Plans to build a new high performance training center for Colombia’s national soccer team were announced Tuesday, according to local media reports.
The site, especially designed to train “los cafeteros,” will be located in Barranquilla, a port city in Colombia’s caribbean north. Barranquilla’s city council will donate the land, while construction costs will be covered by the Colombian Football Federation, reported Caracol Radio.
The national soccer squad already has a $9 million state-of-the-art training facility in Bogota. Opened in November 2013, the facility boasts two soccer fields, a 53-room hotel, a restaurant, six conference rooms, a press center, an area for recovery and medical treatment, and a 1,000-square-foot gym, according to Colombia’s Football Federation.
MORE: Colombian Soccer Federation reveals new training center for national teams
This positive news for Colombian soccer comes the same day that Jose Pekerman, the celebrated coach of Colombia’s national soccer squad, announced plans to continue leading the team. Since Pekerman began coaching the squad in 2012, the country’s FIFA global ranking has gone from 22nd to forth in two years.
MORE: Pekerman to continue to coach Colombia: Federation
Sources
- La administración de la ciudad pondrá el terreno y la Federación construirá un centro de alta formación (Caracol Radio)
- FCF entrega Sede Deportiva a sus Selecciones Nacionales (Colombia’s Football Federation)