There was not much time to celebrate the work done in the Floya game. We had about 3 hours before we had to travel to Bjerby for the quarterfinal game. We had been so disappointed in Sweden losing out at precisely this stage; another win would have meant gaining at least a bronze medal. We were determined to come away from this tournament with the hardware we had just lost out on the week before.
The girls are on the point of physical and emotional exhaustion. We have tried throughout to strike a balance between competition and fun, but they were now clearly intent on devoting their remaining resources towards one goal. Asked what they wanted to do before their quarterfinal, they had no hesitation: let's go back to the school, eat some snacks and rest. I find myself struggling to stay awake during these recuperative sessions, between the girls and Stefan's games, I'm probably walking about 10 miles a day and sleeping 5 hours or so at most. But once I see their cohesion and purposefulness at times like this, I feel like we can find a way to go on forever.
By the time we reached the game site, we didn't even know who we would play. No one had had time to check the website. The rest had achieved its purpose. We looked like we had 'our tails up' as the British say during warmups, despite the battering we had taken earlier in the day. The games become increasingly intense during these playoffs. Red cards were now a frequent occurrence, and a bench-clearing brawl highlighted the u19 boys game just before ours.
The weather was the same: raw, windy, drizzling and yet at times sunny. I was getting a pretty good workout just removing then replacing layers of clothes. I can remember some tournament games in the past when all I would hear from the girls was how cold and wet their feet were, how tired and hungry they were, how in essence their minds were in a million places other than where they should be - on the task at hand.
Today, I heard nothing but positive, soccer-specific chatter. This was an opportunity we intended to be fully prepared for. We have taken to the habit of visualization before the games. For 3-5 minutes I have the girls look out at he field, then try to imagine with all their senses what it will feel like when they make a great play during the game. I want their minds to be primed to hear, see, smell, feel and even taste success when the chance for it comes. I emphasized that we needed to heighten our anticipation; to be ready to jump all over any mistakes our opponents made.
That opponent turned out to be KeSO of Finland, the sixth different country we have played during this tour. By winning their 5 team group, they had the benefit of a bye into the quarterfinals. They were well-rested and fully expecting to advance.
We started slowly again, conceding two corners in the first 7 minutes from which KeSO could not create a real chance. But while they tried to play in the physical Scandanavian style, this team clearly did not have enough to intimidate us. We felt we had already survived a tougher test earlier in the day, and gradually settled into our comfortable rhythm.
Amanda and Jen got us started, both missing wide after initially receiving balls on the flank. Our 3-4-3 system has proven very resilient. With minor adjustments here and there, we have always been able to find a way to outflank our opponents, and our delivery into those areas has steadily improved. We won two corners of our own, but disappointed with our service on both. Another effort by Jen on minute 26 was wide.
This was a different 0-0 at halftime than the Floya game. We were already having success offensively. No adjustments were necessary other than being more poised in our finishing, and reminding ourselves of our intent on anticipating and capitalizing on mistakes, many of which our opponents had already made.
We quickly had two chances to begin the second half, Beth first being saved by the KeSO keeper in a 1v1 situation, then later shooting wide after a good through ball from Amanda. I did not want to drag this out; I didn't want to contemplate overtimes and penalty shootouts. We were playing like the better team, dealing with the elements and the occasion better than KeSO. We had to find a way to make our superiority tell, and we had to do it soon.
A composed sequence was started on a ball thrown out by Jordan. We worked the ball along our back three before switching the ball through Mac in the central midfield. Jen on the left now found Shanna in a more advanced central position, and her alert layoff to Sadie was met superbly, the resulting right-footed drive swerving over the keeper into the far-side netting. It was the sort of sequence we had practiced many times in training; to bring it off in a game of this magnitude was an indescribable joy.
After holding out against our pressure for so long, KeSO now were stunned. I didn't feel we should try to hold the lead. We kept looking to attack, and Beth finally gave a great example of the opportunistic anticipation that was our theme for this game. After pressure from our forwards forced a rushed back pass to the KeSO keeper, Beth pounced on her errant first touch and calmly slotted home the gift. 2-0 LISC! We could have added more, Kaylie going just wide on a cross from Jen then Kaylie again being saved just as time expired. The semifinals were ours!
Another event of note took place in this game: the playing debut of Brittany Brady. An ankle ligament injury sustained just before our departure had seemingly and tragically put Brittany on the shelf for this trip. It is to our great benefit that Brittany has still come along. She has helped in every way she could, cheering the girls on and cheering the girls up, reminding them constantly of their good fortune in being able to play in these extraordinary circumstances. At the same time, she has been diligently working with Thomas Jensen, the son of our tour guide Sven-Erik. A word must be said about Thomas. He is a wonderfully humble and generous, always engaging and helpful. He is a former soccer player, but now specializes in track, being good enough to run in the 4x400m relay team on the Danish national squad. He is also studying physical therapy, and has worked with Brittany every day of the trip. This is the sort of extraordinary effort we have come to expect from our hosts. Today, Thomas declared Brittany improved enough to warm-up with us, and she felt well enough to play 6 or 7 minutes at forward in the second half, aggressively attacking a cross from Jen that I'm sure everyone on our team was hoping she might score on. While that was not to be, her presence on the field and her joy at being finally able to participate was a huge boost for our squad.
We were now in the final four! We are the only semifinalist that is not a part of a fully professional club playing at the very highest levels in their respective countries. AC Horsens of Denmark (whose men's team plays in the Danish first division) is scheduled to play Reading FC (last year's success story in the English Premiership). We, on the other hand, are set to play Chelsea FC! Yes, you heard me right, Chelsea FC, one of the 'big four' clubs in all England, twice winners of the Premiership in the last three years, financed by the seemingly unlimited resources of Russian multi-billionaire Roman Abramovich. Unbelievable! We have survived with three of the biggest clubs in Europe, an Illinois minnow left in a sea of some of the soccer world's biggest sharks. It just doesn't get any better than this.
LISC 2 KeSO 0
Shots: LISC 10 KeSO 6
Shots on target: LISC 5 KeSO 2
Goals: Somers, Walther
Assist: Hutchison
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