15 July 2015

Wednesday at Gothia Cup and sunshine and cool temps once again but great playing weather.

Schedule has been good to us with no early games and today was no exception.

After 9 am breakfast we are invited to visit Nike Research and Development  as they pick our kids brains about shoes, styles, needs, etc.  Pretty cool stuff and kids loved it,  happy to say that we have some smart kids on tour.

Girls game next as we play on Heden Showcase field but we are nervous with all of the crowd and the atmosphere and were awful first half.  Down 1-0 at half but after a very calm halftime chat from Coach Ed (NOT), girls played much better in 2nd half.  We were awarded a penalty but once again failed to convert as Jordan Colbert(Jack Kay) as I call her, hit the crossbar.  Something about our kids and penalty kicks.  

We continue to press and Crazy Haley Ward tied it  up with a nice goal and we went for the win but ended up with 1-1 tie. So we take 2nd place in our group, not bad for our girls in this Cup.

Boys have an interesting game as we meet a team from Baghdad, Iraq and with goals from Johnny Sehlof and Donnovan Smith secured the 2-1 win and we actually had an own goal against us.  But great fun and both teams took a really cool group pic together with the  referees. Where else can an American team play a team from Iraq???  With the win, the  boys take 2nd in our group.

Hotel for lunch and then back to watch Santiago Brignone, Matt Huffman, and Jarren Kreska as they are also guesting with a team from Minnesota.  The entire  tour goes and cheers for them but they lost in the consolation game so that team is out.  

So both teams qualify for the winners bracket with 2nd place finishes and that is impressive but  tomorrow we are in the knockout  stage so win or  go home.  First game is 8 am and about 45 min away so 6 am breakfast.  Kids had their  cell phones tonight  so I am sure you all got some highlights.

Tour is going great and we are posting  pics and  videos on our Facebook page for all back home to see.

Big day on Thursday so wish us luck.

Ciao
Ed

Players of the Day -
Girls - Crazy Haley Ward
Boys - Johnny Sehlof