Italian football federation president Giancarlo Abete has said
money is the reason European sides have so far failed to impress at
the World Cup.
Europe's traditional big six of Germany, Spain, Italy,
Netherlands, France and England have mustered only four wins
between them in the first 11 days - and the Dutch provided two of
them without hitting anything like top gear.
Abete blamed Europe's big clubs, awash with money from lucrative
broadcast contracts, for failing to develop young players good
enough for international football.
"If you look at this World Cup you'll realize that all the big
European teams are having problems," he said. "Between Spain,
France, England, Germany and Italy, we've only managed one win.
Apart from the Netherlands, only Central and South American teams
are smiling. The clubs have more power than the federations."
UEFA president Michel Platini is attempting to swing the balance
back in favour of national associations and young players by
enforcing minimum quotas on so-called home-grown players. But Abete
is unconvinced.
"Real Madrid has a budget eight times that of the Spanish
federation," he said. "All we can do is try to encourage coaches to
put more faith in younger players. That's it."
The concerns are greater in England where more than half the
players in the Premier League are from abroad. The Football
Association's head of development, Trevor Brooking, said that the
national team faces greater problems still once the current
generation of players fade.
"Every place in the league is worth £750,000 ($1.1 million), so
even at the end of season you don't get a chance to try out
youngsters because you might lose three places and cost yourself £2
million ($3 million) in the transfer budget."
In contrast, South American countries may be benefiting from the
relative financial weakness of their clubs. Even big clubs such as
Boca Juniors, Santos and River Plate struggle to hold onto their
best players once European clubs show interest. That forces them to
invest heavily in young players, with the game a traditional route
out of poverty for many.
extracted from soccernet