Sunday, July 10, 2011

We're baaaaaaack!!!

Before we "get back" I'd like to report on our last night in Italy. We were informed that the bus would be picking us up at 4am and so in our great wisdom, everyone decided to stay up all night. After a pizza dinner, Coach Jonny removed the curfew requirements and the boys were left to their own devices. They just had to be quiet after midnight and have their bags packed and staged in the downstairs hallway. I can't even tell you what they did, but at 3:45 am, they were all ready to go. Such good boys.

Now the parents were an entirely different story. In order to facilitate an all-niter, much beer and wine had to be consumed (well, didn't have to be, but was!) I do have incriminating pictures, but they will not be posted here. I'm sure they will make it to the Internet some day soon.

Even at 5am, the airport in Bologna was PACKED! After missing our earlier flight in Paris, there was some concern that we would not make this flight even though we were over 2 hours early. Luckily, we made it and our connecting flight at the dreaded Charles de Gualle.

I want to thank the Italian players for bringing such panache to our game. I know the guys have made lifelong friendships with our Italians, Dani & Denis, since much "friending" has occurred. The wonderful Mimma even created a Facebook page and has friended some of our players. I can't even describe Scott, our tour guide at the tournament. He is a fount of knowledge on any subject imaginable. Never challenge Scott to an intellectual dual, you will be sorry!

You all have wonderful wonderful sons. I am honored to have spent time with them in Italy and was so proud of them on and off the playing field.

MaryAnne

4th Place overall!!!

Mimma and her Boys

Friday, July 8, 2011

Our Final game -- Us v. Sweden 1 (again)

As luck would have it, we drew the first Swedish team in our final match. Hopefully, the outcome will be different this time!

The Swedes came out ready for us. Their better players #s 21 and 26 immediately penetrated our midfield and backfields with speed. But our steady guys in the backfield, took the abuse, and actually seemed to be getting stronger as the minutes ticked by. The field was smaller than the stadium field, which made for very quick speed of play and unfortunately, favored the Swedes. Quality shots and saves were made on both sides of the pitch.

17 minutes in, and Garrett is taken down in the box. Penalty kick is awarded to us. Italian Dani motions for our guys to take the kick, but no one makes eye contact with him, so Dani takes the PK. He strikes a beautiful low shot to the back right corner, textbook PK and scores! 1-0 us.

The half continued at the same high intensity. Yellow cards were given evenly to both teams. Bodies were flying and our guys were giving back as much as they were taking, totally opposite of the first game. Tommy, playing an exceptional game, kept the Swedes from scoring and cleaned up any balls deep into the backfield, classic sweeper. The Swedes were a bit more frantic since we were up 1-0. Half-time 1-0 us.

The Swedes take a corner 5 minutes into the half and score. 1-1 tie.

Both sides continue with high intensity play. #21 takes the ball down the right side, and Brodie attempts to delay him. Unfortunately, 21 gets off a great cross, switching the ball to the far-side, and inside our 6. There is flurry in the box, but no clearance. Swedes score, 2-1 them.

After several more minutes, run of play has the Swedes working down their left side of the field. Our defenders shift to our right trying to stop their forward movement. They get the ball inside our 18. Max gets entangled with one of the Swedes, who fell down quite readily. The referee blows his whistle and signals for a PK. Evan dives left, but the goal is made to the right side of goalmouth. 3-1 them.

Coach Jonny changes to three across the back, moving Tommy up into the midfield. Tommy immediately starts to change the complexion of the game; just making trouble in the middle for the Swedes. The ball somehow makes it to the top left and Matthew fights his way to the ball and gets a nice cross. Denis quickly gets to the ball and scores! 3-2 them.

Game ends 3-2. Very exciting, very good, very competitive. There were no losers today. You would have been very proud of our guys. We will be going to the closing ceremonies tonight at 7:30 back at the stadium.




Party @ the Hotel Karim

Unbeknownst to us, every Thursday night, the hotels in Tagliata host a dance party for their patrons and the locals. Our guys were invited (told) by Mimma (mee-ma), our wonderful hotel matriarch that they will be at the dance tonight. (I was thinking, yeah, these guys want nothing to do with dancing.) Mimma, took care of our boys all week as if they were her own sons.

