Size doesn’t matter says Pallister
Celebrated former Manchester United defender Gary Pallister, who was in the country to promote the second Airtel Rising Stars initiative, said that if Sri Lankans wholeheartedly commit to football, and focus on skill development, then they will easily surmount any physical barriers that may exist between players from the South Asian region and those from the rest of the world.
“I keep hearing about the size of players from Sri Lanka. I’ll tell you what, I played opposite a small guy called Juninho (Paulista 5ft 5in) in Middlesborough, and he was one of the best players in the world,” Pallister remarked.
“So it doesn’t matter what size you are, if you’ve got skill, you’ve got desire and you want to push yourself then it will take you a long way. You can take any sport and it’s not always the big strong one who wins. Footballers are getting stronger here and across Asia.”
Pallister, who featured prominently in an all-conquering United team which dominated English football during the 90s and boasted of stars such as David Beckham, Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs, praised the Rising Stars programme, saying that it exposed local players to a competitive and professional environment, where excellence was constantly sought out.
“We like to call it the Manchester United way. The kind of skills and training that we implement. It’s only going to help these lads,” he said.
Heaping further praise on the programme, he added that it also provided a unique opportunity to embrace the history and daily workings of a club which has garnered 20 league titles, 11 FA Cups three European Cups and produced a whole galaxy of international big names.
The Rising Stars project also ties in nicely with what, over the years, has been an underlying theme of all suc- cess at Old Trafford, according to Pallister.
“It’s dealing with youth. Manchester United has a history of dealing with youth and giving young players a chance. You have the famous Busby Babes, which was the bedrock of the club; it was based on those guys. So we want to spread it out across the rest of the world, where it might not be as easy to get those sorts of chances,” he said.
The Airtel Rising Stars programme is being held for the second consecutive year in the country and sieves through the island’s football talent to extract 12 players worthy of making the trip to England. The initiative, which will launch at the end of July and proceed for three months, is organized by Airtel in partnership with Manchester United, Tharunyata Hetak and the Football Federation of Sri Lanka.