To our friends at Independiente and Santos: We are in accord with our friends from the USA women's national team. Please view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lfwwkOYlZE
best wishes from your friends in Washington, DC
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Final Brazil Story
In the locker room at the Vila Belmiro Stadiu, each player locks his own locker. After Pele's final game for Santos, he locked his locker, but told everyone that he had left something in there to bring the team luck. That was 35 years ago and the locker remains untouched. Any guesses?
Lessons Learned
In our game with Santos, we saw:
1. These girls were on an apprenticeship, not a recreational activity. They were relentless, fighting for jobs, and never lost focus or stopped trying to score.
2. They played a 3-4-3 formation. A bit of a surprise to us. They also had one American player who was there training during her summer vacation.
3. Strengths of their team as identified by our players:
A. Speed and Quickness: made us panic when we had the ball.
B. First touch/Skill: The ball was always immediately under control, allowing their players to get their heads up and play with composure. If our defenders were coming on too fast, the first touch was past them and the Santos player was past them.
C. Constant movement (like the futsal match we played). All players would join the attack at high speed. The formation was just a starting point as players interchanged freely on attack.
i. Forwards would creep along the offside line and then explode behind our defenders or back to the ball.
ii. Midfielders would constantly adjust their angles of support, making them very difficult to cover. Any ball watching was punished thoroughly.
iii. Defenders supported play by getting deep and wide so that they were always available as an outlet to keep possession.
D. Communication and Focus: The Santos players kept up a constant buzz and which helped with support and concentration.
E. Physical Play:
i. When two players raced for a ball, the Santos player would shoulder bump our player once or twice on the way to the ball to ensure that she got there first.
ii. All tackles were made at full power. Any half challenges were lost.
F. Required full concentration from us at every moment.
i. No ball watching
ii. Tackles had to be all or nothing.
iii. When the ball was headed your way, if you did not run through it, you could be sure your opponent would.
4. What we did badly, not caused by Santos:
A. Marking on free kicks and corner kicks.
B. Availability of Forwards immediately after we win the ball.
C. We must scrap the long ball off the kick off.
D. Setting up (or NOT) walls on free kicks.
E. Maturity: accepting criticism, maintaining composure, playing with confidence, not fear.
F. Flat back four must drop off if the ball is not under pressure.
1. These girls were on an apprenticeship, not a recreational activity. They were relentless, fighting for jobs, and never lost focus or stopped trying to score.
2. They played a 3-4-3 formation. A bit of a surprise to us. They also had one American player who was there training during her summer vacation.
3. Strengths of their team as identified by our players:
A. Speed and Quickness: made us panic when we had the ball.
B. First touch/Skill: The ball was always immediately under control, allowing their players to get their heads up and play with composure. If our defenders were coming on too fast, the first touch was past them and the Santos player was past them.
C. Constant movement (like the futsal match we played). All players would join the attack at high speed. The formation was just a starting point as players interchanged freely on attack.
i. Forwards would creep along the offside line and then explode behind our defenders or back to the ball.
ii. Midfielders would constantly adjust their angles of support, making them very difficult to cover. Any ball watching was punished thoroughly.
iii. Defenders supported play by getting deep and wide so that they were always available as an outlet to keep possession.
D. Communication and Focus: The Santos players kept up a constant buzz and which helped with support and concentration.
E. Physical Play:
i. When two players raced for a ball, the Santos player would shoulder bump our player once or twice on the way to the ball to ensure that she got there first.
ii. All tackles were made at full power. Any half challenges were lost.
F. Required full concentration from us at every moment.
i. No ball watching
ii. Tackles had to be all or nothing.
iii. When the ball was headed your way, if you did not run through it, you could be sure your opponent would.
4. What we did badly, not caused by Santos:
A. Marking on free kicks and corner kicks.
B. Availability of Forwards immediately after we win the ball.
C. We must scrap the long ball off the kick off.
D. Setting up (or NOT) walls on free kicks.
E. Maturity: accepting criticism, maintaining composure, playing with confidence, not fear.
F. Flat back four must drop off if the ball is not under pressure.
Trip Finale
Lack of computer access in the Santos hotel has delayed this post. Everyone is now safely home in Washington, DC.
On Monday, we walked to the beach in the morning for technical training and soccer tennis. There were other soccer games going on the beach despite the Brazilian kids being back in school from their winter break.
