Today national coach of Guyana
©Guyana Football Federation
After his active career, which brought him over 200 games in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga – most of them for FCK and Homburg – Thomas Dooley moved across the globe as a coach. The American with German roots has now moved to Guyana, where he took over the national team. Transfermarkt met the 64-year-old for an interview.
Shortly before Christmas, the ex-professional, who has mainly traveled to tropical areas such as Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines in recent years, is clearly in a good mood about his upcoming return to Germany. “Of course I’m looking forward to the German Christmas markets, but I’m even more looking forward to being with my family again. In the past, unfortunately, I often wasn’t in Germany for Christmas. What I didn’t really miss was the weather,” says the Bechhofen native.
If you take a closer look at the 64-year-old’s coaching resume, you might get the impression that he is consciously striving for exotic adventures. In fact, “after my playing career, it wasn’t necessarily my goal to go abroad. I would have liked to become a coach in Germany, but at the same time I’ve always been very adventurous. When I was traveling with the American national team, I tried to see as many of the countries we were visiting as possible. I find it incredibly interesting to get to know new people, new cultures, new culinary offerings. For me, the love of football knows no national borders,” says Dooley.
Dooley as a football development worker: “Decision not made lightly”
A few months ago, the 81-time international player took on another exciting job – as national coach of Guyana. In the South American country, the former Bundesliga professional is something of a development worker. “I didn’t make this decision lightly. I took a lot of time to talk to those responsible and watched a lot of games and videos of the national team. It became clear to me very quickly what the real problem was – and that’s exactly what I’ve been dealing with for years: Technically and tactically, there are some basics, but in the mental area there’s a lot of catching up to do. When I saw that the main construction site was in the head and not in the lack of talent, it was clear to me: I can do this “I can really make a difference with my experience and my approach and that’s exactly what appealed to me: to bring a national team forward step by step through mental strength,” said Dooley.
Although Guyana borders Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname, all of which have football as their national sport, football plays a minor role in the coastal state. The number 1 popular sport is clearly cricket. Dooley came to his new place of work with clear sporting goals. One of them is the improvement in the FIFA world rankings. After all, the “Golden Jaguars” can only be found in 150th place, behind nations such as Lesotho, Yemen and Burundi.
“Of course we want to grow and progress here. In order to make football attractive for children and young people in the long term, the national team has to become the driving force. We have to work in such a way that the children consciously decide that they would rather go into football because they want to be like national team player XY and a switch to cricket is even an option.”
Dooley initially faced some challenges. “There was still a very Caribbean mentality within the team. I don’t want to deprive the boys of characteristics that set them apart. But I do expect a certain form of discipline and professionalism. For example, I have imposed an absolute ban on cell phones. If the boys have to communicate on the pitch, then please do so at breakfast, lunch or dinner. That’s why there was an absolute ban on cell phones at meals and in meetings. I want the boys to talk to each other and not stare at a small screen like monsters,” says Dooley grins and adds:
“We shouldn’t make the mistake of comparing Guyana to a European country. A new gym for the football association was recently opened here, which was extremely celebrated. We currently have an artificial turf on which we train, and a new football-only stadium is currently being built. The old stadium only consists of three stands and is very outdated.”
Dooley in Guyana: Difficult search for sponsors
Some time ago, Guyana was one of the poorest countries in South America. Due to its large oil reserves, the country is now one of the emerging states on the continent. But as Dooley knows, not much of the money is currently reaching the Guyanese Football Association. “The association tries to make everything possible possible. However, the limited financial resources always cause challenges. At the same time, even small things like new equipment pose problems for us. For example, we are currently looking for sponsors who will provide the association with balls or perhaps a new jersey supplier or smaller sponsors for energy drinks,” says the 64-year-old.
