West Adelaide reserves coach Daniel Blanco got his soccer education from the greatest Australian masterminds
Former West Adelaide national soccer league boss Raul Blanco has unwittingly handed his son Daniel a five-star coaching apprenticeship.
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The 1970’s were the golden generation of Australian soccer coaching and those legends helped produce the best Socceroos, but they are hardly recognised for their great results.
The likes of Raul Blanco, Eddie Thomson, Rale Rasic, Les Schienflug helped shape the careers for some this countries greatest players and performances when they were Australian coach.
Daniel Blanco - son of Socceroo and West Adelaide coaching legend Raul Blanco - says he is blessed to have an influential father.
To have some of the greatest masterminds like ex-West Adelaide boss Manfred Schaefer, Thomson and former Adelaide City bosses Scheinflug and Rasic popping in at home influencing his young mind is an education money cannot buy he said.
Daniel currently coaches West Adelaide’s reserves and has ambitions of following in his father’s footsteps.
Raul led West Adelaide for 110 NSL matches, the Socceroos, the Olyroos and any many more clubs in Australia after leaving his native Argentina where he starred for Arsenal before signing for former NSW club Sydney Prague in 1967.
“Raul and the gang they taught me everything,’’ Daniel, 45, said before West hosts Raiders on Saturday in an NPL clash from 5pm at Angle Park.
“I was privy to conversations with dad, Eddie Thomson, Les Scheinflug, Rale Rasic, Manfred Schaefer, I heard a million conversations from them about the game.
“They were looking at everything, Les was like an uncle to me, the day I was born he was in the hospital visiting.
“When dad arrived in the country Les picked him up from the airport and they’ve known each other since.
“Les was at home four times a week, otherwise dad was at his house.”
A former national soccer league player with APIA Leichhardt and Parramatta Melita, Daniel is now the account and client relations manager at Border Express in Salisbury.
He was happy to have Raul visit him in Adelaide last week after moving from Sydney more than a year ago.
“I was initially going to work at Campbelltown with (coach) Joe Mullen to be his video analyst and the technical director of their juniors but they had a change of plans,’’ Daniel said.
“I called Alex Alexandrou (chairman) from West and he said the under 18s were available and last year we won the premiership and the grand final.”
And Daniel said he can’t help but admire what his father had achieved in the game.
Raul spent 20 years as a coach of Australia’s national teams.
He was first an assistant to Scheinflug for Australia at the 1981 FIFA World youth championships.
He led the Socceroos to Oceania Nations Cup victory in 1996 and was in charge of the Olyroos at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Thomson was Socceroo coach from 1990 until 1996.
Scheinflug is the only Australian coach to lead the national team to a FIFA World Cup final when the Australian under 17 team was beaten by Brazil on penalties in 1999.
Rasic was the first coach to lead the Socceroos to a maiden FIFA World Cup finals appearance in West Germany in 1974.
Schaefer was capped 72 times and featured at the 1974 World Cup finals for the Socceroos.
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