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"I saw no teasing or chatting at all during practice sessions. The atmosphere on the pitch was so tense and the kids there were so serious during practice," said the 17-year-old from Chon Buri. "Training in Thailand is a more relaxed situation, with some time players and coach chatting or joking with each other."

In Spain, if a player shows any sign of bantering with the coach, he might find himself dropped from the team, he said.

Kroekrit's experience of Spanish soccer came earlier this month when he was one of the winners in Thailand's "Where's the Next?" campaign by Nike, in which 14 Asian youth footballers were selected to join training sessions at the Nou Camp in Barcelona.

Each day, morning practice was from 9am to 11am, while the afternoon sessions second began at 4pm and finished at 6pm.

"Most of the training was dedicated to feet-to-feet passing and practising the creation of formations for delivering the ball forward, from defender to midfielder and then to the forward to finish with a goal," said Kroekrit.

That type of training also showed him something about the difference between the Thai and Spanish styles of play.

According to Kroekrit, the Spanish seem to play more on the ground by letting the ball travel around the pitch. The Thai style tends to have the ball in the air more, kicking it up high and letting the forwards challenge for it.

"Considering that our players have less stamina than Europeans, I think we should play more like the Spaniards do. Passing the ball around, easy and smooth. And quit dribbling too much," said Kroekrit, who is also a member of Thailand's Under-20 team.

Another difference between the Thai and Spanish approaches is how the players are treated by their clubs.

"The team in Spain will pay for everything: accommodation, food, fitness training. They really prepare their youth players to become professionals and serve the team in the future. The continuity of a player's development is very high," he said.

"However, in Thailand I still have to go to school apart from training. But if you are a footballer there [in Spain] at my age, all you have to do is practise and concentrate on playing."

Kroekrit's trip to Barcelona was not just a matter of practising, as he also had a chance to watch a top-level game between Barcelona and Inter Milan of Italy, which the Spaniards won 3-1.

There was also a friendly game between his Nike team and Barcelona's local youth team. The result was a 5-1 loss for the visitors from Asia.

Now back in Thailand and asked whether there is anything that needs urgent improvement on the part of aspiring Thai footballers who seek the opportunity to turn pro, Kroekrit said their attitude toward the game was the thing that should change first, especially when it comes to self-discipline.

"I see many Thai players who have very good skills as youths, but who stop developing those skills because they think they are already good enough - and start to practise less," he said.

"This lack of self-discipline always makes us fall behind when competing for a place at the adult level. It's a pity because, as I saw in Spain, there's not much difference between our youth skill level and that of the Europeans."

By Watchara Saengsrisin

The Nation