THE REAL Madrid soccer team arrive at Dublin airport tonight and will proceed immediately to the luxurious Carton House hotel in Co Kildare. There they will train at what hotel manager David Webster says is set to be one of the leading training facilities in Europe.
Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be among the team checking into one of Ireland’s premier hotels where staff are said to be “very excited” and all leave has been cancelled.
Madrid are visiting Ireland for a pre-season training retreat away from the stifling heat of the Spanish capital. They stay until July 21st and the highlight of the trip for Irish soccer fans will be a friendly match against Shamrock Rovers at their new base in Tallaght on July 20th.
Carton House has built a number of world-class training pitches in the past year, where the grass is cut to a perfect 23mm.
Mr Webster said “a lot of science” had gone into their construction, with the same irrigation system used to maintain them as is used at Old Trafford.
“A party of 65 will be arriving very late on Monday or early on Tuesday morning,” Mr Webster said yesterday. “The list has been confirmed but I couldn’t possibly say who will be among the party. We would never discuss individual guest’s business, but we are expected a premier team.”
The attractions of Carton House for the Real Madrid people were, he said, “the pitch, the accommodation and the food. And we can deliver on all of those to the highest standard.”
Asked about what the team’s daily routine would be, he said the brief was that they would train on two different pitches, with particular instructions on what time these should be watered each day.
“They will use the gym, they will relax and they will be bonding with each other,” said Mr Webster.
He said special menus had been sent to the hotel kitchen “and we have done some cook-offs to make sure everything is right”.
The team would sit down to eat five times a day and their diet would be “high in carbohydrates and lean protein. There will be a lot of pasta, chicken, fish, vegetables and fruit, and a lot of cooking with olive oil.”
The idea for constructing a world-class football facility, he said, came from the Mallaghan family who own the luxury hotel.
“We are very much a business hotel and business falls off a bit in July and August, which is in turn the peak pre-season training for soccer teams. So, the Mallaghans felt we had the know-how and the expertise from operating two premier golf courses and it was decided about a year and half ago to build training facilities and pitches.
“We had Newcastle United over here last week using the facilities and they said they were the best they had ever used. The Real Madrid advance party have been over a number of times to look at the facilities and they said they were exceptional.”
The hope now was that the IFAI and the IRFU would establish a presence at Carton House as their main training facilities, he said.
Asked whether members of the public would be able to come and view the likes of Kaka, Iker Casillas or Fabio Cannavaro kicking about, he said: “Absolutely not.”
Although people will be able to go to the hotel as normal, there will be security at the gate and a high screen around the pitches.
