'Zazu' wants Maltese to think big

One of the most respected and charismatic figures in Maltese football, Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia made his name as a player in Australia before returning to the island to become a coach. The former Pietà Hotspurs FC, Marsaxlokk FC and Sliema Wanderers FC boss shone, in particular, at the helm of Malta's Under-21 side, but is now focusing on running his own football school. There is, however, one job that could tempt the 53-year-old to change tack, as he told uefa.com correspondent Domenic Aquilina.

"The school has always been my baby and I take care of it every day. It has been running for five years. At the moment we have 180 youngsters. The lovely thing is when you see kids at a tender age performing tricks just like the big professional footballers they see on TV. UEFA and FIFA put a lot of focus on grassroots football, even with the credit crunch. It is important that you have top-level coaches at grassroots level as this is the most important level of the game.

Maltese first
"Our school was the first from Malta to be invited to train with Manchester United FC's youngsters, and later this year in August, thanks to Gary Neville, the school will travel to Manchester again. Last August we did the trip and an interesting thing happened. For one session, the United staff mixed all the players, Maltese and English, together. The response we got was really good, and the coaches said that our kids were of a very high standard.

Homegrown belief
"The fact so many Maltese youngsters do not make the grade in top-level football is because they are not willing to make lots of sacrifices. I also believe that the mentality on our island of feeling inferior to foreign players is very wrong. We have to believe that we are as capable as everyone else. With homegrown talents like Michael Mifsud, Daniel Bogdanovich, Etienne Barbara and others doing well, this belief is slowly coming. If we had good agents, our players would have much better chances of playing abroad.

The big job
"My relationship with the Malta Football Association is still very good but I refused a two-year extension to my job as U21 coach in 2006 because I needed a new challenge. I do miss coaching at the top level but at the moment the only position that would interest me is the post of national-team coach. I believe I can do as good a job as any foreign coach who comes to Malta. I also believe that with my motivation, results would finally come our way. That is my vision for Malta. Everyone knows I am quite an outspoken person, but I mean every word I say. I am proud to be Maltese, and I want Maltese football to succeed."