14 July 2003

First day of soccer at Gothia Cup and the weather is hot and hotter. About 95 degrees but fields are in great shape. Girls had morning off so they juggled, actually they are told to juggle at every waking moment. after lunch, their first game showed some nerves as we fell behind 1-0 at the half but they rallied to dominate the second half and Teresa Rodriguez got the equalizer off a corner from Axie Russell.

The girls could not score the game winner but we will take a tie for our first game. They played really well against a local club called Mossens and their play in rapidly improving. Their fitness level is also excellent. Tonight, we watched the opening ceremonies with over 45,000 people at the Ullevi Stadium, a great spectacle with songs, dancing, and fireworks.

Tomorrow will bring a huge test as we play a tough team in our bracket. Speak to you then,

Ed

POD - Laurie Holmes

P.S. Parents, we are not finding any public phones here in Sweden. Seems like the cell phone business is so good here, 2nd per capita in the world, that they have taken out the public phones, we will email daily if we have to.