We chage trains in Koln (Cologne) and Jerry treats the girls and him to Mcdonalds!
We pass the time playing cards and eating a picnic lunch. (The dollar is not very strong against the Euro so picnicking when we can is both fun and saves $.)
When we get to the train station in Wolfsburg, there are police everywhere! Grace and I both think there must be a bomb threat, but it turns out the German Women's team is arriving!
We wave to the bus and we get a glimps of the coach and players as they are pulling away from the station.
A quick taxi ride to our hotel and then we don our US fan outfits for the US game against Sweden.
It turns out the Sweden team is staying at our same hotel and we end up riding the elevator with some of the players. We just smile... :)
We arrive at the stadium about an hour early. It is crowded and there are a ton of US fans! It is exciting!
(These kids were sitting right behind us!)
The game starts and everyone is cheering...they start the wave right away but I get into the game and forget about it. Quite frankly, the US is looking rather sloppy. Many passes are off...from defenders to the wings...but there is no one there.... Shannon Boxx is doing amazing in the center..super aggressive but always watching and reading the game and making perfect passes. We take shots..but none go in. A US defender fouls in the penalty box and Sweden gets its first goal off a penalty kick. Before the pk, our keeper Hope Solo takes back the moment and gets a drink of water,stretches etc.before she goes to the line for the shot. Interesting how she took control. When she misses the save (a good dive nonetheless), she keeps her composure and positive attitude. I notice during the game, she doesn't yell at her teammates (though there was reason too) and she shows sportsmanship to a Swedish player who collides with her on a play (seemingly surprising the Swedish player by offering a "low 5" aftter the collision). Hope Solo....
Sweden scores another on a free kick that deflected off a US player into the goal....Hope didn't have a chance to read that one. We go to half time 2-0. The US has not been scored on the entire cup and has won all of their last 14 games. We are in shock.
Second half, Abby Wambach- a star US player- makes a header into the goal(#20 in photo) and we are back in the game.
We make lots of shots..especially by Cheney,who has a great foot and skill (see photo below), but again, none go in.
The time in the second half flies by and we lose 2-1. Oh well, the US team doesn't seem too upset. Maybe because they know they are going to the playoffs nonetheless and still have a chance to win the whole thing. The bad/good news is that they play Brazil on Sunday. Brazil - with FIFA player of the year several year in a row Marta - along with her teammate Cristiane- is going to be very hard to beat. I notice the US didn't play their star mid- fielder Heather O'Reilly this last game. Maybe they are saving and resting her for Brazil. Anyhow, the good news is we have tickets to that playoff game -US v. Brazil in Dresden on Sunday. I am glad we get to see the US play again and seeing Marta play in person will be quite a thrill. If any followers of the blog want to watch a game,watch this one.....check the Internet for local time and channel or maybe you can watch it on the Internet. So, although we lost,we have more to look forward to. I have new heroes in Hope Solo and Shannon Boxx. Nothing like being there....
-Mom, Coach and Tour Guide
Location:Wolfsburg, Germany
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