Pattaya: Ramiro Amarelle's glittering playing career made him one of beach soccer's biggest stars, now he is tasked with growing the sport in the world's most populous country, starting with AFC Beach Soccer Championship Thailand 2019.



For more than two decades, life has been a beach for Amarelle. After progressing through the youth ranks as a footballer at Deportivo La Coruña, he made the permanent switch to the sand as a 19-year-old, making his debut for the Spanish national team in 1997.

What followed was a stellar 16-year international career, which included over 300 international goals and an extensive list of individual accolades which included two MVP Awards at FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups in 2003 and 2008.



Now the head coach of China PR, a nation which has never reached the global Finals, the 41-year-old is hoping to impart some of his ample experience on his playing squad.

But despite his enviable résumé, Amarelle told the-AFC.com he believes learning from his players is just as important as teaching them.

"When I accepted the challenge to coach China it was because Asia, for me, is another Continent and they have another culture, and the country has a lot potential in a lot of aspects," he explained.

"Everybody knows China can lead the world in a lot of aspects, but in sport, and in beach soccer especially, they are not as developed and I think it could be a great chance for me to learn, to try to understand better my players, their culture and their internal procedures, because China is a special country.

"All countries are special; I know, but you have to learn from them. How to move, how to improve, how to grow inside the country. I'm trying to pass my experiences to the players right now, but its most important to try to understand them.

"I try to help them as much as I can with my experience and my knowledge of the sport. but I'm trying also to learn from them and understand how they think and how they live in order to help them.

"This is my first objective. First comes the person, then comes the sport," he concluded.

China PR lost all four of their matches at the 2017 AFC Beach Soccer Championship Malaysia, and their path to the knockout stage appears difficult once again in Thailand.

United Arab Emirates and Lebanon, who both reached the final four in 2017, and first-timers in Kyrgyz Republic stand in their way this time, and Amarelle concedes short-term success is unlikely for his side, placing more emphasis on the lessons and processes he believes can set the country up for future accomplishments.

"For us, it's a great honour to be here and be part of the AFC competition. We are in the process of learning and improving beach soccer in China," he said.

"We are trying to promote and develop the sport in our country, which is difficult for us because our country in huge. It is not easy to go all around the country, but we are trying to plan for the long term."

"Right now for us, this competition is not the best moment to try to compete, because we are not ready to compete against this kind of teams. For us, it's an amazing challenge and an amazing chance to learn and practice because we have UAE who are a World Cup side and it's a big challenge to be in the same group as team.

"Lebanon also missed out in the last minute to qualify for the last World Cup in fourth position. We are also sure that we are going to learn from Kyrgyz Republic."

Amarelle is a true believer, both in beach soccer's potential in China and in the sport as a whole, and he sees Thailand 2019 as another major milestone in the sport's development in Asia.

"I wish the best for the sport. I hope this tournament will be useful for the AFC because this is the second time they are running it For us it means a good chance to improve and grow. In 2017, we had 11 teams as part of the tournament, now we have 15," he said.

"For me it's also my first time in Asia to be part of this event and part of beach soccer in another Continent. The family of beach soccer goes around the world and seeing everyone in all countries pushing to move forward and seeing AFC support it is a great pleasure for me."

 


Preview: Groups A & B

"People come now to see a beach soccer match and they learn from it and enjoy it a lot. This year we have (Isalmic Republic of) Iran, UAE, Japan and Oman who have played in the World Cup a lot of times. These are top teams in the world, and I am so excited to be here to learn from these kind of teams and pass this on to my country, now that I'm working with China, and I would really love to help them increase their growth.

"In beach soccer we are working together, and if we work together (in Asia), we will go further and faster,"

China PR kick off the AFC Beach Soccer Championship against Lebanon on Thursday, before facing UAE and Kyrgyz Republic in their remaining Group B matches.

Photos: AFC, AFPSource: the-afc.com