Rich and I were coming back to the hotel after our evening stroll and we heard dance music several blocks away. As we came up to the gate, we saw all of our boys doing the Macarena with Mimma! OMG!!! They were all there, except Evan and Steven who was partaking in pizza down the street. Steven managed to join the group dancing a few moments later, but Evan was nowhere to be seen.

The dancing went on for several hours and our guys stayed and danced and danced. Jonny even broke out the Robot, which is always a winner – you just can’t go wrong with the Robot. The guys loved it! The funny thing about the dance was that there were two very cute Italian 16-year girls, dressed to the nines! But our guys were having so much fun dancing with each other that they totally ignored the hot Italian chicks. They left after about an hour after coming to the realization that our guys were not going to ask them to dance. The party wound down, or came to a complete stop after Jason dropped the hotel owner, Mariangela, flat on her back after attempting to dip her!




Thursday, July 7, 2011

Game 5 - Sweating with the Swedes




After a long walking tour of Ravenna, our guys return to the Stadium for their 5th Game start time –5:15. The Swedes came in donning red/black, we wore white/red. Our starting line-up for today’s match:

Goalie: Evan
Defenders: Jason (right), Chris, Tommy, Brodie (left)
Midfield: Max, Ben, Dani, Denis
Strikers: Garrett, Jamie

This Swedes are currently in 2nd place in the tournament and had already played a game today. We did not know the outcome of their first game, so two losses for them today would help us get closer to a 3rd place tournament finish. Hopefully, they will be a little tired from the earlier game. We definitely had the run of play in their half for most of the game. 13 minutes in, Italian Dani sends the ball across the goal-mouth and Jaime, running into the 6, puts away a very easy goal. 1-0 us.

5 minutes later, Jason moving toward goal from right to left, takes it inside the 18, past a defender, then passes it to our Italian Dani who hit the back right side net. Score!!! 2-0 us. Half-time

Start of the half sees Coach putting in new players: Stephen Thiringer in goal, Steven Logan at left halfback, Matthew T in at right back replacing Brodie, Jamie, and Evan. 2 minutes in the Swedes score on a cross from the left side of the 18. Rut-ro... The Swedish coaches must have given a very decisive peptalk during the half because the Swedes have stepped their speed of play and physicality. 2-1 us.



Ben wins a header in the middle of the field, and luckily lands on the right foot of Dani who immediately passes to Denis running at full speed toward the goal. He takes on a defender who tries to take him down, but Denis acrobatically jumps over the sliding defender. Keeping his composure; he takes several more touches then sends the ball into the net. 3-1 us.


Quick long ball from the backfield produces an exciting breakaway by our speedy Italians. Multiple beautiful give and gos are witnessed until the Italians Dani finally score. 4-1 us. (Whew, for a while there it looked like the tide was turning in the Swedes favor.)


Games over we WIN!!!! 4-1 us. Well-done boys, man of the match – Italian Dani.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Game 4 - Great Danes

With the exception of Stephen Thiringer starting in goal and no Lorenzo, the starting lineup remains the same as Game 3. Italians Dani & Denis take the kick-off and movement starts on the left side of the pitch. 3 minutes into the game we score! Brodie sends in a great pass into the 18 and Italian Denis heads it in for a score… 1-0 us. OMG!!!!

For the next several minutes run of play remains on their side of the fifty. Ben takes a wicked shot from the 30, which just grazes the top of the box. Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Max takes the same shot, but just misses wide right. Brodie misses just shy left, the ball comes back out, we knock it around the 18, then Max scores with his left! 2-0 us…

The Danes finally move the ball to our side of the 50, fortunately our defense stops them, Ben recovers and takes it all the way to their 30, dishes it left to Italian Dani, who dishes it more left to Steven Logan. Steven takes a shot which crosses all the way over the goal mouth and hits the right side cross bar. After more play around their 18, Italian Denis sends a decisive ball to the back of the net. 3-0 us.

