Union Minister meets Kerala Blasters

KOCHI: The Kerala Blasters FC’s first team who are preparing for the upcoming domestic football season were visited by a special guest. Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore came calling at their preseason training base at the Transtadia Arena in Ahmedabad.

The team is undergoing rigorous training at the state-of-the-art facility since Saturday ahead of the Toyota Yaris La Liga World football tournament at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi. They will play La Liga club Girona FC and A-League side Melbourne City FC in this stadium from July 24. Rathore, the former shooter who won an Olympic silver medal in the double trap for India at the 2004 Athens Games, met with the players and coaching staff of the Blasters and wished them luck for the season ahead. “Kerala Blasters, wish you all the best for the season five of Indian Super Leauge. Do well. Win it,” Rathore said.  

The minister was also given a fun challenge by Blasters head coach an former England goalkeeper David James during his brief visit. “We have had a fantastic #HumFitTohIndiaFit challenge so far and the whole country has gotten together. Guess what, I have landed up in another challenge,” said Rathore.
The football challenge involved skipping over the ladders, then zigzagging around the hurdles, taking the ball to the edge of the box and shooting towards the goal.

And the result was a bit of a surprise as James missed the target with his shooting while Rathore proved he is as clinical with his feet as he is with a shotgun. The full squad of the Kochi-based franchise has joined the training camp including the retained international players Courage Pekuson, Nemanja Lakic-Pesic and Kizito Keziron.

New players who have joined the club this season like Serbian striker Slavisa Stojanovic Halicharan Narzary and Seimlen Doungel, as well as Kerala footballers Anas Edathodika, Zakeer Mundampara, Abdul Hakku and Jithin MS, are also part of the camp. Blasters will play their first preseason game against Melbourne City on July 24 followed by a fixture against Girona on July 27. In a first-of-its-kind tournament, Girona will be the first La Liga club to play in India.