Day 4-6 Update

 

Local time 1:00 am –

 

Blogger coach Curr is back after a few days rest.  I was serious when I mentioned I was way behind on sleep J.  I haven’t been the most pleasant to be around as of late for many reasons, but some good one v one talks with players today, a good group chat after dinner and some downtime (thanks Traci/Vickie) away from the gazillions of daily questions and decisions…I am feeling a bit better today.  Even had a little fun finally with the boys tonight playing night beach volleyball.

 

As some of you may have already heard, the boys had a bad run at this tournament unable to win a game or score a single goal.  We definitely weren’t up to our usual ‘A’ game standards at times and also played against some very large and talented opponents at times. 

 

Wednesday a.m. game versus Romania a rough one for many reasons.  Romania tied Brazil the day prior and I am certain the coach lit a fire under their cleats as they shelled us 6-0 the next day, not letting up even when they were awarded a PK at 5-0, which their keeper took and scored.  Traci had something to say to their coach about that.  Angel P. issued a red card (1 game suspension) as did a Romania player for pushing each other after Quinn (keeper) was fouled.  Will C. suffered an blow to his right calf during the match as a strong Romanian striker attempted to shoot the ball but got Will instead.  Took Will to the doctor today as his calf pain and swelling wasn’t improving   Turned out he suffered more than a deep bruise, but a strain in the calf muscle that will unfortunately put him out for the rest of the tournament.  He and the rest of the team are really bummed.  Here I thought I was going to break the string of hospital emergency room visits with this team…count it as visit #4.

 

Wednesday p.m. game all too important against the 4^th place Jordan team who had just 3 points versus our 0 points.  A win against them would advance us to the next round.  The 5 pm sun and heat after a morning game was brutal…and with only 13 players (Will injured, Angel red card).  The boys battled valiantly with everything they had, but just couldn’t find the back of the net after 15+ shots.  The opponent was able to score 3 off of 10 shots (1 PK).  Mental and physical fatigue took its toll as form and decision making was a challenge.  Some of the boys were really bummed and others seemed quick to move on shortly after on the bus ride home as they discussed what fun activity they were planning to do once they got back to the hotel…which surprised me based on my past teams who lost games that knocked them out of the tournament.  Surprised and it actually really bothered me and Traci too…I finally shared these thoughts with the boys at tonight’s post-dinner chat where passion and grit were a main topic and reiterated the soccer is the main reason we are here.  This is foreign territory for me to have team not win a game nor score a goal in Europe.  We are all ready to take away some key soccer learning’s from Italy and leave a lot of bad soccer mojo behind as well…regroup and start Sweden with a fresh/positive outlook.

 

I’ll let you read the player posts shortly for updates on the off field activities.  Venice all day tomorrow…enjoy the pictures from Rimini and Ravenna with more great shots to come from Mr. Ling in Venice.

 

Time for bed…up early in the a.m. to collect the boy’s uniforms from the self-service laundry.  Didn’t realize it closed at midnight tonight….doh!  Don’t tell Traci shhh!  J

 

 

Coach Currin