(I hate to say this, but if you’re not here, you are missing one heck of a game. Our boys are on FIRE!) Argh, I shouldn’t have been taunting the home squad, the Danes just scored on a break away… 3-1 us. Halftime.

Half time whistle blows, 2 minutes in and Jaime scores from a nice pass from Italian Denis. Within minutes, Jaime takes another shot at close range, but the shot is blocked by one of two defenders tightly marking him. 4-1 us.

Our defenders, TLo, Jason, Matthew & Brodie do an exceptional job giving the mid-fielders relief by being close and open enough to accept an outlet pass and maintain possession. While I haven't discussed our defensive end because there was not much happening back there in either game, they played exceptionally all morning.







The remainder of the half had our team playing a very smart conservative possession game, but our little 14s still rudely kept pushing for more goals. TWEEEET!!! We won! 4-1 us!

Game 3 - Czech-mate

Today we had two games, Czechs & The Great Danes. Game 1 kick-off was at 0900, Czechs wearing red jerseys/white shorts, our guys in white jerseys/red shorts. Two of our Italian guests rode to the stadium on their cool little Vespas and sporty hair-dos. Unfortunately, Lorenzo our Italian holding mid was not able to make this first game. At the onset of play, both teams seemed equally matched, which was evident in the 0-0 score 15 minutes into the game. Jonny made some line-up changes, Evan started out in goal, Ben in the middle of the pitch with Max, and Chris to the back line. This change seemed to work very well. We had several more scoring opportunities than the other team. Max was taken down shortly before the half, but managed to get back on his feet. Half-time 0-0.

After halftime, the Czechs came out in green jerseys – which helped out tremendously. Matthew came in for Chris in the backfield and Stephen replaced Evan in the goal. Run of play was much more physical at the onset of the second half. We had several scoring opportunities, but unfortunately so did the Czechs. (Golf commentator voice…) Max is lined up to take the direct kick outside the 18, the shot is deflected back out and Italian Dani puts it AWAY!! SCORE!!! 1-0 USA-USA-USA!!!!

(Golf commentator voice again…) Matthew T. gets the ball at the half. Sends it up to Garrett on the right flank who dances past his defender. We now are in a 2v1 situation where the 1 is their goalie. SCORE!!!!! Whistle blows, we win 2-0!!!!




Game 2 - French Fried

The France team (their jerseys read U17-U16) was very physical, skilled, and fast. Run of play was definitely on their side for most of the game. They punished our team after making the smallest of mistakes. – soft passes, kicks to no one, missed tackles. Both goalies, Stephen & Evan, made some outstanding saves, even though the game outcome didn’t reflect their efforts. Good learning experience for our guys, make a mistake and you will get shellacked! Can’t really critique this game, we played a very good team and we had some opportunities on goal, but we just couldn’t finish. C’est la vie… 3-0 France

Game 1 - Sweden








The Swedish team was a formidable group donning bright yellow jerseys and black shorts. Most of them were taller than Garrett, our tallest player. Our guys were clearly nervous initially, but they seemed to settle in nicely once play began. The Swedish right wing #21 was fast. Poor Brodie had to mark him but he did a great job containing him until help arrived. We gave up one goal prior to the half, which ended 1-0. Coach did not call upon our Italian guest players until the 2nd half so we still had no idea how good they were. Well, when they finally came on the pitch, it was painfully obvious that they were going to be game changers -- for the better. OMG! After several minutes of play, it was obvious to our guys that the strategy was to “Kick it to the Italians!” (a la the movie Kicking and Screaming)….

Tournament rules state that once a player is subbed out, they cannot return to the game. I believe at some point the Swedes thought they had the game in hand so they took out #21 - (pre-Italians). Denis, our new center-mid scored on a cheeky kick that hit the goalie on the face prior to going into the goal. Score 1-1.

