Argentinean national Rodolfo Zapata says he is looking forward to taking on the challenge of guiding the Digicel Fiji Junior Bula Boys to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia later this year.
The 56-year-old has a vast experience in coaching different clubs around the world and has signed a one-year contract with the Fiji Football Association.
He said while he has not met the players, he had noticed the quality in them after watching replays of the OFC qualifiers.
“To see the quality of the players that we have, I was positive and that’s the reason I told the president ‘yes’, because of the quality of players,” Zapata said.
“Of course it’s not going to be an easy competition, we need to work in a progressive way to not confuse our players but we need to have clear objectives.”
The former goalkeeper will get straight down to work this week with 46 players during a trial.
“With 46 players ready for this try-out, I will be looking at their basic skills, attitude and other little things in order to get the right team,” he said.
“We have scheduled training camps, friendly games and fitness tests for the players and from there we will see what steps to be taken.”
Zapata started out as a player in the Argentinian second division as a goalkeeper. Due to consecutive knee injuries, he retired from playing and started his coaching career.
In 2001-2009 he was the head coach of USA Olympic development program.
This is a national process for identifying and developing the best youth football players to represent the US in international competitions such as the World Cup and Olympics.
In January 2010, he was based in Akure City where he was head coach of Nigerian professional football league side Sunshine Stars FC.
In 2011–2012 season, he was appointed head coach of MP Black Aces FC in South Africa and 2016–2018 he was head coach of Gaborone United in the Botswana Premier League.
In May 2018, AFC Leopards announced Zapata as their new head coach for the remainder of the Kenyan Premier League season and in 2019, he was appointed as the new head coach of Township Rollers FC in Botswana.
He won the 2018–2019 edition of the Botswana Premier League with his club.
As a result, Township Rollers qualified for the 2019–2020 Africa Champions League.
In March 2021, Zapata joined Mukura Victory Sports in the Rwanda Premier League and in 2021-22 he was head coach of AS Los Angeles.
