Soccer hero to return for football clinic
PHUKET: Peter Withe, arguably Thailand’s most successful head coach ever and currently Indonesia’s national coach, is to return to Thailand to take part in a football clinic in Phuket, for children who were affected by the tsunami.
This Sunday, August 28, the three-hour free clinic at Surakul Stadium for some 400 students from 19 schools will start at 8:30 am with an opening ceremony hosted by the Governor of Phuket, Udomsak Uswarangkura.
The event, sponsored by Tesco Lotus, the Jason Withe Football Development Organization and Adidas, will be staggered so that students are able to receive maximum personal attention.
The day will include entertainment at 11 am and a football match pitting the Phuket Area Educational Office against the “Allstars” at 3 pm.
Withe coached Thailand to some spectacular wins in the Tiger Cup in 2000 and 2002, as well as leading the national side to an unforgettable victory over South Korea in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
The much-traveled Liverpudlian was controversially suspended on full pay for the last two months of his contract by the Football Association of Thailand, ostensibly for wearing shorts at games instead of a suit.
Withe scored the winner for Aston Villa against Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup Final.