It seemed like the run of play was in our favor the next several minutes of the game. We pressed hard and had several more scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, in the last minutes of the game, the Swedes scored another goal. Game over, but it was a very good game, which could have gone either way. Score 2-1 Sweden.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Opening ceremonies




What a day we had today! The opening ceremonies took place at the Cessenatico stadium at 10am. There were at least 45 teams from 15 different countries -- girls and boys teams. Along with the beautiful Swedish girls, there were 4 Brazilian dancers who stopped the entire team (and Coach Jonny) in their tracks!!! Well, back to the opening ceremonies...

The opening ceremonies were very similar to Olympic-style opening ceremonies. Each country/team lined up in alphabetical order, carried their country sign & flags (TLo had the US Flag draped over his shoulders), and marched around the stadium. The USA had two boys teams, U17 & U16, and two girls teams U15 & U17. There was music and dancing and the atmosphere was electric, like a big party! Of course, our guys were absolutely overwhelmed with the festivities. They were so cute huddled together for protection as they circled the track. All of the other teams were waving and jumping up and down and just going with the flow... Our guys remained huddled together until the Brazilian dancers started their act on center stage -- then it was every man for themselves. As the guys were leaving the stadium, the team in front of our team, amazed by the beautiful Brazilian women in their comely outfits, came to a complete stop. Our poor unfortunate guys had to stop about only 5 feet from the stage and wait. (Poor poor boys).

After opening ceremonies, the guys went back to relax at the hotel and Jonny & I went to the coaches/team manager technical meeting to get all the rules and regs of the tournament.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Hotel Karim, Tagliata

Hello everyone,

We made it to Talgliata to our hotel next to the Adriatic Sea. The bus ride from Florence to Tagliata took about 3 hours. We stopped at an Italian rest stop which served very good Italian sandwiches and snacks. As always, the guys were great travelers, no complaints, no whining... Before heading to the hotel, we stopped at the tournament registration site and registered the team before heading off to the hotel for checkin. As I was leaving, I caught sight of a Swedish girls team. They all looked like super models, after getting a look at them I knew the guys would really enjoy the tournament!

We are staying at the Hotel Karim. Everyone settled in nicely (except the "Sisters" who had terrible mold in their room -- sorry Nancy & Kathy). We got a new tour guide, Scott, who is very very knowledge of the area. Good news, is that Air France found Steven Logan's and Chris Hughes' luggage, bad news is that we still don't have Max's or Jaime's luggage.

The hotel is right across the street from the beach. Italian beaches are very different from beaches that we are familiar with. The beach is blanketed with beach chairs and umbrellas and you just can't go to the beach, you have to have rent a lounge chair to hang out on the beach. Thankfully, Richard and Scott got us a good deal on beach chairs and umbrellas for the week so the parents and guys can go to the beach every day for beach fun and sun. Today, all of the guys went to the beach and some actually went into the sea for a refreshing swim -- including Coach Jonny! Theresa, Nancy, Richard, Laurie, Bob & I had some adult beverages on the beach. The local Italian men in their Speedos were very interesting to see.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Jonny had a team meeting afterwards then we celebrated Jaimie's 16th birthday. It's about 10:30 pm and the guys are still playing cards outside and the parents (me included) are drinking the be best Sangiovese wine I've ever had (for 9 euros!) Okay 9 x 5 may be over the top, but this wine is really really good....

Take care, all of the guys are doing great. MA

Saturday, July 2, 2011

We won our first Friendly match!

The boys played against ACD Nova after our day long sight seeing trip to Florence. They

played a very good possession game and probably surprised the competition with their play. It was very impressive to see the guys line up against their Italian competition. We lost the coin toss, but that was about it...

I'm going to post my photos of the game on Picasa as soon as I get time.

Florence and ACD Nova Friendly

Hi everyone! Yes, we had a great day traveling to Florence and sightseeing. We went to the Duomo and toured the inside of the church, walked around the outside of the Ufizi, acrossed the Ponte Vecchio and saw the beautiful jewelry, ate and shopped at the Piazza San Lorenzo, and finished our day by walking up to the Piazzale Michelangelo to see Florence from high atop the hillside. Absolutely beautiful.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Stuck in Paris!!! ARGH!