On Monday afternoon, we went to the beach to take on ABOR (Associao Benevencio Osvaldo de Rossis) in an 11v11 beach soccer game. The boundary of the field was marked with a rope and goals and corner flags were planted in the sand. The sand we played had the consistency of flour and was pretty bumpy. The match started brightly for the Force and we were ahead 3-0 at half-time. Since this was a big experiment anyway, we ended the second half early and mixed in with the other team for some added fun and fellowship. The girls learned about the Brazilian way of "playing under the ball." Jess was particularly focused on this idea, flicking the ball into the air at every opportunity. Chrissy recorded the shutout while Alex ran at forward.
Tuesday morning was a tour of the city of Santos: the old Coffee Exchange, now a museum, Mont Serrat, the highest point in the city, and an old-fashioned trolley tour of the city. We learned a lot about the coffee trade and the history of the city. From Mont Serrat, we had a great view of South America's largest port.
Tuesday afternoon, the Force travelled to a local field for a match with the Santos FC U17 girls team, which had players ranging in age from 13 to 16. While respect for the family nature of this blog prevents me from publishing the score, suffice it to say, we saw soccer played at its highest level. See the next entry for details of what we learned.
On Wednesday, we trained on the beach again: lots of technical work and a scrimmage. On Wednesday afternoon, we toured the Vila Belmiro Stadium, home of Santos FC. The tour was brilliant, with a small museum and behind the scenes tour of the locker room, bench, warm up room, and chapel. There were many reminders of Pele, who played his whole career with Santos until joining the New York Cosmos. Pele was also part of Santos' "Bicampeao:" winning the World Club Championship in 1962 and 1963. To this day, Santos' shirts carry two stars above the crest commemorating this achievement. After doing a fair bit of damage in the club shop, we headed for the airport and home.
On Monday, we walked to the beach in the morning for technical training and soccer tennis. There were other soccer games going on the beach despite the Brazilian kids being back in school from their winter break.
On Monday afternoon, we went to the beach to take on ABOR (Associao Benevencio Osvaldo de Rossis) in an 11v11 beach soccer game. The boundary of the field was marked with a rope and goals and corner flags were planted in the sand. The sand we played had the consistency of flour and was pretty bumpy. The match started brightly for the Force and we were ahead 3-0 at half-time. Since this was a big experiment anyway, we ended the second half early and mixed in with the other team for some added fun and fellowship. The girls learned about the Brazilian way of "playing under the ball." Jess was particularly focused on this idea, flicking the ball into the air at every opportunity. Chrissy recorded the shutout while Alex ran at forward.
Tuesday morning was a tour of the city of Santos: the old Coffee Exchange, now a museum, Mont Serrat, the highest point in the city, and an old-fashioned trolley tour of the city. We learned a lot about the coffee trade and the history of the city. From Mont Serrat, we had a great view of South America's largest port.
Tuesday afternoon, the Force travelled to a local field for a match with the Santos FC U17 girls team, which had players ranging in age from 13 to 16. While respect for the family nature of this blog prevents me from publishing the score, suffice it to say, we saw soccer played at its highest level. See the next entry for details of what we learned.
On Wednesday, we trained on the beach again: lots of technical work and a scrimmage. On Wednesday afternoon, we toured the Vila Belmiro Stadium, home of Santos FC. The tour was brilliant, with a small museum and behind the scenes tour of the locker room, bench, warm up room, and chapel. There were many reminders of Pele, who played his whole career with Santos until joining the New York Cosmos. Pele was also part of Santos' "Bicampeao:" winning the World Club Championship in 1962 and 1963. To this day, Santos' shirts carry two stars above the crest commemorating this achievement. After doing a fair bit of damage in the club shop, we headed for the airport and home.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Welcome to Santos
We are now safely at the Hotel Praiano in Santos, two blocks from the beach. We did not play any soccer today, but we did attend the match of Sao Paolo v. Portuguesa at Estadio Morumbi. The girls were very attentive during the match and asked a lot of good questions. From our vantage point behind one of the goals, we were able to see Sao Paolo playing the same formation that we have been working on. Portuguesa played a variation with a diamond shaped midfield, rather than four across. The game was pretty dull, with SP dominating possession but playing too slowly and too much down the middle to break down Portuguesa's packed defense. The game sprung to life shortly after halftime with Portuguesa scoring against the run of play. The goal woke SP up and they were able to run out 3-1 winners.
