Mumbai City FC kickstart their pre-season camp in Valencia

Even as the city readies forthe opening Fifa U-17 World Cup game, slated for Friday, city-based Indian Super League franchise Mumbai City FC quietly landed in Valencia, Spain via Paris for a 33-day long pre-season camp.

The Ranbir Kapoor co-owned team will play a series of matches during their stay at the Oliva Nova Beach and Golf Hotel in Valencia, which boasts of all the modern facilities a professional football club needs for its training.

All the team’s Indian players have already undergone their medicals and a short conditioning camp in Pune.

The head coach of the team, Alexandre Guimaraes, along with their eight foreign recruits, will also arrive at the same time in Valencia from different parts of the world, to prepare alongside their Indian colleagues.

Mumbai City, under Guimaraes, finished at top of the league table last season, but went down to eventual champions Atletico de Kolkata in the semi-finals.

Guimaraes has his eyes set on the championship this year and aims to get all the players in top shape before the ISL begins in November.

“It’s going to be a long and tough season. I need to prepare the players with that in mind so that they can play at their best all the way till the end,” the Costa Rican said.

“We are looking to play a lot of competitive matches and that too against some strong teams. The goal is to get a lot of match time during the camp and to come back and give a good account of ourselves, like we did last year,” he added.

Mumbai City FC haven’t signed any marquee player, having opted for a relatively young side, and are looking at their young guns to deliver. Their key retentions include former Brazil U-17 captain Gerson Viera, and Lucian Goian.

The team flew to Dubai last year for their pre-season camp and returned unbeaten. They will look to repeat the feat this time too, just as they are keen on doing better than last year’s semi-final finish.

“A month-long camp will give all the players enough time to gel on and off the pitch. Valencia is a great place to train and the facilities provided there will be top-notch and the team will play strong teams, which will be good to prepare for the upcoming season,” Indranil Blah, CEO of Mumbai City FC, said.

Mumbai City FC will take on Bengaluru FC away from home in their season opener on November 19, and will make their first home appearance against neighbours FC Goa on November 25.