RIVERA WANTS SOCCER PLAYERS WITH “FEET NOT MUSCLE”

Rivera has asked the Soccer Federation to change its attitude regards to players. “No more physical soccer. One can win without being a hulk if one knows how to play” This is a programme the new president of the youth and schools sector of the Soccer Federation has entrusted to the Osservatore Romano saying, “we must rely on quality from when they are very young”. “To achieve this,” said the former striker and former MP, “one must work to overcome the current managerial culture that privileges the physicality of athletes, because especially among the young this appears to guarantee fast results.” Rivera also attacked the current system involving private schools, in which “those who pay quite rightly demand to play even if they have no talent.”