French football league champions Paris Saint-Germain launched its Youth Academy here Friday at the Treamis World School and at the Greenwood High School.
Two academies setup in Delhi have been operational for a little over two months now. The Paris Saint-Germain academy now looks to spread down south in Bangalore at the two identified centres where the launch took place with the club's leading goal-scorer Pedro Pauleta doing the honours.
Speaking on the occasion Portuguese Pauleta said:"Some of my most memorable years in football I've spent proudly wearing the Parisian jersey.
"It gives me great joy to spread the Paris Saint-Germain philosophy and aid the development of football through a club that has given me so much. I'm very excited at the prospect of the Indian academies and the response has been terrific."
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, president, Paris Saint-Germain, said: "We consider India a very important country to boost the international development of our Paris Saint-Germain brand. Launching our Paris Saint-Germain Academy in Bangalore sends a strong and positive message to all football fans in India.
"I believe that our academy will help develop an exclusive relationship with young kids and permit us to develop a strong fanbase in the country. Our coaching staff is very involved in making sure that our technological program offers the highest standards. The academy also helps to detect talented youth who would like to pursue the sport at a professional level. I look forward to visiting the academies in Bangalore in the near future."
One of PSG's most experienced coaches and the main coaching figure of the Youth academy worldwide, Sacha Lizambard, said: "What Paris Saint-Germain brings to the table is a positive football philosophy and advanced training methodology, a result of years of work, from players and coaches alike.
"Every player from the youth sector is trained on technical and tactical awareness from the very start in the same coaching manner as used with top talent in Paris.
"We at Paris Saint-Germain have a unique grading system which allows children from one country to compare their scores with children from other countries and Paris Saint-Germain youth academies, enabling the children to understand where they stand when compared to the best in the world.
"We believe this is the best way forward, and establishes a level playing field. We are here to contribute toward the development of grass root football in India."
