ISL 2017: Kerala Blasters arrive in Spain to continue their pre-season preparation

What's the story?

Indian Super League is all set to kick-start its latest campaign on November 17 when Kerala Blasters and Amar Tomar Kolkata go head-to-head in what promises to be a mouth-watering clash.

Teams have been busy with their pre-season campaign and Kerala Blasters have not been an exception to that trend. The team from South India have already landed in Marbella, Spain and will train in the renowned Marbella Football Center for the few upcoming weeks.

In case you didn't know...

The — Marbella Football Centre is renowned for its high-quality service and for the availabilty of fine pitch

Marbella Football Centre is famous throughout the world as one of the finest high performance centers to carry out professional trainings. Situated in the tourist-paradise of Malaga, the teams that come to train here are provided with a high class floodlit pitch, fully equipped gym, relaxation room, two changing rooms, spa and a meeting room.

Indeed, such is the quality of the training ground that the U-17 teams of Mexico, South Korea, Iran, Spain and France underwent their last training sessions here before landing to India for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The heart of the matter

Kerala Blasters will undergo their pre-season at the Marbella Football Center. An acclaimed destination for professional pre-seasons, Marbella enjoys the same climate as India does. Since almost all the days are sunny, Marbella will act as the impeccable haven for the team in the coming days.

Almost all players have joined the camp, excluding the Indian National team members and Wes Brown. The team kick-started their camp today as Rene Muelensteen joined the side in Marbella. The team will likely play against some of the teams from the Segunda division.

What's next?

With roughly everyone in the squad, the training there could help Kerala Blasters gel up quickly. It will also help Rene Muelensteen structure the strategies for the upcoming edition. The climate in Marbella also favours their preparation as the squad will have to play in an environment that is similar to that of India.

Author's take

The decision from the team to practise in Marbella is appreciable, just like their last year's choice of playing their pre-season in Thailand before the third edition of the ISL kicked off. The games they play here will help the team build perfect plans for the upcoming season and, who knows, go all the way to win their first ISL title.

Edited by Umid Kumar Dey