"This partnership was a long time coming" - Benfica global expansion coordinator Miguel Reis on collaboration with Sreenidi Deccan FC
Sreenidi Deccan FC entered into a technical partnership with Portuguese giants SL Benfica on Sunday, October 29. The club announced the news after their inaugural I-League game of the season against NEROCA in Hyderabad, which they won 4-0.
The said partnership with Benfica will aid Sreenidi Deccan in using the training methodology of the former. Thus, it will give their players the platform to express themselves to the best of their potential.
Benfica's global expansion coordinator Miguel Reis, who was a part of the delegation that visited the club's facilities, spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda and explained what made his team come to India in general, and Sreenidi Deccan in Hyderabad in particular.
"This partnership was a long time coming for sure," Reis said. "We were exploring a lot of options for setting up partnerships across the globe, and India was on our radar for quite some time, quite naturally so, because of the immense population that this country has. We believe that there is a vast amount of untapped potential in this country which we can harness."
"This partnership between Benfica and Sreenidi Deccan will help all young footballers coming through the ranks get exposed to scientific training methodologies and give them the platform needed to showcase their skills," he added. "In a macro perspective, this will help Indian football in general too.
"We are extremely pleased to have this collaboration with Sreenidi Deccan."
"We also have plans to go to Dubai to work on a partnership with Al-Nasr" - Miguel Reis
A long-term project, this ambitious collaboration will take into consideration two age-group categories: Initiation (U-7 to U-13) and Specialization (U-15 to U-19). The partnership also includes player development support programs that cater to strength and conditioning, nutrition, and psychology, among others.
Miguel Reis mentioned that Benfica are also planning to pen a partnership with Al-Nasr SC, the club that plays in the UAE Pro League (not to be confused with Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia).
"We also have plans to go to Dubai to work on a partnership with Al-Nasr, who are considered to be the first and oldest club in the United Arab Emirates. Adel Taraabt, a former player of ours, is there now, and we are happy to see the way he has been flourishing in his career," said Reis.
"We at Benfica are keen on penning technical partnerships with clubs across the globe as we feel that it will be a win-win situation for everyone; the players and the management from each club gets the best of both worlds really. We are enamoured by the culture of football here in Asia and want to delve deeper into it," he signed off.