After a little more than a month of vacation, the players of OGC Nice gathered yesterday morning at 9 a.m. at the training center for a first practice session. For over an hour, the 32 players mainly ran before getting their first touches on the ball.
The 2019-2020 season has started! OGC Nice is back in action after a few weeks of vacation. Yesterday morning, at 9 a.m., the club from the French Riviera opened its doors to allow supporters to come and reconnect with the players. Over sixty people from Nice braved the heat and sun (it was already very hot at 9 a.m.) to discover this new 2019-2020 version of the team. “It feels good to reunite with the team. When you’ve been a club subscriber for over 50 years, a one-month break is hard. We miss them. So we’re delighted to see them again,” says Alain, a loyal supporter of the Aiglons. “We see the leaders again but also the young players who went on loan last year. It’s a pleasure to see them; they have evolved,” notes Thomas, 16 years old.
A little over an hour of practice
There were 32 who answered coach Vieira’s call for this first training session. Only Dante, Benitez, and Hérelle were given an additional two days (scheduled to return on July 3rd). Not to mention the internationals Malang Sarr (eliminated with the France U21 team), Youcef Atal (at AFCON with Algeria), and Bassem Srarfi (representing Tunisia at AFCON) who will rejoin later. A light jog to start and physical exercises to get into the swing of things, finishing with ball games, was the program devised by Patrick Vieira. “I found the players in good condition. They followed the program,” noted the Riviera coach.
A training camp in Ain on the agenda
The Aiglons will stay at the training center this week before leaving for a one-week training camp in Divonne-les-Bains (Ain) (departure on Saturday). The program for OGC Nice includes no fewer than 6 friendly matches, including 2 during the camp (PSV Eindhoven and FC Thun). Then, the teammates of Dante (who will have joined the group before the camp departure) will challenge Standard de Liège and head to England to face Cardiff, Burnley, and Leicester. A substantial program aiming to optimally prepare the Aiglons for the start of the championship scheduled for early August.