The other thing of note that we did today was walk around downtown SP with Joanne Blaney, who is a Maryknoll missionary there. She told us about her work with teen mothers and their families as well as her work helping to support people in Brazilian jails. It was interesting and also gave the girls a chance to see a fuller picture of Brazil after our stay in the countryside.
Having been to Africa and now Brazil this summer I can confirm that street soccer is dead. There are cars everywhere. Oddly, driving and walking around the country, we have seen almost no soccer other than that organized by adults. Perhaps this will change here in Santos.
Tomorrow, we play an 11 v. 11 match on the beach and then on Tuesday, we take on the Santos FC U15 team.
The other thing of note that we did today was walk around downtown SP with Joanne Blaney, who is a Maryknoll missionary there. She told us about her work with teen mothers and their families as well as her work helping to support people in Brazilian jails. It was interesting and also gave the girls a chance to see a fuller picture of Brazil after our stay in the countryside.
Having been to Africa and now Brazil this summer I can confirm that street soccer is dead. There are cars everywhere. Oddly, driving and walking around the country, we have seen almost no soccer other than that organized by adults. Perhaps this will change here in Santos.
Tomorrow, we play an 11 v. 11 match on the beach and then on Tuesday, we take on the Santos FC U15 team.
Force v. ALEC
Friday: Force v. Aguas de Lindoia Esportive Club, or Bekah goes to fantasy camp.
After starting the day with a fun horse tour through the hills around our hotel, the Force headed to the municipal stadium in town for game two of the tour. For this game, we played in the "Brazilian" style: flat back four, two defensive midfielders, two wide attacking midfielders, and two forwards. As early as the 2nd minute, Diana sprung an overlapping Lillian down the left flank and her inch perfect cross left Bekah with the easiest of tap-ins at the back post. Minutes later, Lillian again played in a cross, the ALEC keeper could only parry, and Bekah was again on hand to volley home the rebound. The travelling support were now in full song (that is, the boys staying at the hotel and their parents), alternately chanting "Force-EE, Force-EE" and for many of the girls by name. Later in the half, Emily finished a breakaway, Bekah scored again, and by half-time, the game was over as a competition. It was more one way traffic in the second half as the Force held possession and attacked at will. Two goals stand out: Marauding right back Olivia laying on cross for Emily Yin to volley in and complete her brace and Bekah completing her 5 goal tally with a 25 yard pile driver. The Force defense, superbly marshalled by Elizabeth, was water tight, allowing Alex little to do but pick up the odd through ball. The central midfield pair of Diana and Liza kept tabs on ALEC´s top player (who had scorched us in futsal the night before) and also helped keep possession for long periods. While the opponent was obviously weak, we were able to employ a number of the ideas we have been working on and now we'll need to work them at faster speed.
In the evening, we went back into town to play futsal. While El Gato was the (only) Man of the Match, it was good to see the girls employ the lessons they learned the previous evening. The movement and decision making were so much better.
Our final night in Aguas concluded with the girls and boys at the hotel having a small dance party thanks to Amanda's ipod. This also completed the hotel's comparison with Kellerman's in the classic film Dirty Dancing. Sadly, Patrick Swayze was nowhere to be seen.
Saturday was spent mostly on the bus, driving into Sao Paolo, and travelling around the city. We did tour the Morumbi Stadium, home of Sao Paolo FC and sneak about an hour of futsal at the University.
After starting the day with a fun horse tour through the hills around our hotel, the Force headed to the municipal stadium in town for game two of the tour. For this game, we played in the "Brazilian" style: flat back four, two defensive midfielders, two wide attacking midfielders, and two forwards. As early as the 2nd minute, Diana sprung an overlapping Lillian down the left flank and her inch perfect cross left Bekah with the easiest of tap-ins at the back post. Minutes later, Lillian again played in a cross, the ALEC keeper could only parry, and Bekah was again on hand to volley home the rebound. The travelling support were now in full song (that is, the boys staying at the hotel and their parents), alternately chanting "Force-EE, Force-EE" and for many of the girls by name. Later in the half, Emily finished a breakaway, Bekah scored again, and by half-time, the game was over as a competition. It was more one way traffic in the second half as the Force held possession and attacked at will. Two goals stand out: Marauding right back Olivia laying on cross for Emily Yin to volley in and complete her brace and Bekah completing her 5 goal tally with a 25 yard pile driver. The Force defense, superbly marshalled by Elizabeth, was water tight, allowing Alex little to do but pick up the odd through ball. The central midfield pair of Diana and Liza kept tabs on ALEC´s top player (who had scorched us in futsal the night before) and also helped keep possession for long periods. While the opponent was obviously weak, we were able to employ a number of the ideas we have been working on and now we'll need to work them at faster speed.
