With our off day yesterday it gave me a chance to follow the days entertainment which for me was the World Cup qualifying final round of games. With England finally stamping their ticket to Brazil next summer I'm sure all press will now turn from how bad they were in qualifying to how they can win the World Cup. Me on the other hand, I thought they did rather well in qualifying and expectations can be as a quiet outside shot. Not sure the last non South American team to win the World Cup in South America, if there is one, so anyone outside of this region will find it hard to win. Europe's usual powerhouses have qualified with Spain, Germany, Italy, Holland already going and France and Portugal in the playoffs. Not taking anything away for the other teams that qualified but I will be cheering for Iceland in the playoffs and I hope they can get there. For me the biggest shock probably came at the hands of the USA. Already qualified with ease despite early doubters which baffled me as to why? the USA then proceeded to score 2 goals in injury time to win their game v Panama and hand Mexico their arch rival in the "HEX" a lifeline into the playoffs when they were on the way out. Oh the heartbreak of qualifications! the ups and the downs, coaches fired, bad officials and all this is unless your from Wales. After 3 games theyre already virtually out of it so no heartbrake at the end or jubiliation just the misery of watching a whole campaign already planning for the next with optimism until we've played 3 games again. Can't wait for the Euro Qualifiers.
Back to today and it was back to the field for the players. Our Fifa 11+ warm up followed by some defending. Despite our great efforts over the weekend we are still only 8th in the A10 and a long way from getting into the A10 tournament the first of our goals. With a home game this weekend we need to get the win and so todays session was about our individual defending and the hard work it takes to be successful in all 1v1 battles. Finding that perfect distance that invades a players personal space enough to get his head down and let him make a mistake is an art form that I believe is getting forgotten. As the media and TV continues to glorify the attacking side of the game and individual moves that look great but have no outcome or end product or what I call "the Youtube Nation" games are still being won on good individual and collecting defensive balance that allows teams to express themselves offensively. Anyways, a shortened session on the field due to our lifting session with coach Spellman put the players through a tough workout and hopefully set the tone for this weeks practices and preparation for our next A10 game.
Raise HIgh Moment of the Day
Coach Ouimet and I in the ravine looking for our lost ball and just before giving up, there it was. Search over and back to the office.
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