FC Dallas opened the second leg of its preseason camp this week at the Santa Maria Polo Club Sotogrande complex in Spain. After a long day of travel for players, coaches and team officials, the club was able to settle in for its first full training session in Sotogrande on Tuesday morning.
Some fans who spent the first two weeks in Frisco may wonder why the club chose to leave the country for part of the preseason. For head coach Nico Estevez, it’s a very simple reason.
“I think it’s important to continue developing and progressing, and I think it’s also good to come here to be in a different environment and culture and get different experiences,” Estevez explained.
Veteran midfielder Sebastian Leggett echoed the manager’s comments about sitting out part of pre-season so the club could add new players to the squad.
“Just having a new facility, a new environment, a brand new view, a little bit of fresh air,” Leggett said. “I think this will be good for the group, good energy and a good bonding experience for all of us because we have a lot of young guys that we can add to the group so it’s just good It’s an opportunity to do it. “
FC Dallas will face four foreign clubs while in Spain, starting with a friendly against Danish side Odense BK on Friday morning.Play against 3 more Scandinavian clubs Mondy will next face Danish side Aalborg.
“We spend a lot of time in the United States and in Frisco, playing the same opponents and three different competitions,” Estevez said. “It was just to have different experiences with different opponents and give us a little bit of calm and privacy to develop what we wanted to apply.”