In the evening, we went back into town to play futsal. While El Gato was the (only) Man of the Match, it was good to see the girls employ the lessons they learned the previous evening. The movement and decision making were so much better.
Our final night in Aguas concluded with the girls and boys at the hotel having a small dance party thanks to Amanda's ipod. This also completed the hotel's comparison with Kellerman's in the classic film Dirty Dancing. Sadly, Patrick Swayze was nowhere to be seen.
Saturday was spent mostly on the bus, driving into Sao Paolo, and travelling around the city. We did tour the Morumbi Stadium, home of Sao Paolo FC and sneak about an hour of futsal at the University.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Back in the Blogosphere
Apologies to our many fans for not posting in several days. There were computer problems at our hotel in Aguas. We are now at a nice hotel in Sao Paolo. It is a bit of a faded glory, but serviceable for our one night stay.
Tuesday: We trained for two hours at a field near our hotel in Aguas. We worked on tactics, primarily team defensive shape. We also did a little possession work and some work on counterattacking. El Gato made his debut in goal and it was, well, indescribable.
Wednesday: First game v. FC Independiente of Sao Paolo. Sadly, the tactics at training did not cover nerves or defending at set pieces. After conceding an early goal on a corner kick, the nerves started to settle and the Force ball possession game started to come out more and more. Late in the first half, Diana equalized driving home a direct kick around the defensive wall. The second half started brightly for the Force, but restarts were to prove the team´s undoing, conceding from two more corners and a direct free kick. The new zonal back four did pretty well for it´s first game and the passing game, while a little rusty, had its moments. Those old Force bugaboos of width, attacking in numbers, and shooting were in evidence. And concentration at restarts!!!
Thursday: AM training was highlighted by fine tuning the zonal defence, restarts, and an emphasis on attacking width coming from the wide defenders.
Thursday afternoon´s "rest" time resulted in two turned ankles. Molly and Sarah are both recuperating well. Molly will play in Sunday´s game at the University of Sao Paolo. Sarah is not far behind her.
Thursday night, the girls went to a dedicated futsal gym to play against the Aguas women´s futsal team. It was a brilliant soccer experience as the Aguas team gave a clinic in skill, movement without the ball, and finishing. By the end of the evening, our girls seemed to be cottoning onto the idea. It portended well for Friday~s game.
Tuesday: We trained for two hours at a field near our hotel in Aguas. We worked on tactics, primarily team defensive shape. We also did a little possession work and some work on counterattacking. El Gato made his debut in goal and it was, well, indescribable.
Wednesday: First game v. FC Independiente of Sao Paolo. Sadly, the tactics at training did not cover nerves or defending at set pieces. After conceding an early goal on a corner kick, the nerves started to settle and the Force ball possession game started to come out more and more. Late in the first half, Diana equalized driving home a direct kick around the defensive wall. The second half started brightly for the Force, but restarts were to prove the team´s undoing, conceding from two more corners and a direct free kick. The new zonal back four did pretty well for it´s first game and the passing game, while a little rusty, had its moments. Those old Force bugaboos of width, attacking in numbers, and shooting were in evidence. And concentration at restarts!!!
Thursday: AM training was highlighted by fine tuning the zonal defence, restarts, and an emphasis on attacking width coming from the wide defenders.
Thursday afternoon´s "rest" time resulted in two turned ankles. Molly and Sarah are both recuperating well. Molly will play in Sunday´s game at the University of Sao Paolo. Sarah is not far behind her.
Thursday night, the girls went to a dedicated futsal gym to play against the Aguas women´s futsal team. It was a brilliant soccer experience as the Aguas team gave a clinic in skill, movement without the ball, and finishing. By the end of the evening, our girls seemed to be cottoning onto the idea. It portended well for Friday~s game.
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