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The adventures of an Argentine in Saudi Arabia

Written by Petitclub

Hi everybody.
Today we will meet JPekerman (9785461). He has been playing Hattrick since 2009. He is currently the under-20 coach in Saudi Arabia (3145).

Can you introduce yourself?

Hi, my name is Juan and I'm from Argentina.

How did you discover hattrick?

Since I was a kid I liked games related to soccer. Before finding this game, I played UOL DT, nothing to see hattrick, but you had to train players, and play against other users.

Why are you interested in Saudi Arabia?

I came to help Gonzo (10146832), as in Cameroon when it was his mandate. I began to follow up the U20 in Saudi Arabia and I decided to stay and that is why of these 2 campaigns with this national team.

Tell us about your work as a national manager? what are you doing to prepare the matches and to select the players?

It is hard work because there are few players in Saudi Arabian no like in Argentina for example. it's more difficult, you can't plan the games thinking about what the other team can have. You look at your own selection and try to get as much as possible to be able to complicate it.

What is your summary of the last world cup?

The first matches were good. We lacked a bit of luck to get best results. Now we take care to start giving experience to the players who will participate in the next World Cup qualification.
This is my last term in charge of the U20.

What can be done to change the u20 selection of the country?

Ideally, for Saudi Arabia to improve, is to encourage more so that managers, as many locals as foreigners who have team in Arabia, open their youth academy. And those players continue to train with serious managers and who don't want to profit by selling them.

What do you want to do next season in this beautiful hattrick game?

I will surely return to my country to collaborate. While it is hard work, since there are more players, it's nice to see those players make their debut in the national team, and you end up feeling like your own players.

Thank you very much for this interview Petitclub and for your help in tracking U20 players.

Go Arabia!