No time to waste in Bordeaux
Shortly after one o’clock in the afternoon, the men’s Olympic Team arrived at Gare de Bordeaux Saint-Jean from the Montparnasse Station in Paris. In Bordeaux, Santi Denia’s team are due to play the two remaining group stage matches of the Paris 2024 Olympic Tournament against the Dominican Republic on Saturday, July 27, and against Egypt to finish off the first phase of competition on Tuesday, July 30. Both matches will be played at 3:00 PM at the Stade Bordeaux.
With hardly any time to savour their two goals to one victory in their opening match against Uzbekistan, the team is already preparing for Saturday’s match. In such a demanding tournament, with matches thick and fast every three days, the staff are working tirelessly to prepare for the next game. This was evident during the just over two-hour train journey from Paris to Bordeaux.
Santi Denia and his coaching staff know that there is no time to waste and have analysed the first match in detail in order to "reinforce the positive aspects and improve certain aspects of the game," as stated by assistant coach David Gordo. Similarly, analyst Alberto de la Fuente mentions the studying "information about the opponent, and sharing it with the rest of the staff so that the coach can convey the message to the players, ensuring they are as prepared as possible come the day of the match." Meanwhile, Carlos Rivera, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, analyses the match data both individually and collectively "to assess the players’ workloads in order to plan the upcoming training sessions."
In the afternoon, the Olympic Team trained at Stade Stéhélin, where the starters against Uzbekistan had a recovery session and the rest trained at a higher intensity.
