In the footsteps of Díaz & Rodríguez
© la Equidad
Fabian sponsor has committed himself to youth football earlier. He worked as a young coach for TSV 1860 Munich and SpVgg Greuther Fürth. But for some years now, the Free State of Bavaria has not been his home, but rather the unknown abroad. In the meantime, the 35-year-old works as an academy manager at the Colombian first division team CD La Equidad Seguros SA. At the transfer market, he gives detailed insights into his work.
When a few months ago after a flight of several hours ago, Colombian soil felt again under his feet, it was like a home. When he left the country in 2023, he promised to return one day. At that time, he had worked for the Academia Alemana de Fútbol Popayán for over two years, and in this way learned the country, love people and football. “I got to know my wife here, accordingly we already had in mind that we might eventually return to Colombia. Colombia is incredibly diverse. The country offers two coastal regions, altitudes, desert areas, and Colombian cuisine should also not be underestimated,” says bearer.
In recent years, he has been able to gain experience in Austrian football, but also on the African continent. On the side of the former HSV professional Collin Benjamin, sponsor worked as an assistant coach of the Namibian national team. “My absolute highlight was participating in the Africa Cup last year. The competition fascinated me as a teenager. I still know that I looked at a lot of games at Eurosport at the time. Since only a few African teams have been able to qualify for the World Cup in the past, the Africa Cup has an even greater status for many nations. Dances and chants in the cabin before every game.
At the CD La Equidad, Colombian Cup winner from 2008 and in the hands of a US investor group, he took on the role as a young manager. The association is led by Al Tylis and Sam Porter, which already appeared as a partner at the Mexican Club Necaxa. The two actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney, who celebrated the march in the Championship with the AFC WREXHAM, also invested in the Colombian association. “I have not yet had any discussions with Ryan Reynolds, rather my communication and the intensive exchange about President Nicolas Maya, but also about Sam Porter. I felt the club’s trust from the start: When I approached Sam Porter after two weeks, he actually accepted all my suggestions and did not hesitate to give his approval for the implementation. I already noticed: they mean it seriously, ”says carrier.
At the beginning he had to fight with some challenges. “Unfortunately, youth work has been neglected in recent years. When I arrived, the club had only a few coaches, the individual youth teams consisted of 30 to 40 children. There was little training material. In my first official act, I first ordered a ball for every player. The place is sacred to us – here it was spared and looked ramped,” explains the native of Passau.
Carrier reveals peculiarities of Colombian football
Carrier knows how to structure and organize the NLZ in the future. Of course, he also wants to incorporate German expertise. Even if football is the same in every country, big differences can be made in youth promotion. “Basically, the clubs and the coaches are already right in Colombia. Almost every means is right to get the three points. The way in which the club is played hardly plays a role. Topic.
While it is almost impossible in Germany to fall through the grid of professional clubs as a talented youth player, the youth scouting in Colombia is not so closely built up. “Especially in the coastal regions, the kids often do not play in the club until puberty, but kick with their friends at home in the villages. If at all, they are trained by a single trainer. Rather, the street kicker mentality develops: Nobody gives itself.
The sponsor of CD La Equidad is located in Bogotá. In the fight for the talents, the club has to prevail against the young academies of the traditional clubs Millonarios FC and independent Santa Fe. “Bogotá has six professional clubs, four of which play in the first division. That is why the struggle for the talents is increasing. What will differentiate between us from the other clubs in the future is a clear training philosophy. In Germany something like that may not be normal. Take off clubs, ”emphasizes the ex-youth coach of the Munich Löwen.
With a bad feeling by Bogotá? Carrier avoids certain quarters
Keyword Bogotá: The fact that the Colombian capital is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world does not cause discomfort. “I don’t go through the city with a bad feeling because I stick to certain rules. If you know what can happen, you go through the streets more carefully. You avoid certain quarters and only take a taxi after dark.”
I have visited a village in which hundreds of children kicked continuously at the soccer field from sunrise to sunset. For me that was pure football romance.
Because of the high poverty and crime, football offers support for many people. “Football is often the only way out of poverty for the majority of children in Colombia, school education is very neglected, especially in the poor regions – there are only compulsory schooling here on paper. The boys know that they often only have this chance,” says carrier. Many of these talents started kicking on the street. “A few years ago I was in the course of a scouting tour in the Chocó, one very neglected region in Colombia. There I visited a village where hundreds of children at the soccer field kicked from sunrise to sunset. This was pure football romance here.
All young players not only unite the goal of gaining a foothold in the home league, but rather making the jump to Europe. As a result, players like Luis Díaz or James Rodríguez are great role models and idols. But the sponsor also tries to realistically live his player that not everyone will make it to the football professional. Therefore, he attaches great importance to the fact that the school is not neglected.
“Our claim is to show a plan B. And at least it provides for a school leaving certificate. At the same time, I do not take his dream away. Dreams are the best motivators and drivers. Of course, the boys dream of a career in the big European leagues – but even countries such as Mexico, Brazil or the USA have also become attractive options,” is the case.
Only because his club got support from Germany in the position of the NLZ manager does not mean that youth work is very important, critics could be unkind. However, CD La Equidad wants to prove that behind the words there are also deeds with a clear young philosophy – with a common thread to the professional team, where it is consistently placed on your own talent.
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The club has the second youngest squad on the league. The most recent example of consistent youth work is Élan Ricardo, who was transferred to the traditional Turkish club Besiktas in Istanbul for almost 2 million euros in February. With Jovanny Bolívar and Carlos Vivas, the next raw diamonds are facing Europe before moving to Europe. “Our claim is to increase the permeability in the club sustainably. However, this stands and falls with the quality of our training – and from this, with the quality of our youth players. Our task in the academy is therefore to develop us further at all levels. The key to the continuous development of our players is our trainers. Therefore I consider the targeted trainer development as one of the central building blocks to optimize the entire academy work.”
Los Cafeteros, the national team, shows that football in Colombia is an absolute religion. Most recently, the team was able to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. “The national team is the whole pride of the country. When the team plays, the whole country is quiet. Everywhere you see flags and people walking around with jerseys. People are even allowed to go home earlier so that the game is generally omnipresent. There are radio and TV channels that report all day. The club is or has no opinion on sport.
By Henrik Stadnischenko