ISL 2017: Kerala Blasters kick into action today with first pre-season game in Spain
While India and its football crazy audience have been glued to the frenzy around the FIFA U17 World Cup in the country, two-time Indian Super League runners-up Kerala Blasters have been making steady progress in their run-up to the upcoming Indian Super League season.
The Kochi-based outfit, who are now under new management with former Manchester United assistant coach Rene Meulensteen in charge, have made some stellar signings in the build-up to the new season.
Iain Hume who played for the Blasters in their inaugural season and became an instant crowd favourite has returned to the side, while the Dutch coach has helped rope in few of the biggest names to be playing the Indian Super League by signing former Manchester United men, Dimitar Berbatov and Wes Brown. Both Brown and Berbatov have played under Meulensteen's coaching during their trophy-laden career at Old Trafford and will be hoping to have a similar success story here in India.
The Blasters, who are in Spain for their pre-season campaign for a couple of weeks now, have been training hard for the past few weeks trying to refine the chinks in their armour. They have been training at the Marbella Football Centre in Malaga, famous throughout the world as one of the finest high-performance centres to carry out professional training with top class pitches and facilities.
In their first pre-season friendly tonight, they will take on local league side Athletic de Coin which will be the first time these new bunch of players will play in the famous Kerala yellow. While there is no update of any telecast or streaming of the game, past seasons suggest that Kerala Blasters should stream the match live on their official Facebook page. If not, then fans will have to be content with regular updates and photos.
Blasters social media pages can be expected to provide updates to fans tonight with the game kicking off at 11 pm Indian Standard Time.