Jeff Wu, director of Gothia Cup China and special guest of Commonwealth Cup 2018, gave an exclusive interview for Spartak Tashkent website.
– As we know, this is your first time in Uzbekistan. So what is your first impressions?
– Uzbekistan? Wow! Really friendly people, very special food and also football here. I can sense it, football is very popular here.
– You are Director of Gothia Cup China. Tell us about this tournament. And why it is so important for young football players to participate in it?
– Gothia Cup China is the biggest youth football tournament in Asia. This year we had 300 teams from 33 countries. The purpose of Gothia Cup China is to provide a meeting place for players and coaches from all over the world to enjoy football, to make friends, no matter what religion, what country, what skin color they have for one goal – football. Gothia Cup China is more like football party for children and players. So I hope that their experience is like lifetime experience for them. They can enjoy the football, enjoy the Chinese hospitality and make friends.
– Spartak is official representative of Gothia Cup China here, in Uzbekistan, and among CIS countries. Why did you choose Spartak Tashkent?
– Actually, it’s not like choose, it’s like friendship. I remember first time we met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Then we met at Gothia Cup Sweden, Gothia Cup China, Shenyang and Quingdao. We became friends because of football. Football connects people. And I think, Spartak and Gothia Cup China is more like family or you can say friends. Because of football. That’s why Spartak wanted to help us to promote in Commonwealth countries. And also we can provide for Spartak players a world stage for them to shine. So we help each other like friends.
– You saw Spartak’s matches at the international tournaments. What do you think about level of Uzbekistan football?
– I watched Spartak playing for couple times in Malaysia and in China. The way they play is more technical. Faster. You know, Korea, Japan, Uzbekistan are the top in Asia. They are very competitive in Asia.
– And the last question. What is your plans while you are here?
– This is a long story cause I travel all over the world to promote Gothia Cup China. For example, in September I went to Mexico, Columbia, Peru. And last week I was in Melbourne, Australia. And now I’m in Uzbekistan. So Uzbekistan is the part of my trip around the world.
As it was said earlier, the boss of the Chinese World Youth Cup had already managed to visit the city center, tried the national cuisine and attended the matches of the Commonwealth Cup.
He also took part in an international friendly match among coaches of participating teams of the tournament.
