Celtic’s youth side face Dinamo Zagreb today in their opening match in the Al Ain International Football Youth Championship in Abu Dhabi.
Dinamo beat Benfica 2-1 last night in the opening group match with Celtic facing the Lisbon side on Tuesday night.
Stevie Frail and John Kennedy flew out to the UAE on Thursday with their squad and after experiencing training sessions in soaring temperatures are looking forward to tonight’s match which kicks off at 7pm local time.
“It’s a high standard tournament and good to be playing in a good climate,” Frail said.
“We’ll go into the games with a different philosophy due to the heat and the style of play of our opponents.
“There are things for us to work on and it’ll be a great experience for the younger players going forward to the Next Gen Series next season.
“It’s good to come away for a few days and play against different opponents. Dinamo and Benfica are both well known for developing players and will be good for us to test ourselves against.
“We’ve been getting good results but not quite playing as well as we’d like domestically, this competition gives us a diversion and the chance to try some things out.
“Everyone is looking forward to getting started and hopefully we can make it a succesful visit.”
Dinamo were 2-0 up on Benfica before losing a consolation goal in the 88th minute.
In the opening match of Group A Inter Milan lost 4-1 to hosts Al Ain in a penalty shoot-out.
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Superb result for the young guns 1-0 – Well done to all concerned