We are just one day away from finally seeing our Caltex Socceroos in action as they gear up for Friday night’s pre-FIFA World Cup friendly with the Czech Republic.
With the third game of Bert van Marwijk’s era so near, there was still time for the players to finish one final session in Antalya, Turkey before flying to Austria, where they will face the Czech Republic at the NV Arena in St Polten.
With kick-off scheduled for 9pm AEST on Friday night, 1pm local time, the Caltex Socceroos started Day 11 with a ‘Matchday -2’ session from their training base in Turkey.
Skipper Mile Jedinak trained for the first time since joining up with the team and there were the familiar warm up and passing exercises used before the players then went into an 11v11 game to get them feeling sharp for the test of the Czech Republic.
“In training we’re working on what we’re going to be doing in the game,” explained right-back Josh Risdon to socceroos.com.au.
“It’s good to take what we’re doing on the training pitch into a couple of friendlies to warm up for a World Cup.
“It will be a massive test for us and we’ll look to get 90 minutes into the legs as we’re really looking forward to our first hit out.”
While the players and technical staff on the pitch were working hard, the remainder of the Caltex Socceroos were back in the hotel finalising the logistics for Day 11’s afternoon flight into Vienna.
Although the team will be away for just two nights, and return to Turkey the day after their Czech match, over 70 items of team equipment needs to be transported from Antalya to Austria.
Everything from foam rollers, GPS units, training and match kits as well as physio gear and massage tables were shifted into an equipment van and the team bus and taken to the airport, while the players just travelled with carry-on luggage.
After the short flight into Austria, the team then had a 45-minute bus trip to the new team accommodation where they rested up and prepared for tomorrow’s ‘familiarisation’ training session on the NV Arena pitch.
This article was originally published at: www.socceroos.com.au/news/day-11-wrap-inside-caltex-socceroos-pre-game-flight
