Interview with Daniel Ibanes, new coach of Era-Pack Chrudim

Courtesy: Radek Klier - EFutsal.cz
Interview by Ludek Votava
Photos by Ivana Hoskova

My first goal is to learn Czech, says the new coach of ERA-PACK

There are few futsal players on the planet that has achieved as much as he did. However, there is a new challenge in front of Daniel Ibaňez Caetano: To become a successful futsal coach.
He has chosen Chrudim as his first coaching stage. He wants to bring new order to the team that is on the top of Czech futsal for quite some time. First major change is that Daniel won’t rotate whole formation, as the team was used to, but will substitute on the fly according to the state of the game.

“When half of the formation plays bad and the other one doesn’t, only the bad ones are going to leave the field. If one wins, all of us do,” says the thirty-seven year old coach Daniel.

This is your first coaching job. Do you have any coaching experience?
In Spain it is mandatory to go through three levels of education for coaches. I have just finished the third one. It is necessary to have actual experience in the field to obtain the license. I have been working in Inter Movistar and then in a second league club back in Spain.

Why did you choose Chrudim? Did you have any other offers?
Two teams were interested in me and I must admit that the second offer was more financially interesting. However my selection was based on the strength of the club and that was clearly on the side of ERA-PACK.

Have you ever met any ERA-PACK player, while you were still an active player?
I have met almost every Czech player that plays in ERA-PACK and Max and Cacau of the Brazil players. I played mostly against Czechs in Spanish national team.

You made it clear that the starting point for you is winning the league and the cup. What do you actually know about Czech league?
I know that Chrudim won it couple times in a row and that other teams brought in some foreign players before the new season. It gets harder and harder to beat teams like Teplice or Tango.

You have won the UEFA Futsal Cup four times. However, Chrudim seems to have the doors to the final stage locked pretty tight. What is your recipe to move through this golden gate?
First of all, it is important to say that there are the best teams of Europe in the UEFA Futsal Cup. Chrudim is surely among them. I am not able promise to the fans, journalists or the president that we are going to make it through to the final stage. However I come with enthusiasm and faith that we can make the dream come true. My first goal though is to learn Czech. At the moment I only speak Spanish and Portuguese, so I rely on the help of Brazilians in the team and Tomas Hamsa. The club will provide a Czech teacher for me.

Did you manage to get your hands on the pre-season plans?
Training-wise I was in charge of that. My requirements were that we need to play one or more friendlies every weekend. I wasn’t in charge of choosing the competition, the first confirmed opponent is Tango, which won’t be easy.

Will you take part in the junior team training?
I have already spoken to the president about that. I am ready to take part in the youth categories training.

I have read that your career was ended by an injury. What happened?
No it wasn’t. I suffered an injury in 2007, but I was in a World championship a year later and managed to win European championship in 2010. After that, I sort of lost my motivation.









Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com