Spanish “SMHI” has issued an orange warning for rain in Marbella.
It may force the Swedish men’s national team to cancel training in Spain.
– We see what we can do, says national team manager Stefan Pettersson to the Football channel.
Spain has been hit by severe storms recently. Now an orange weather warning has been issued for the night of Wednesday in the area that the Swedish men’s national team is in to warm up for the upcoming Nations League matches against Slovakia and Azerbaijan.
It is the State Meteorological Agency, the Spanish equivalent of SMHI, which warns of heavy rain during Wednesday and Thursday in Marbella. Orange warning means that the weather “can become a danger to the public and cause damage to property and the environment”, according to SMHI.
Now the national team is preparing for different scenarios.
– We can’t do much about the weather. We wait and see how it turns out. Those who arranged this camp for us are keeping an eye on us too. They have a back up plan and see what we can do if it is not possible to train on the pitch (as planned), says national team manager Stefan Pettersson.
No indoor plans
When asked if there are indoor courts in the area, Pettersson replies:
– Not here, as far as I know. But they are looking at what we could do in the worst case.
It is not relevant to go home to Sweden earlier, says the national team manager.
– I don’t see that right now.
How problematic would it be if you can’t train Wednesday or Thursday?
– We will be able to train in some way. At least we can keep the boys going.
You have gone to Spain and so it may end up with canceled training. Does it feel typical?
– You can’t handle everything. And we didn’t plan this a week ago. It’s a long wait.
Sweden chose to have a day off on Tuesday, due to consideration of previous workload for the players. During Monday, only parts of the squad trained out on the pitch.
Blågult will travel home to Stockholm on Thursday. A match against Slovakia awaits on Saturday.