Usain Bolt on playing for Jamaican soccer team: Anything is possible
Usain Bolt has long said he would like to give competitive soccer a try, dreaming of suiting up for his favorite club, Manchester United.Winfried Schaefer has other plans.
The new German coach of the Jamaican national soccer team would like to see Bolt as a member of the Reggae Boyz.
“In the German newspaper, I read about Usain Bolt saying he wants to play football, and he wants to play in Manchester,” Schaefer said, according to the Jamaica Gleaner. “He’s a Jamaican, and I want him to be on our team.”
Jamaica has qualified for the World Cup out of CONCACAF once, in 1998, and made it to the final round of qualifying with nations such as the U.S. for this year’s World Cup before being bounced.
Schaefer said Puma’s CEO talked up Bolt’s soccer skills, calling Bolt “not bad.”
“But we can make him better,” Schaefer said, according to the newspaper. “When he has good training with our team here in Jamaica, we can make him a very good player. He’s very fast, that’s clear, but when he learns with the ball then he’ll be one of the best players.”
Schaefer even put a date on his plan — after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I hope he wants to play for his country,” the coach told the newspaper. ”He’s a hero here in Jamaica, and I think when he learns how to play with the ball and know what he has to do he’ll be much better. Football is easy, and I know he played many times in joke match or match for charity. But when he plays professional, and I’m his coach, we can make him very good; maybe the best player for counter-attack, nobody can stop him.”
Bolt’s take on the article?
Bolt rival says he’s faster than ever in training