While professional leagues already exist in other small South American countries, football in Guyana is still played on an amateur basis in many places. In the domestic league “GFF Elite League” only a few clubs work under professional conditions. “Defence Force and Slingerz FC usually play for the title among themselves because they are one of the few clubs that can also pay salaries to the players. At the other clubs, the players have a normal job and therefore only train a few days a week. For them, football is just an ambitious hobby. As a result, games between the top teams very often end with clear wins. Of course, everyone wants more excitement in the league, but there are only a few local companies that support the clubs or generally support the league as a sponsor,” explains Dooley.
Structures at amateur level: “Getting the national team out of the basement”
The weak league also has an impact on the national team. Accordingly, players who work abroad, such as captain Nathan Moriah-Welsh, Osaze De Rosario and Omari Glasgow, play an even more important role. “When the national team coughs, it affects all of football in the country. The league gets pneumonia and the youth sector is in danger of dying out. The difference between international and local players is very big at the moment. Many of them lack the basics. Technically, tactically, but above all in the attitude and experience in the professional field. My goal is to get the national team back out of the basement and that means, among other things, integrating two or three players from the domestic league into the national team every year and integrating them step by step to get to this level,” says Dooley, explaining his goal.
He wants to help the players make their dream of professional football possible. A dream that he himself was able to live out for years. Dooley played 199 Bundesliga games in his career and was even able to celebrate winning the German championship and the DFB Cup with 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
During the conversation with Transfermarkt, the Palatinate native also reminisces about old memories. Especially as the World Cup gets closer in the USA next year. The connection between the USA and the World Cup is a very special one for the son of an American and a German mother. The last time a World Cup was held in the States, he was one of the leading players on the American national team.
The USA team at the 1994 World Cup
“In the run-up to the final tournament, we played two friendly games against England and Germany. In the game against England, Paul Ince literally kicked me and I tore a ligament. My coach at the time, Velibor Milutinovic, asked me to still play in the game against Germany because my teammates were too afraid and respectful of the German national players. Despite my torn ankle ligaments, I played for 90 minutes, played a very strong game, even scored twice. Even though we were… After losing 3-4, that was our wake-up call for a good World Cup,” remembers Dooley, who was able to advance with his team to the round of 16.
“Back then, we were brought to training and to the stadium every day with a large police escort. Next door was a basketball court where at least 30 people were playing, and they weren’t interested in us at all. I was actually very annoyed because I thought to myself, one of the biggest sports tournaments in the world was taking place here and no one was interested. After our win in the second game against Colombia, everything changed. Suddenly these basketball players were lined up on the street and cheering for us,” he remembers.
During Dooley’s active time, football in the States often lived in the shadows behind ice hockey, basketball and American football. “When we played home games with the national team against South or Latin American teams, it was not uncommon for the home game to be more like an away game. The MLS wasn’t really a flagship back then either. If Lamar Hunt and Philip Anschutz hadn’t consciously invested in the MLS back then and made it big, football would have remained an absolutely fringe sport,” says Dooley, who experienced the league’s early days for the Columbus Crew and the New York MetroStars himself.
Dooley: “The USA has become a football nation”
He also remembers with a smile the so-called shootout penalties that were used in the event of a draw after regular time to determine the winner of a game. A player had to run towards the goalkeeper from 35 meters and try to put the ball into the goal. “It was silly, crazy and purely for entertainment. I remember a game against San José where we had to do a shootout like that. It was sweltering and I was knocked out standing. I was supposed to be the fifth shooter, but I had fatal leg cramps in both legs. Luckily the game was decided early on. I don’t know if I would have made it 35 meters,” Dooley says with a laugh.
A lot has happened since then. The MLS final a few days ago was watched by several million viewers on TV. The World Cup taking place next year should be the next highlight for the sporting nation. “The USA has become a football nation. The young people and children who turned to football back then now have children of their own and so football has been able to grow. I have a lot of confidence in the national team. I even believe that with the fans behind us it is possible to advance to the semi-finals. I hope for an atmospheric World Cup and I am very sure that the USA will be a fantastic host,” emphasizes Dooley in conclusion.
Text and interview: Henrik Stadnischenko