A Spanish football coach believes the talent is in New Zealand but players have to be aware of the game and understand how it operates to make progress in the game.
Professional Spanish football coach Christian Donaire has just spent a week in Dunedin working with about 20 youngsters from 9 to 15 on their game, who are part of the Dunedin Football Academy.
Donaire (34) is attached to the Damm FC club, which is a feeder club to the powerful Barcelona club.
A former semi-professional player, he started coaching when he was 19 and has made it his job.
He has his own coaching company, has coaching qualifications from Uefa and coaches the Damm under-17 team.
The Spaniard was impressed by the attitude and the willingness to learn of the Dunedin youngsters but football was a hard game to master, and took a lot of time.
"The most important thing they can learn, the one thing that we stress from our point of view is the game comprehension,'' he said.
"It is a difficult skill. You can have the technical and tactical skills but the most important thing is the space perception. To realise what is happening around you and where the other players are.''
He said much training in Spain was centred around showing game scenarios and trying to work the ball round.
"In Spain we try and play more intelligently. We are not strong enough or fast enough to win over teams so we have to win by moving the ball around, looking for the space. We are never going to win the game by running around.
"But it is difficult. You have to work hard.''
Donaire said the young players he had worked with in Dunedin needed to understand the way he was looking to play the game.
That was hard as it took a lot of work but players had to put the time in.
He said football was more difficult than rugby. Rugby was a difficult game, too, but in football you could go backwards and forwards, so needed to look for space both ways.
He had enjoyed his time in Dunedin and the hot weather of the past week had made it feel like Spain.
