WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – University of Hartford’s Men’s Soccer Coach Dan Gaspar will serve on the staff of the Portuguese Football Federation’s national team staff for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, which begins Friday (June 11). Gaspar will also keep a blog throughout the entire tournament. Read Here
Portugal kicks
off its 2010 World Cup campaign on June 15 when it meets Côte d’Ivoire
at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The squad will
match-up with North Korea on June 21 in Cape Town and will play its last
match against Brazil on June 25 in Durban.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to President Walter Harrison and Director of Athletics Pat Meiser for allowing me the opportunity to participate in a World Cup Qualifier,” said Gaspar. “I am thrilled for this exceptional opportunity, and proud to be an American coach involved in an international event of this magnitude.”
Coach Gaspar reunites with Professor Carlos Queiroz, the current Head Coach of Portugal. They previously worked together at last year’s World Cup Qualifiers, Sporting Lisbon, Grampus Eight in Japan, the South African National Team and the MetroStars of Major League Soccer (now the Red Bulls).
Last year, Portugal participated in the qualifying stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where the team had a qualifying campaign with a pair of wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the Final Draw held in December of 2009, Portugal was drawn one of the toughest groups where it will face five-time champion Brazil and Africa’s top contender, Côte d’Ivoire.
In addition, Gaspar and Queiroz coached together with the Portuguese National Team during their preparation for the 1994 World Cup. Gaspar has also worked with the Portuguese Team under Felipe Scolari, the former head coach of the Brazilian national team that won the World Cup in 2002.
Also, Gaspar and Queiroz co-authored Project 2010, a plan commissioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation to win the World Cup in 2010.
Gaspar has served as the goalkeeper coach for Benfica and Porto; the latter during the season in which he helped lead the team to a World Intercontinental Championship in Japan. Regarded as one of the top goalkeeper coaches in the world, Gaspar trained FC Porto's Vitor Baia, who was selected as the UEFA's Best European Goalkeeper in 2004.
Gaspar is also the owner and operator of Star Goalkeeper Academy and the Connecticut Soccer School. At Hartford, Gaspar and the Hawks finished 2009 with an 8-7-3 overall record including a 4-2-1 mark in conference play and the squads’ first trip the America East semifinals since the 2003 season. He has also been instrumental in increasing the fan base at Hartford, which for 2008 ranked 39th nationally, to an 814 per-game average and last season, ranked 41st in the nation.