Melbourne City coaches Warren Joyce and Patrick Kisnorbo have put football-mad Indian school players through their paces with a surprise training session at the Club’s temporary training base in Kerala.
During its first two days of intense training ahead of its upcoming LaLiga World Tournament match against Kerala Blasters, City players and coaches have been watched closely by local school children looking for tips on how to be the next Bruno Fornaroli or Dean Bouzanis.
Instigator of the spontaneous training session, City Head Coach, Joyce, said the support and welcome the squad has received while in India has been second to none and taking the local children for a session was an easy decision.
“We’ve all been blown away by the support we received from Kerala fans and to give the young players a run out today is part of our way of saying thank you,” said Joyce.
“For us to be able to share some of our knowledge with these kids will help improve and motivate them while giving them something to remember—maybe we’ll convert them to City fans along the way too!” added Joyce.
Two days into the tour, City players have already faced a variety of weather conditions, with heavy rain followed by high humidity and intense heat, providing good early learnings in preparation for the upcoming LaLiga World Tournament and A-League season.
“We’ve put the team through a couple of different work outs over the past two days, pushing them to keep performing even when they’re fatigued,” said Joyce. “The conditions here in Kerala will be similar to those we will face at certain times this season and it’s important the lads know how to adapt to challenging weather and different environments.”
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