brought together in this unique program through cooperation with the Chinese government."
The GLS program could not be more timely in China as the country has sought to elevate the level of football through introduction of the sport in schools.
According to the director of the Ministry of Education's Physical Education, Health and Art Department Wang Dengfeng, "the challenge we are facing is the lack of adequate soccer trainers at schools. We expect the program to help us train more students as well as local physical education teachers."
China has partnered with the Chinese Football Association to create 20,000 schools that would specialize in football by 2017. The project is part of the country's measures to encourage the grassroots development of the sport.