Kochi: Sachin Tendulkar co-owned Kerala Blasters are leaving nothing to chance ahead of the third edition of the cash-rich Indian Super League (ISL), which kicks off in October.
Blasters, looking to put behind them the troubled previous season, will train in Thailand with possible friendly matches with top-flight clubs there.
Ahead of their Thailand sojourn, the players, led by new head coach Steve Coppell, will assemble at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on August 28 for a 10-day introductory camp. The pre-season in Thailand will last two weeks, revealed sources close to the franchise.
Bengaluru FC’s Malayali players Rino Anto and C.K. Vineeth will join the training camp only after their team’s AFC Cup bouts against Tampines Rovers on September 12 and 21. Vinit Rai and Rafeeq Ahammed, who are on national duty, will also miss the camp in Thiruvananthapuram.
Thailand is home to some of the oldest football clubs in the world. Apart from playing friendlies with elite clubs in the premier Thai League and first division teams, the management is also in talks with Thai authorities to arrange practice matches with youth teams at the National Football Training Center.
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Most of the soccer schools and clubs in Thailand offers exceptional training infrastructure and are equipped with flood-lit night training facilities. The only worry is the weather as the country experiences intermittent rains in this period of the year.
Kerala Blasters were the only ISL team that did not go abroad for pre-season training in the previous season.
Last year, the team, coached by former England player Peter Tailor, camped in Thiruvananthapuram and played a couple of friendlies with local clubs SBT and AG’s Office. Eventually, the team finished last in the eight-team league.
In the inaugural season, the Kochi-based club, led by player-manager David James, had flown to Dubai as part of preparations.
It was Atletico de Kolkata, champions of the inaugural edition, who set the trend of flying out of India to prepare for the gruelling three-month long league. Last season, they trained and played friendlies in Spain, the home of their parent club Atletico Madrid. Following suit, the other franchises, with the exception of Blasters, made foreign destinations as their base for pre-season ahead of the ISL’s second edition.
The Kolkata-based franchise will once again travel to Spain for a month-long pre-season training. Coached by Marco Materazzi, defending champions Chennaiyin FC will keep their Italian connection intact and fly to Perugia for a month-long stint.
FC Goa, who trained in Dubai last season where they finished runners-up, will be heading for Brazil, the home country of their coach Zico. Mumba City FC will once again travel to Dubai, while Delhi Dynamos will be gearing up for the new season in Sweden and England.
Pune City FC, who underwent training in Turkey last season, will assemble in Spain for their preseason training this time around.
North East United FC, who will take on Kerala Blasters in the inaugural match on October 1, will be training in South Africa with a strong desire to improve on their fifth-place finish last year.