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By Oliver Trust


BERLIN cheap nike air max 120 , Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- President of the Deutsche Fussball Bund (DFB - German Football Association) Wolfgang Niersbach expects new impetus within the game in Germany. In an exclusive interview, the 63-year old told Xinhua that "the World Cup win makes it imperative for us to increase our efforts."


Niersbach continued by saying, "After the 1990 World Cup, over 100,000 new kids joined football clubs in Germany. It won't be so many this time around due to demographic trends."


Niersbach then pointed out that even a successful football nation like Germany has to fight hard to get youngsters to take up the game. A survey has shown that there were approximately 4,000 fewer junior teams in the 10 to 14 age groups last year. "18.5 million people play football in Germany, 6.8 million are members in a club. It means there's still a lot of scope to grow and improve."


For Niersbach, the German association's efforts will help to set new benchmarks. "Many other countries around the world will take a close look at our system. We have around 1,300 coaches working in 366 special football academies and additionally there are club academies. They all went a long way to making us so successful in Brazil," said Niersbach when looking at the trend-setting strategy that has returned the country to the top after the disastrous 2000 European Championship. "Since 29 July, we have a new and unique service-portal for amateur-footballers and clubs in which 6.5 million euro will be invested annually."


Niersbach announced that the German association will begin building a new institute whose purpose will be to collect scientific data on football and instigate new trends. "It's another measure designed to help us stay at the top of the tree for years to come," added the association's president.


Such measures, Niersbach told Xinhua, are not the only reasons why Germany won the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. "There are not only 11 or 14 guys that make you win. Like in 1990, we had an outstanding team spirit. A good example was Per Mertesacker, who still handed out water bottles even though he wasn't selected. There were 23 young sportsmen who stuck together come what may."


The 2014 win was the result of a "long term intensive effort" to "change things after 2000", said Niersbach. "For the last ten years, we have followed a strict plan to improve the coaching of young footballers and ensure we instilled greater professionalism." No matter how a tournament goes," he continued, "you have got to debrief and analyze everything from top to bottom afterwards. Winning in Brazil has crowned all the good work we put in over the years."


But winning football's biggest crown shall, according to Niersbach, not be the end of the story. "A former coach of mine once told me that monuments are, as far as football goes, only made out of cardboard so that they can be set fire to quicker, responded Niersbach when asked if Germany's football could dominate world football in the years to come. "I'll you a story: In the night after the final, I told the UEFA president that we were now aiming to win the 2016 European Championship in France. Actually it was a joke but we on the other hand don't want to another 24 years for the next title."


Looking at the "human resources" available, Niersbach expects further progress in countries like China. "China loves sport in general and football in particular. I'm closely following the developments being made in China but I'm also closely monitoring the general development around the world. Looking back at 2014 World Cup, Costa Rica and Belgium were two other teams to make big progress."


Niersbach informed Xinhua that Germany would support the idea of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar taking place in winter-time instead of summer. A decision in favor of the idea would mean a precise scheduling to avoid problems for league football around the world. He also supports the use of the new dead-ball spray as it supports the work of referees and the chance to use four substitutes during matches.


"If you consider the number of games players have play these days and the burdens of say a World Cup tournament in a demanding climate, you wonder who is going to be in a fit state to take penalties after 90 minutes and extra time?" said Niersbach.


In addition to that Niersbach wasn't happy about European federation's decision to play Europe's major tournament with 24 teams instead of 16 in the future. "16 is a more clear number that gives football t