Hi everyone. We missed our connecting flight to Milan by 10 minutes. We were all stuck in the back of the plane and by the time we got off and cleared security, we got to the gate as the plane was pulling out. Luckily, Richard got us all on the 1:15 flight along with lunch vouchers. The guys are doing fine.

They have a great attitude, just waiting and waiting and waiting.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Air France Departure Info - from AF website

Washington, Dulles Intl (IAD)- USA to Paris, Charles de Gaulle (CDG) - France

Flight/Aircraft : AF039
Departs : Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 4:40 PM
Arrives : Friday, July 1, 2011 at 6:00 AM
Flight time : 07h20

Meet at the Air France Desk no later than 2:00 PM on Thursday June 30th..

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Our Itinerary

June 1 - July 3, 2011
Montecatini/Italy

Accommodation: Hotel Manzoni Montecatini
Manzoni Nord, 28
51016 Montecatini Terme (PT)
Tel. 0572-70175

Thursday June 30, 2011
03.40pm Depart IAD AF 039 Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Friday July 1, 2011
06.00am Arrival Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
07.15am Depart Paris AF 1212 from to Milan Linate.
08.45am Arrival Milan Linate airport.
10.00am Transfer to your hotel
2:30pm Arrival at your hotel.

After arrival an information meeting will take place. During this information you will receive detailed information about dinner and breakfast times, excursion options, etc.

08.00pm Evening dinner.

Saturday July 2, 2011
08.00am Breakfast.
09.30am Sight seeing in Florence. Visit major sights such as the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, the Oltrarno, the Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria and of course Piazza Michelangelo. From here you will have a beautiful view of Florence.
00.00pm Evening dinner.
00.00pm Game vs.

Sunday July 3, 2011
08.00am Breakfast.
09.00am Transfer to Cesenatico.


July 3 - 9, 2011
Italy/Cesenatico
The Italy Cup


Sunday July 3, 2011
08.00am Breakfast.
09.00am Transfer to Cesenatico. Palazzetto dello Sport.
12.00pm Arrival Palazzetto dello Sport
Via Magellano, 23
47042 Cesenatico
Tel +39 393 1689708 (Euro-Sportring Coordinator)

07.00pm Evening dinner.

Italy Cup program
Monday Morning Welcome ceremony and team managers and coaches reception
Afternoon Tournament – preliminaries
Evening Free program

Tuesday Tournament – preliminaries
Evening Team managers and coaches game in main stadium

Wednesday Day Tournament – preliminaries
Evening Social evening for all participants
Team managers and coaches buffet

Thursday Day Tournament – intermediaries&classification matches
Evening Free program; suggestion: visit “Peter Pan”

Friday Tournament – (classification matches and) finals.
Afternoon Grand prize-giving ceremony

Saturday July 9, 2011
04.00am Transfer to Bologna airport.
05.30am Arrival Bologna airport.
07.25am Departure flight AF 1029 from Bologna to Paris.
09.10am Arrival Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
10.40am Depart Paris AF 028 to Washington.
01.00pm Arrival Washington Dulles airport.

Tipping & Etiquette

In Italy service, which usually ranges from 1 to 3 euros depending on the restaurant, is automatically added to the check and must be visible on the menu. "Coperto," the charge for the tablecloth, silverware, etc., is illegal in Lazio but may be added in other regions.

Normally, just round up the bill, a few Euro. If you were given an outstanding service, a good tip -- 10 euro in cash -- will make the staff happy, but you are not "compelled" to do so.

Italy: Banks & Money (tripadvisor.com)

Italy: Banks & Money (tripadvisor.com)In Italy, as in most of Western Europe, the official currency is the Euro (€). For visitors from the US, it is easy to make a conversion: 1 Euro is, right now, about US$1.32. To make things a bit simpler, consider that 3 Euro equal approx. US$ 4.
Changing money into Euro: you can change money almost everywhere in Italy. You can go to any bank -- public hours are usually from about 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (times may change slightly from bank to bank, but all are closed all day on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays Travelers' checks are almost impossible to exchange at hotels and shops, but can still be cashed at banks and foreign exchange offices .

Credit Cards / