22/07/2008

LATEST NEWS

Glad to be back

Juande Ramos expressed his delight at the prospect of a friendly against Hercules CF in Alicante on Thursday - a place he knows so well.

The high-profile match of our two-week Spanish training camp is against a team sixth in La Liga's Segunda Division last season.

It kicks-off at the Jose Rico Perez Stadium at 9.30pm local time (8.30pm UK) - CLICK HERE for ticket details.

Juande played for Alicante during his career in Spain between 1973-82 and there is another significant link with Hercules - he made his Spanish Premier League debut against Thursday's opponents for his first club Elche in 1975.

"I'm very happy to be here," stated Juande at last week's press conference at the stadium. "It's a place I know well.

"I'm not from Alicante, but I've always been familiar with the area and it's always great to come back. My brother and parents live here so I like to be here. It's a place I like a lot. The roots are always there and you can never forget them.

"Preparation is the most important thing and having a friendly against a team like Hercules is good for us at this stage.

"We've had a high tempo of training and we will see against Hercules just how the players are understanding what we are working on.

"It is the last game we play in Spain and we play it with great happiness. I hope everyone enjoys it."