U-16

The day went the same as usual with one session in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The first session started with target shooting. Our aim was to hit the head of a mannequin about fifteen metres away from us. We never really hit it, since it was so hard, but at least it was a good way to practice accuracy. While two people are doing this, there would be another person who would try to hit the ball in midair with another ball. That task as well was not accomplished. After that, we did a drill where it involved you to pass against a rebound board with your right and left foot. Then, you would pass the ball to the coach on your left and overlap him. He would pass the ball back and you will have to hit another one-two with a different rebound board. When the ball hits the board, the player with the board aims to play a cross into a small goal while the other player runs and tries to intercept it into the goal. This training was especially good because it involved overlapping and crossing, two vital components for right-backs.

That was the end of the session, but not the end of the training in the morning. When the U-18 came out onto the football ground, we joined in their warm-up. There wasn't a whole lot other than sprints and moving with a rubber band on your ankles so that it makes it slightly harder to move your legs. When the warm-up ended, we didn't play, but we stayed to watch the U-18 train. First, they did keeping possession with six against two. They then split into two groups with one practicing touches and shooting while the other practiced attacking in one goal and later set-pieces. Finally, they finished off with a game. The touch and speed and the aggression and hunger for the ball was unbelievable. Very little would they make careless mistakes and some of the shooting was mind blowing as well. The even more unbelievable thought is that only about 10% of these players will actually go on to become professional. This shows how hard it is to become a professional football player.

The U-18's game ended as a draw so they went on to penalties. Everybody took one including James and I. Fortunately, I scored mine.

In the afternoon, we started something quite fun which is called football-tennis. Basically, there's a board in between two players and you have to kick the ball in the air into the opposition box. Just like tennis really since you can let the ball bounce once as well. Following that game, we practiced free kicks from a the left side of the goal. There were two small goals inside the large goal and three mannequins blocking the shot as a wall. Your mission was to curl the ball into the goal. That was not all though. You then had to run past the wall and try to score from a cross given by another player. This exercise was good for right-backs as well since you practiced your crossing. But, I actually did better in my free kicks than crossing as I felt that the ball bounced too early.

Finally, we trained in the evening as usual on the astro turf. But this time, things were much harder as we played with the U-16 team. Our age group really. Most of the time we played a game and I've learned a lot from this. First of all, I'm obviously not good enough. The level here is much higher than in Hong Kong. And there's one big thing that causes this. Speed. The speed of the players running around and passing was incredible. When you have the ball, instantly there are players pressuring you and pushing you. When my team-mates had the ball, they can play the ball up the field in a matter of seconds. Plus, they're touches, dribbling and passing was flawless compared to mine. No wonder the coach in Hong Kong says that we play so slowly.

I did struggle to be honest. But, I tried to keep a positive attitude. I just kept working hard and didn't worry about anything. The valuable thing from this is that now, I know how quickly I should be playing in Hong Kong. The players I played against are some of the best in the world. And if I want to become one of the best footballers, then those players are my targets.