18 July 2012

July 18th - great day for Stars 'n Stripes.

Most teams that come to this event have a goal to play on Sat, but few do.  Then some have goals to play on Friday and others want to play on Thursday.  Obviously, Stars 'n Stripes desires to play as long as possible, and we are happy to inform you that all 3 Stars n Stripes teams are still playing and all have games on Thursday. Quick recap.........

Boys A - play first against a Swedish team and without several players who are injured and also doing double duty with the B team.  We lost 3-0 and did not play well at all.

They regroup for their first game in the consolation bracket and tie 1-1 with AJ getting the goal and then advancing on Penalty Kicks.  Eddie, Alex, and AJ all convert while Jacob made 2 great saves.  Next game is Thursday am.

Boys C - play first game vs. a Swedish team and play very well, going up 1-0 on a goal from Brandon V, but conceeding a late goal to tie 1-1. it was enough to advance so all is well.  They play again this time vs. a team from Finland and hammer them 4-0 with goals from Hamza, Brandon Jones, Landon, and Sebastian D.  Next up is a Thursday afternoon game in consolation bracket..

Boys B stole the limelight today as they played Palestine in the morning, losing 2-0 but played very well.  The afternoon saw them play at Heden, the showcase of the Gothia Cup, in front of several thousand fans and played an entertaining game vs. an English team.  Up 1-0, down 2-1, and then winning 4-2 to cap a great afternoon.  Boys put on a fine display of soccer and really enjoyed  themselves.  Next up is back on the Heden fields on Thursday in the winners bracket, as game is televised on the Gothia Cup TV, check the site for more info.

Gave the boys some time to walk around the mall, wear something besides SnS gear, and even bought the C team some ice cream.  Tour is going great. Weather is fantastic, about 60 degrees and sunny, great food, great hotel, great kids and of course  great coaching, ha, ha.  

Almost forgot, we added an old staff member this week, Lennart Stenstrom, a Swedish coach, who has been with me and SnS since 1991 and boys are really enjoying him.

Need to wash some clothes later on this  week as that tour smell is  creeping up again.

POD's
boys C - gm 1 - Brandon V, gm 2 - Hamza
boys B - gm 1 - Kolton, gm 2 - Dominic
boys A - gm 1 - Jacob, gm 2 - Alex

Big day tomorrow, curfew  is 10:30 tonight so wish us luck, should be fun.

ciao,
Ed

P.S. some fact for you - 1685 teams from 80 countries in this years Gothia Cup, not  a bad youth tournament!!!

 

Players of the Day (POD)

            

 Boys C Game - 1                          Boys C Game - 2

          

Boys B Game - 1                          Boys B Game - 2

          

Boys A Game - 1                          Boys A Game - 2