With the development of sports medicine, the professional life expectancy of football players is further extended. In the past, players over the age of 30 were often referred to as "veterans who are about to enter the end of their careers", but now this number has generally been raised to 35 years old. In the major leagues, there are also various "old demons" who perform well.
One of the most successful Asian players in the Bundesliga in history, former Japanese national team captain Makoto Hasebe, 38, signed a long contract with Eintracht Frankfurt in late February for the end of 2027.
As a player, he will play until the summer of 2023 at least, when he decides whether to retire or not, depending on the situation. For the rest of the time, he will transform into a coach. In other words, his new contract is a "player + coach" double contract.
It is not uncommon for professional players to transform into coaches after the end of their careers, especially in recent years, many young managers have emerged in various european competitions. However, although more and more Asian players are shining in Europe now, there are no people who can really coach in mainstream European competitions after retiring.
What are the difficulties here? So as a great player, can Makoto Hasebe set a precedent for Asians to be coaches and managers in the Bundesliga or in Europe?
Biggest barrier: UEFA's tightening of coaching qualifications
As far as the current situation in international football is concerned, it is difficult for Asians to take charge of the coaching whip in European teams, mainly for two reasons. First, Asia is the weaker side of football than Europe, and South America will have a considerable advantage over other continents.
Second, UEFA is not interoperable with other UEFA professional coaching qualifications, and it is not an easy task to obtain UEFA professional coaching qualifications. Therefore, even coaches who have achieved great success in the Asian arena have basically no opportunity to challenge the coaching of the European arena.
Nakano Yoshiyuki, who has been engaged in football youth training for a long time and has been a coach in the echelons of different amateur teams in Germany, made his own analysis on "FOOTBALL ZONE".
He has been deeply involved in German football for many years, and in July 2009, he obtained the A-level coaching certificate (UEFA A) recognized by the German Football Association, and has successively served as the manager of several lower-level teams, and has also served as a columnist, using his own perspective to observe German football.
Nakano believes that Makoto Hasebe needs to face very big challenges in the future. At this stage, if you want to coach in the Bundesliga, you need to have UEFA professional coach qualification (UEFA S-class), which is the most difficult.
He himself received his A-level certificate in 2009, but for more than 10 years since, he has not been able to go any further. The reason is that the qualification of professional coaches has a gap that is difficult to cross. In Germany, after obtaining the A-level coach certificate, you must have proof of having worked for more than 1 year in any of the following 6 positions.
The six positions are: 1. Assistant coach of Bundesliga, Bundesliga and Bundesliga; 2. Head coach of U17 and U19 echelons of Bundesliga teams; 3. Head coach of women's Bundesliga and Bundesliga; 4. First-team head coach of teams above the 6th league (inclusive); 5. Representative of local youth centers
It may not seem difficult, but the reality is that there are more monks and fewer porridges. After obtaining an A-level coaching certificate, you can join the Professional Coaching League (BDFL), which currently has 5,200 full members.
However, because it is not mandatory for A-level qualification holders to join the organization, there are actually only a few more people holding A-level certificates for European coaches. With such a large population, there are only a few positions available for these coaches to choose from.
Therefore, under the premise that Makoto Hasebe is already 38 years old, it can be said that if he can realize his ideal of coaching the team in the mainstream European league before the age of 50, it can be said to be very remarkable.
Pathfinders in Asia
After obtaining a job certificate for one of the 6 positions mentioned above, it is only the first hurdle. After that, there will be UEFA professional coaching workshops, which are the kind of workshops where we can see group photos of retired stars from time to time.
However, the difficulty of the workshop has now increased. In the past, the workshop was rigorously selected from a pool of 25 qualified coaches. Last year, UEFA announced that it would downsize and reform the system, and the 25-person workshop was reduced to 16 people. The qualifications allocated to the German Football Federation are only 12 winners.
In other words, if a coach with experience in Germany wants to attend this workshop, he needs to be included in the 12-man list framed by the German Football Association, and then look forward to being selected by UEFA for the 16-man list. The probability is low.
As for the reason, UEFA believes that it is necessary to select the elite of the elite in order to ensure the quality of professional coaches. In fact, the number of people who can obtain an S-level certificate is limited, not only by the German Football Federation, but also by all UEFA football federations. Even if you don't take the exam in Germany, the difficulties elsewhere will not be small.
But in any case, Makoto Hasebe has made up his mind to become the pathfinder for Asian coaches in Europe. Frankfurt's willingness to give him a "double contract" for up to 5 years is undoubtedly the greatest affirmation for him.
The veteran, who has been in the Bundesliga for 15 seasons, is considered by many first-class coaches to have the potential to become a great coach. Maybe these words are polite, but let's believe it, after all, the contract life is real.
If in the future, Hasebe can successfully obtain an S-class coaching certificate and seek a managerial job in the mainstream arena in Europe, there is no doubt that it will be a historical precedent. When Japanese coaches and Asian coaches can also become one of the options for European teams, it means that in the future, Asian football, especially East Asian football, which is mainly based on China, Japan and South Korea, can seek more room for development in the world football map.
It is worth mentioning that Makoto Hasebe's enthusiasm for the path of the players has not diminished. Shortly after the official announcement and the club's contract renewal, he himself clarified on his personal social media account: "There is no official decision to end his playing career in the summer of 2023, and it needs to be decided after discussions with the team next spring." ”
It is not surprising that he even plays until 2024. For the rest of the season, as long as he can play one more league game, he can jump to the second place in the list of the oldest appearances in the history of the Bundesliga, behind Uli Stein, who is also a famous Eintracht Frankfurter at the age of 39 and 5 months and 7 days.