We came back to the hotel, had a little down time before lunch. After lunch, we made the boys all take a little rest time and hopefully sleep for 45 minutes or so to prepare for their match.
The one thing that sucked was both teams were playing at the same time. I was coaching the U14 team today, so I didn't get to watch the Bayern boys play. Coach Felix coached the U15's and Coach Neil bounced back and forth between the two teams. Both teams played a Fundacion Marcet team. The U15's were actually playing against U17 players, who also play for the Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid Academy Teams. From what I heard, these players were beasts on the field. I was able to get someone to take some shots of the boys playing, so that was nice.
How much do you want to bet that those are Marshall's fingers on the bottom right hand corner?
This is the most determined look I've ever seen on Marshall's face. And look... a Marshall sized opponent. :)
The U15's ended up losing 3-2, but I heard played well. The Bayern boys all did well, which makes me proud.
The U14's struggled a bit in the beginning. We ended up playing 20 minute quarters. The first 20 minutes was a bit rough.... back up... the WARMUP was a bit rough. I almost had 2 injuries just playing a possession game with in a minute span of each other. The boys were pretty on edge. I called them out, settled them down a bit, before going back into the locker room to change. Now... the first 20 minutes was rough, partly because we had to make some changes to the line up due to injuries and basically who we could trust on the back line. It took that time for me to adjust to coaching the boys and figuring them out, and vice versa. We ended up giving up a goal in the first half, but got it back early in the second half. By the fourth quarter, I felt like we had it sorted out and I got them to understand their roles a bit better. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but we did do a penalty shootout. I gave my speech about everyone focusing on the one thing they needed to. If you were a kicker, it was putting the ball in the back of the net, if you were a keeper, just getting one save for the team. We ended up winning 5-4 in penalties. Everyone did their job.
That's right... my coaching in action...
We were also a bit lucky as we took the field to play, the clouds came out and cooled off the temps. Otherwise it's so hot playing on those turf fields. I even felt a drop or two, but not much past that.
This pic is both teams after they played. The kids in black are our injured players and little Sam.
We headed back to the outdoor mall for a late dinner. The boys wanted Chinese tonight, so we hit the buffet. Coach Neil's dad joined us. He's a funny guy. Hard to understand, but still funny.
Tomorrow will be a more eventful day. We hit Santiago Bernabeu Stadium where Real Madrid plays, then the boys have their second match vs RM tech camp. The matches are at the same time again, but we may switch it up and have me coach the U15's tomorrow. You never know what's going to happen with Coach Neil. Until tomorrow...
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."
-John Quincy Adams
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