Lenahan Travels to Spain for Professional Development with World's Best
5/9/2017 3:53:00 PM | Men's Soccer
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MADRID, Spain - Northwestern men's soccer head coach Tim Lenahan recently returned from Madrid, Spain, where the spent time with coaches of Real Madrid's Castilla team, while attending games for the first team.
The Castilla is Real Madrid's 2nd professional team, consisting of Europe's future stars, ranging from the ages of 18-23. The athletes are housed in the stadium adjacent to the first team training facility.
The trip came about because of the continued relationship between coach Lenahan and Real Madrid Castilla head coach Santiago Solari. Solari, who helped lead the "Galacticos" era Real Madrid to a Champions League Championship in 2002, played for Lenahan in 1994 at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey.
Solari's father had served as a coach for the Saudi Arabian National Team at the 1994 World Cup, hosted in the United States. Saudi Arabia trained at Richard Stockton College.
Solari spent one year at Stockton before moving on to win multiple championships at River Plate, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. He earned 11 caps with the Argentinaian National Team and remains the only former U.S. college player to win a Champions League title. Now the Head Coach of Real Madrid's 2nd Professional Team, Solari has served as a lead anchor for ESPN's coverage of the World Cup in Brazil and the EUROs in France. Coach Lenahan lifts the Champions League trophy following the Champions League final in 2002
"I want to thank both Santiago Solari and Santiago Sanchez, coaches at Real Madrid Castilla for their hospitality and openness in sharing the training routine and philosophy of Real Madrid." Lenahan said. Since most of the players are in the 18-23 age range, it was great to see some of the future top players in the world at an age similar to our players."
In many ways it was eye-opening in how efficient they were in training and the speed, athleticism and technical ability of the players. I was even able to present some Northwestern specific tactical questions to the coaching staff and receive their input which was pretty special."
To top off the trip, Lenahan also witnessed the Champions League semifinal battle between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid live in front of more than 81,000 fans at the Santiago Bernabéu, the home stadium of Real Madrid.
The match, that saw a Real Madrid, 3-0 victory, featured a hat trick by Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition, Lenahan was able to catch up with Real Madrid and Brazilian Roberto Carlos, considered to be the best left back in history.
"There are very few college coaches who have been granted the kind of access I received at Real Madrid. It was a great trip from the point of professional development and to be able to reconnect with my good friend Santiago Solari."
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