Team Black in training

TEAM Black of the national men’s football train-on squad have been training hard under coach Bob Morris and his assistant Samson Steven at the Papua New Guinea Football Association Academy at 11-Mile outside Lae.
Morris told The National that with the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League season ending early, he and his coaching staff had been working hard to improve his players’ fitness.
He said his players had responded well by picking up their intensity during training.
“I’m having morning and afternoon sessions with the team, they are picking up in their fitness levels, especially the young boys in the team,” Morris said.
“Most of them are trying their best to secure a spot in the national team.
“My job is just to make sure they are fit and get them to understand how football works, as they all come from different clubs which have different styles of play.
“Football is straightforward, you defend, attack and score goals.
“But on the other hand, we need to be structured.”
He said there were plenty of good, young players and it was good to see the motivation in them to fight for spots against the senior players in the squad.
The players from the Lae and the Port Moresby camps will play the first match of a best-of-three series as a curtain-raiser to Women’s National Soccer League semifinals at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae on March 13.