'The game is different in Europe': Croatian coaches spend week in London, Ont. teaching soccer skills

Two London, Ont. teens are about to get the soccer experience of a lifetime.

After a weeklong camp with 100 kids led by coaches from Croatia’s GNK Dinamo Academy at the Portuguese Club in London, Thiago Herrera and Lauren Berenz have been invited to go to Zagreb Croatia next March for a training session.

Both are members of the London-St. Thomas Croatia Soccer Club (LSCSC).

“It could just open up my eyes into a lot more of what the sport can be rather than what it already is,” said Berenz, a centre-midfielder for the Under 14 2009 LSCSC team.

Herrera, who is two years older, is thinking about a potential professional career.

“I hope to prove myself over there and show [what] I can do,” said Herrera, who plays on the Under 16 2007 LSCSC team. “It could lead to more exposure over there, and more teams could be interested.”

Thiago Herrera, front left, and Lauren Berenz, front right, were selected by GNK Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia to attend a trial with their academy in Europe in March 2024. (Source: London-St. Thomas Croatia Soccer Club)

The camp was the second in an affiliation between Dinamo Zagreb -SuperSport HNL’s top club, and LSCSC.

“We are really thankful that we can use their knowledge and their experience,” said Mladden Vuginicek, technical director of LSCSC. “There are some differences between the Canada and Croatia styles, and by using their experience, we can try to fix our system.”

This partnership continues to evolve.

Recently, Herrera’s 2007 age group went to Zagreb Croatia for a tournament and training sessions.

“They went to Dinamo where they practiced for four days at Dinamo camp in that amazing stadium,” said Vugrinicek. “This is something we are looking for in the future. We already set up one of our girls teams for next year where they will spend 10 days in Dinamo.”

What the GNK Dinamo academy coaches have discovered in working with the Canadians is the massive skill difference on each team.

Andjelko Ivanjko, assistant director of GNK Dinamo Academy in Croatia, gave instructions during a camp lead by London-St. Thomas Croatia Soccer Club on July 19, 2023. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

In the Croatian academies, the players on each team are all on a similar level, and it's easier to train as all players can handle the drills.

“In Europe, you have, like, top clubs with the top players and you have good clubs with the good players and then they have rest of the clubs with the other players,” said Andjelko Ivanjko, assistant director of GNK Dinamo Academy. “Here [in Canada], you can take a good group and they can do really good things, but when there is a big [skill] difference between the players, you have to make [a drill] that everybody can do.”

Ivanjko hopes to give Herrera and Berenz a small taste of the professional academy.

“Here, you have parents on the side and you have all the people around or on the bench,” said Ivanjko. “At Dinamo, everything is closed. You are with your coach for one or two hours and then you go home, so it's a little bit different.”

He said its in the early stages, but he believes this affiliation has the makings of a great partnership.

“Some clubs, they're affiliated for 20 years and they find maybe one or two players, which is very valuable for us, but also for the London club,” said Ivanjko.