Coach's Report - Game 2

The benefit of a day's acclimitization was apparent today. The 9:00 am game time meant that we had to be started well before 7:00 am. My assistant coach (Stefan) and I were pleased to find the team fully dressed under the expert tutelage of Mrs. White and Mrs. Hutchison by our arrival at 6:50. While the adjectives eager, or even awake, may not yet have been applicable, the players were nevertheless able to get themselves fed and to the field in less than half the time required just the day before. On the way, we met an Italian and Mexican team, to add to our list of Brazilian, English, Scottish, Argentinian, Swedish and Romanian acquaintances already made.

And what a sight we arrived to! Gunnilse's beautiful stadium field was still kept unused as a precaution, but we were today assigned to their "second" field which, as you can see from the pictures below, does not suffer in comparison to the first. The girls were able to see the effort and dedication required to maintain such facilities: two crew members were diligently working on the grounds as we arrived. We were warmly greeted by one who was mowing perfect horizontal rows to a length almost imperciptibly shorter than it had grown to the day before, and by the second gentleman who was following with a large 'stamping' device to smooth out the divots left untouched by the mower. They wished us well, and we were unable unfortunately to express just how honoured we were to be able to play on the results of their labours. This field sits atop a hill just above the stadium field, and from the team's sideline one could view the surrounding tree-lined mountains in all directions. It was, in a word, breath-taking.

We had begun our warm-ups as our merry and faithful band of supporters arrived. The exclamations of "oh my" that regularly arrived across the field to our side confirmed that they were equally impressed by the conditions.

After game day 1, we found ourselves atop our division on the basis of a 1-goal better goal differential over Colchester United. Therefore, a win today would assure us passage into the winner's bracket. But we knew it was no easy task ahead of us. Tyreso FF (http://www.tyresoff.se/fsm/index.asp) are from Stockholm, and are one of the better women's clubs in Sweden. Their top team, a professional women's squad, recently advanced to the quarterfinals of the Swedish Cup, where they were narrowly eliminated by perennial powerhouse Orebro. The girls we would play today would be their top prospects being groomed to play at that level.

We had talked the night before about the Scandanavian style of play. We expected a game emphasizing physical fitness and intimidation. We were not disappointed. The Swedes were large, aggressive to the ball and indefatigable. We expected, and got, a very direct style of play. The Swedish midfield, anchored by the tall #13, were fearless in the tackle and dominant in the air. They were not interested much in playing with the ball for too long. Along with their back four, they looked immediately and ceaselessly to play the ball as directly to their three front runners as they could, confident that they could physically challenge to win the second ball if their forwards couldn't control the first. Their first four possessions were typical: 30-40 yd passes play brashly right into the heart of our defense. But this proved to be a different LISC defense than the hesitant group of the day before. Helped by the positive play of Lexi Sokol and Anna Lenart, who probably were asked to win more headers in the first half than they had been in the last month, sweeper Emily White was freed to orchestrate our shape and win any balls played beyond the opposing forwards, and she did so without putting a wrong foot anywhere. With Sadie Somers and Jen Guy defending the flanks with equal assurance, Tyreso found themselves limited to only to a few very speculative long-range efforts.

The chances were not much more frequent at the other end however. While the playing conditions should have suited well our quick passing style, we found ourselves unable to impose our style nor our tempo for long periods of the half. Too often, we resigned ourselves to replying to their bombs with bombs of our own. On those occasions were we did play through all the gears in our engine, we failed to produce the final ball necessary in a timely enough manner to really threaten. Still, the better chances had been created by us, and their keeper's concession of 2 rebounds off of shots taken by us gave us hope for the second half.

With the score 0-0 at the half, the logic of the game had become clear. When the ball was in the air, they were the better team; when played along the ground with variety and intelligence, we were superior. When all parts of the field were used, especially the flanks, we looked dangerous; when the ball remained only central, where their most physically imposing players made up their 'spine', we looked defensive. We spoke of our technical advantage over their back line. We felt that if we could deliver dangerous balls early behind their back four at every opportunity, we could put those backs under pressure to make a good play with their feet that they were not comfortable making.

The second half began with the same intensity of the first. A match was there to be won by both sides, and both sides knew a win was required if survival in the tournament was to be had. Hard challenges could now be seen in all parts of the field: good, hard, physical play competently managed by the excellent Swedish and FIFA official. Ten minutes into the half, a Swedish forward was injured after falling awkwardly in a failed effort to challenge Emily White in the air. She required lengthy attention. The question now running through my mind was: how would we react to this interruption of momentum? Our players remained huddled throughout the delay, they remained focused. On resumption of play, the intensity level was ratcheted up a notch or two. The Swedish pressure looked as though it might finally cause a breech in our defense; after doing an excellent job in avoiding giving up free kicks near our goal, the Swedes now had such a chance just outside the right corner of our penalty area. A well-driven ball directed at their three tallest players was instead met by goalkeeper Jordan Becker's fists, and the ball was punched clear to safety. A short time later, The Swedes for the first time were able to find the head of one of their forwards in our box, but sandwiched by Jordan and Emily White, she was pressured to head wide and high.

Now it was our turn to react. Building up the play calmly out of the back from the ensuing goal kick, we found a short passing combination in the midfield that gave us to time to play Amanda Greco in behind their back four on the right flank. Amanda delivered the early ball we had talked about, driven precisely between the retreating central defender and oncoming Swedish goalkeeper. Under pressure from Beth Walther, the central defender had to attempt to clear the ball left-footed while sprinting toward her own goal, but misplayed it past her own keeper, who watched dejectedly as the ball rolled slowly against the far post netting. 1-0 LISC!

There were now only 5 minutes left. It was "all hands to the pump" time. The Swedes now pushed midfielders and forwards into our box, and relentlessly drove balls at them from all points on the field. But the defense remained resolute, and shots remained limited to long-range efforts only. It was an exhausted, bruised but very grateful team that celebrated the final whistle.

In many ways, today was a great, if not ideal, opportunity. A beautiful, cool, sun-drenched day in an idyllic setting, and most importantly, a chance to measure ourselves against a truly world-class opponent. This is what we train for, this is what we sacrifice for, this is the only way to know how good we are and how good we might become. Today, we proved ourselves to be world-class.

Tomorrow's 9:40 am game remains important. Colchester United, last year's tournament finalists, defeated Kungalvs FF 6-0, and now head the group on goal differential. We will need a win to take 1st place back. A first place finish will have us playing a 2nd place finisher later in the afternoon. If we finish 2nd, we would have a more difficult afternoon match against a group winner. Wish us luck, and thank you for all your messages of support.

The girls are currently celebrating at the Goteburg disco, faced with another, although hopefully equally enjoyable challenge: what to wear, what languages to attempt, what parts of the prized US cultural landscape to share with the deprived masses from around the world. May the dream of diplomacy survive the night!

LISC 1 Tyreso FF 0

Shots: LISC 5 Tyreso FF 6

Shots on Goal: LISC 3 Tyreso FF 1

Goals: Tyreso FF (own goal)