Day Three and an early breakfast followed by the first proper football session. The teams travelled to the LFC Academy where after a quick session with some of the LFC Academy and Community Coaches, the teams were divided and paired up for warm-ups and training. Pakistan and Bangladesh were paired together with Coach Lee taking charge of the session. The warm up saw KU’s first major casualty as star forward, Shahrukh limped off with a pulled hamstring. Although Shahrukh had been carrying a bit of a strain, a combination of the weather and the strenuous warm up turned out to be factors as KU’s preps took a beating. The other players soldiered on and managed to stay ahead of the curve in the competitive sessions. The training kept the players on their toes as the various drills were ended with two playing sessions. One of the highlights of the session was the presence of two more Liverpool legends, John Barnes and Robbie Fowler. While Imran and Humza got in a quick hello in between drills, the media reps had a good Q&A session with the former stars. After training and while the mood was slightly downcast due to Shahrukh’s injury and another CI session in the changing rooms, the teams travelled back to Anfield for lunch at the famous, Bootroom Sports Café followed by the Group draws. After a sumptuous lunch, the draw started with Group A seemingly emerging as the Group of Death. The MENA team, S.Korea, defending Champions, Thailand, Singapore and all the African teams had been drawn in that Group. With only two spots remaining i.e. one in each Group, Team Pakistan were hoping they would not be drawn in Group A …and their prayers were answered as the second last name out of the bowl was Pakistan i.e. the last team drawn in Group B alongwith Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, Europe, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Little did the KU boys know that in fact this was to be as competitive (if not more) than the other Group!! As KU spirits soared after the draw, the players began a tour of the Stadium. Having already been pitch-side at the Liverpool match the day before, the teams were taken to the hospitality boxes etc where they learnt interesting facts including that Stevie G and Luis Suarez have their own boxes (at a cost, of course!!). Rob, the tour guide then regaled the teams with further snippets from LFC history. The tour was capped off with visits to the LFC Museum where Humza reiterated (to the United boys) that LFC were the only English Club to have an original Champions League Trophy in their collection (having won the event 5 times). After various pictures and videos were taken, the teams headed back to the Hotel. Mozahid of Bangladesh and Humza developed a special bond which was capped off by a photo of the two lads at Anfield. Later in the evening, KU players were privy to another special evening as a Charity Legends Ball was being hosted at the Hotel. Although the black tie event was not one where the teams were to be present, the comings and goings of LFC celebs kept the visitors captivated. There was even greater excitement to follow when Marium confirmed that the LFC Club Doctor, Zafar Iqbal had indicated a willingness to meet with the team. As the boys grabbed a quick dinner at GBK, they promptly arrived back at the Hotel and what was supposed to be short meeting with Dr. Iqbal lasted over two hours. Right from Furkan’s woes relating to heel injuries to Shahrukh’s hamstring to the Doc’s feelings for the Club that is LFC to the dressing room shenanigans at the Club; it turned out to be another fascinating experience. The questions (inane and all) continued until we realized that we had taken up a lot of the good Doctor’s time. The night ended with another photo session and then a team meeting, much later than anticipated. Despite the injuries and general tiredness, the lads were psyched for their chance to represent Pakistan at Anfield.
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 06:09:53 +0000
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