An upbeat Indian football team left for Dubai on Friday for their six-week training tour in preparation for the Nehru Cup in August. Twenty-seven players and seven officials, including chief coach Bob Houghton, were to leave for Dubai on Thursday, but were delayed by a day after the players from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala did not get their visas on time.

In Dubai, the team will have an 11-day training stint at the Emirates Sevens ground before embarking for a one-month training camp at FC Barcelona. The Indians will, however, not play any exhibition match in Dubai. The players are upbeat about the trip to Dubai and Barcelona. “Training in Barcelona will be great. We will get to use world-class facilities there, which we don’t get here,” captain Bhaichung Bhutia said.

Central defender Gouramangi Singh said the trip would boost the chances of his team. “We won the 2007 Nehru Cup after a training tour in Portugal and this time it will be a huge boost to our confidence,” he said. The squad will be trimmed to 24 for the Barcelona leg from July 7 to August 7.

Midfielder Climax Lawrence is not leaving with the team because of illness, and will make a decision on joining them in the next few days.