Brazil Tour 09

We just got back from a great week in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, that was full of soccer, tourism, and relaxation. First things first we played a total of three games, and faired well in all of them given the circumstances (field and weather conditions). Monday morning around 9:30AM Rio time we kicked off against Fluminese at their training grounds. The ground temperature at game time was 101 degree fahrenheit, the grass was about 4 inches long (which is way too long for a soccer pitch), and there was no shade anywhere. The first half was underway and the heat took a toll on our bodies, the half ended 2-1 in their favor. At the start of the second half we were winded, over heated, and just about ready to die but we pushed through for the first 30 minutes. After that the wheels fell off and within 5 minutes they scored three goals. We were all spent and had nothing left in our tanks when the final whistle blew. The first game was complete and everyone was excited to get back to the air conditioned hotel and rest up for our next adventure. 

The second game proved to be our greatest feat on the trip. We arrived at the Botofogo training grounds on wednesday afternoon, rested up and ready to play. Luckily, on this day we had playing conditions that were more suitable for our type of play. The field was big in size, the stadium casted shade over the pitch and the weather was clear skies with a temperature around 80 degrees. What more could we ask for? The game started and we got ahead 1-0 just minutes before the half time whistle blew. With some momentum going our way, we started strong in the second half and were able to score two more goals before we conceded only one goal. Just after there goal we scored one more to put the icing on the cake. We had just beat one of the best youth teams in Brazil, and without a doubt we didn't let it down. 

Thursday was the day of our third and final game. It was probably the best game that we played while we were down in Brazil. The training grounds of Flemengo were up in the mountains of Rio, about two hours from where we were staying. The field was perfect and the sun was beating down with intense heat. The game begun, and right off the bat you could tell it was going to be evenly matched. We played some of the best soccer we have play just yet, and they showed us what Brazilians are capable of. The game ended 3-0 in Flemengo's favor, but we were satisfied with how we performed and felt that we did the best we could. This completed our Brazil soccer campaign but there was a still a lot more left to do while we were there..