MILANELLO – On Monday morning and following Sunday’s derby, the players were back at Milanello to take part in a morning training session and commence preparations ahead of this weekend’s match away at Udinese.

The players that didn’t start the match against the nerazzurri headed out to the central pitch for a warm-up which included a mixture of fitness and technical drills over 4 work stations. The players that started Sunday’s derby on the other hand took part in a lighter training session in the gym.

After the warm-up and stretching, the players worked on a possession drill 6 v 6 with 2 free floating players. Monday’s session came to an end with a 7 v 7 practice match with 2 small goals.

Individuals: Mattia Destro and Hachim Mastour trained with the group.

The goalkeepers trained with the goalkeeping coach.

Stephan El Shaarawy, on the comeback trail after being given the all clear to resume with physical activity, will continue with his training programme.

On Tuesday, the squad will train again at 15.30 and step up their preparations for the match away to Udinese.

The prestigious youth tournament will bring together some of the best European sides, but also from South Africa, where football is constantly on the up: Arsenal FC (England), PSV Eindhoven (Holland), Galatasaray (Turkey), Celtic FC (Scotland), Stuttgart (Germany) have all accepted the invite in addition to Milan. Carrying the hopes for the host nation meanwhile will be KZN Academy XI and an U-19 South Africa national side.

Every team has accepted the invite with enthusiasm, aware that the chance to play and stay in a wonderful city like Durban doesn’t happen every day, allowing the players and the coaching staff the chance to experience the cultural diversity that the province of KwaZulu-Natal has to offer and of course the opportunity to showcase their footballing talents.

The head of the AC Milan Youth Sector Filippo Galli had this to say on Milan’s participation: “It’s a very important tournament in the international football scene and it is an honour for us to take part. Having the chance to take part in these type of experiences abroad improves our players from a technical point of view, but also on a personal level, allowing them to come into contact with different cultures. For our youth sector team, it’s a big chance to prepare for the coming season in the best possible way in a tournament of such a high standard.” 

It promises to be an extraordinary opportunity for Milan’s talents to continue on their development path by testing themselves against the best sides from Europe and the rest of the world on a technical, tactical, mental and personal level. These type of opportunities are unique to sport and what it’s all about.

The opening matches of the international youth tournament will be played at the Princess Magogo Stadium (KwaMashu) and the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium (Claremont), whereas the semi-finals will be played out at the King Zwelithini Stadium (Umlazi). The final is going to be held at the Moses Mabhida Stadium (Durban Central) which staged the FIFA World Cup final in 2010.

The President of the South Africa Football Association, Dr Danny Jordan, is honoured that the association will be at the tournament which is part of a long term plan to build a competitive national side by 2022 and one of the strongest on the African continent and amongst the top 20 in the world.

He added: “The participation of our Under-19 national side and KZN Academy XI underlines how our sides need to gain further experience to compete with the best clubs in the world. It’s important to support these kind of tournaments ahead of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup as a way of allowing us to compare the level of our teams on the international scene.”