Paul Sheerin Interview | Lisbon Week 1 Review   Paul Sheerin’s U20s flew out to Lisbon last Sunday to undertake two weeks pre-season in the sun of Portugal. The trip which is funded by Erasmus+ sees many benefits for the young Dons both in terms of culturally and educationally whilst also providing the mechanisms to undergo an intense two week pre-season camp to prepare them for the season ahead.   Aberdeen have full use of the top class facilities at the Portuguese Desmor Academy which is the home of the U19 national team and boasts a 6,500 capacity stadium along with full training facilities. Ahead of their first fixture on Friday evening, afc.co.uk caught up with Paul Sheerin for his thoughts on the trip so far:   “Everything is going great. The boys have been doing well and working hard all week. Since we travelled on the Sunday it was a bit difficult to get any training done that night. On Monday we didn’t want to kill the lads so they were gently eased in to start with. Tuesday and Wednesday we stepped up the pace and got some really good work done with triple sessions and pool work involved too. We lightened the workload down a bit on Thursday ahead of tonight (Friday). With us playing Portugal U19’s this evening we had a relatively relaxed session this morning, but did a bit in terms of shape and now we are all really looking forward to the game.”   Paul is pleased with the recruitment which has gone on throughout the close season and his U20 squad have travelled with seven new faces in addition to Dean Campbell and Terry Taylor who are currently enrolled in the AFC Youth Academy.   “The new lads are settling in fine. They are getting to know the other boys in terms of character and I’ve no complaints up to now. The young boys Dean and Terry have not looked out of place at all and have done excellent, which we knew they would after being involved with the squad last year.”    The boys have their first fixture tonight in what could be considered a baptism of fire when they take on the Portuguese U19 national side who are preparing for their upcoming European Championships. Paul had this to say on the game:   “The Portuguese U19s are in preparation for their Euro Championships and heard through the grapevine that we were based in the Desmor and invited us for a game. It was too good an opportunity to turn down. In terms of learning the game, being disciplined and managing our shape it will be a great opportunity to take on and test ourselves. We are all really looking forward to it.”    As mentioned previously the trip has been funded by the Erasmus+ scheme which ensures that players are given cultural experiences in addition to their football work. Paul has lauded the opportunities which this gives to the boys and commented:   “The trip has been more than worthwhile so far. The facilities are top class and the weather has been great.”   “We managed to get a trip to Caldas da Rainha beach yesterday for a break which was much needed. It’s great to get away and switch off for a while and we appreciate having the opportunity to do so. We are off to Lisbon tomorrow where we will have a tour of Benfica’s stadium, followed by a tour of the city to see what it has to offer and then finally we will conclude the day by visiting a local restaurant and having a chance to try the local cuisine. It really is great for the boys to experience these different cultures and attitudes which are different from back home and new to a lot of them.”   The U20’s will finish off their pre-season camp next week by continuing their training at the Desmor base, facing local team Amora in a friendly and finish their camp by taking on Benfica U19’s at their own football academy.

Paul Sheerin Interview | Lisbon Week 1 Review   Paul Sheerin’s U20s flew out to Lisbon last Sunday to undertake two weeks pre-season in the sun of Portugal. The trip which is funded by Erasmus+ sees many benefits for the young Dons both in terms of culturally and educationally whilst also providing the mechanisms to undergo an intense two week pre-season camp to prepare them for the season ahead.   Aberdeen have full use of the top class facilities at the Portuguese Desmor Academy which is the home of the U19 national team and boasts a 6,500 capacity stadium along with full training facilities. Ahead of their first fixture on Friday evening, afc.co.uk caught up with Paul Sheerin for his thoughts on the trip so far:   “Everything is going great. The boys have been doing well and working hard all week. Since we travelled on the Sunday it was a bit difficult to get any training done that night. On Monday we didn’t want to kill the lads so they were gently eased in to start with. Tuesday and Wednesday we stepped up the pace and got some really good work done with triple sessions and pool work involved too. We lightened the workload down a bit on Thursday ahead of tonight (Friday). With us playing Portugal U19’s this evening we had a relatively relaxed session this morning, but did a bit in terms of shape and now we are all really looking forward to the game.”   Paul is pleased with the recruitment which has gone on throughout the close season and his U20 squad have travelled with seven new faces in addition to Dean Campbell and Terry Taylor who are currently enrolled in the AFC Youth Academy.   “The new lads are settling in fine. They are getting to know the other boys in terms of character and I’ve no complaints up to now. The young boys Dean and Terry have not looked out of place at all and have done excellent, which we knew they would after being involved with the squad last year.”    The boys have their first fixture tonight in what could be considered a baptism of fire when they take on the Portuguese U19 national side who are preparing for their upcoming European Championships. Paul had this to say on the game:   “The Portuguese U19s are in preparation for their Euro Championships and heard through the grapevine that we were based in the Desmor and invited us for a game. It was too good an opportunity to turn down. In terms of learning the game, being disciplined and managing our shape it will be a great opportunity to take on and test ourselves. We are all really looking forward to it.”    As mentioned previously the trip has been funded by the Erasmus+ scheme which ensures that players are given cultural experiences in addition to their football work. Paul has lauded the opportunities which this gives to the boys and commented:   “The trip has been more than worthwhile so far. The facilities are top class and the weather has been great.”   “We managed to get a trip to Caldas da Rainha beach yesterday for a break which was much needed. It’s great to get away and switch off for a while and we appreciate having the opportunity to do so. We are off to Lisbon tomorrow where we will have a tour of Benfica’s stadium, followed by a tour of the city to see what it has to offer and then finally we will conclude the day by visiting a local restaurant and having a chance to try the local cuisine. It really is great for the boys to experience these different cultures and attitudes which are different from back home and new to a lot of them.”   The U20’s will finish off their pre-season camp next week by continuing their training at the Desmor base, facing local team Amora in a friendly and finish their camp by taking on Benfica U19’s at their own football academy.