Football: Belgian club gateway to Europe for aspiring teens

KAS Eupen striker Manel Exposito says he has never trained so hard. Photo / Getty Images

Former Auckland City striker Manel Exposito has had a first-hand view of the imposing scale of Qatar's football ambition.

Exposito, who won three OFC Champions League titles with the New Zealand club, has been based at Belgian second division KAS Eupen since last July.

The modest club was bought by Qatar's Aspire Academy in March 2013, to be used as a gateway into professional football for their graduates from across Africa.

It is an ambitious venture. Hundreds of thousands of teens are screened from Africa, then a few dozen progress to the Aspire academies in Senegal and Doha. After three years there, the best prospects earn a contract at Eupen, based in a town (population 18,000) bordering Germany and Holland.

"It is an amazing situation," Exposito said. "A lot of them have come from absolutely nothing so it's a massive adjustment for them. But they are very committed. They are always doing extra work, before and after training."

It's an unusual mix. Exposito is one of five experienced Spanish professionals all in their 30s at Eupen, including former Spain and Espanyol winger Luis Garcia. The squad also includes eight Belgians, the league's minimum requirement, and 10 Aspire-sourced Africans (three from Senegal, two from Nigeria and one each from Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana and South Africa), with an average age of 19.

"The idea was to sign some experienced players," Exposito said. "We have a teaching role as well - that was the expectation."

There's a lot to learn, and not just on the park. One recent graduate burned down his kitchen. Another asked for a loan from the team manager after spending his monthly salary within the first week, then arrived at training the next day with a new Ipad mini.

"The weather is the biggest challenge for them," Exposito said. "In terms of climate, this is one of the worst places I have ever lived. There's a lot of rain, it's very cold and there's almost no summer."

The new arrivals often train in triple and quadruple layers, with two pairs of gloves and 'skins'. Exposito recalls visiting his African team-mates' apartments and feeling sauna-like conditions, with heaters set on 32C. Players receive vitamin D supplements in winter and are encouraged to use sunbeds to make up for the lack of sunlight.

Eupen appealed to Aspire because Belgian has generous limits around non-EU players and was a good base for the mostly Francophone Africans. It probably also helped that Eupen were also in financial difficulty.

"Fans often tell me the academy saved the club. Eupen is not a famous club but people have noticed what is happening here. One of our players recently signed with Barcelona B. The skills and desire among them is amazing and I have never trained so hard, not even at Barcelona."