Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca praised his players’ effort after they secured a 3-1 pre-season victory over the K-League All Stars in sweltering conditions in Seoul.
The Italian oversaw his first win since succeeding Pep Guardiola, with Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Divin Mubama all finding the net before half-time as City eased to the win on their Asia tour.
Temperatures reached around 36 degrees Celsius at kick-off, but Maresca was pleased with the way his side coped with the extreme heat.
“For us the result is always important, even if it is a friendly game, but the most important thing is to see the effort of the players, especially in this weather,” he said.
“Also, compared to the last game, in some aspects we did some things better.
“The good thing is the players tried to adapt. They made an effort for 95 minutes.
“Since day one, the players are putting in the effort and I can see that they trust the job we are doing and, for me, this is the main thing.”
Maresca expecting key players back next week
The win followed City’s opening pre-season draw with Inter Milan and came with several senior players still absent following their involvement at the 2026 World Cup.
Maresca expects the squad to improve further once those players return to training ahead of the new campaign.
“The reason why is because around eight or nine players are still not here with us,” he added.
“But the important thing is when they are here they make the effort to do the things we have been trying to do since day one.
“Also we need them to trust what we want, that is important and then when the rest of the players arrive there is no doubt we will be even better.”
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