Late start to the day for most as we did not have to leave for the field until 12:45. Most of the girls took full advantage of this as I only recall seeing about four at breakfast. It should be noted that breakfast was only served until 10:00. A few souls ventured to the beach for a refreshing dip before we headed to the games. We stocked up on water, lunches, towels and ice from the hotel and off to the fields.
First game was against Sweden. We started off slowly and gave up an early goal. The girls then settled in and had some quality scoring chances. Then after a scramble inside the 18 yard box the ball scooted out to Micaela who knocked a shot into the far corner which had the Vermont fans hopping.
http://www.youtube.com/user/bigtcas#p/a/u/0/wdplzErFIEU
The Swedes countered with a goal to take a 2-1 lead. Continued pressure by the good ol’ USA but we could not get one past the keeper. I am going to be a good sport and not a whiny American so I am not going to mention the goal that we scored late in the game that the ref (who was halfway up the field) ruled had crossed the endline before it was crossed into the center. The game ended with a 2-1 loss for our girls. The girls had a one hour break before their next game so they rehydrated and chilled out as much as you can in the Spanish summer before the next game against a team from the Chicago area. Once again a slow start and an early goal was given up to our fellow Americans. We went into the half trailing 1-0. The girls applied pressure and had some great passing, their hard work and determination paid off with four minutes left in the game when the ball was advanced forward to Katie S. at the top of the 18 and she rocketed a shot that found the upper right corner of the net. The game ended USA 1 – USA 1 . We slowly made our way back to bus for trip to hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel we all watched the women’s World Cup game and saw Team USA defeat France. We dined when the game ended (8:30) and did a little shopping, hanging out, and swimming at the pool before calling it a day. Time to rest up for two more games tomorrow.
Morrisville Soccer Club Euro Trip 2011 