Day 2 Wrap: Foot tennis fun as new players arrive

It was an important day in Caltex Socceroos camp with more arrivals, a day of a double session and a foot tennis tournament to declare the early camp champions.

With five players still to arrive in Antalya, Turkey, it was still a packed day with 19 players completing full training.

Here’s a wrap of Day 2 in Socceroos camp, brought to you by Caltex and stay tuned to socceroos.com.au as we provide daily updates before Russia 2018 …

There was no messing about by Bert van Marwijk and his staff on Day 2 of the Caltex Socceroos’ pre-FIFA World Cup training camp in Turkey, with players put through their paces in a double session which saw two teams claim to be champions in a foot tennis tournament.

There are now 21 players in camp at the Gloria Sports Arena facilities, with Josh Risdon flying in following his wedding in Australia and goalkeeper Mat Ryan arriving after a standout debut season with Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion.

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With Aaron Mooy, Mark Milligan, Trent Sainsbury and Fran Karacic arriving later on Day 1, the quartet trained with the main group as they were put through a morning gym session followed by an afternoon session on the field.

The afternoon session saw the players go through an extensive warm-up, led by long-serving head physio Les Gelis, before again focusing on their passing.

During the session, van Marwijk and his assistant Mark van Bommel ran through different passing exercises before finishing up with a game of ‘sheva’ and small-sided games.

Yet it was earlier in the day – after the morning’s gym session – where the players got their competitive juices flowing with a foot tennis tournament.

WATCH THE EXCLUSIVE BEHIND THE SCENES VISION OF SOCCEROOS TRAINING IN THE VIDEO AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE; AND EXCLUSIVE BEHIND THE SCENES VISION OF THEIR GYM SESSION BELOW

It was there where the players were split into teams of three and played each other in a round robin system.

After all teams had played, it was Jackson Irvine, Aziz Behich and Josh Brillante’s team who had the most wins which meant they faced off against Tim Cahill, James Troisi and Daniel Arzani.

Neither team could be split after the final game – although if you ask the players, all are adamant their team won!

Yet besides the competitive fun, for Hyundai A-League star James Troisi, he feels in peak physical condition to impress the boss ahead of the final 23-man squad being named after the Czech Republic friendly.

“Physically I am probably the best I have ever felt so I am raring to go for what is going to be a pretty tough camp,” Troisi told socceroos.com.au.

“Everyone is fighting for their spot. We have a good group here though so everyone will push each other, respect each other, and we will just work to get better as a team.”

Stay tuned for exclusive Caltex Socceroos training camp photos, footage and insight on socceroos.com.au or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook …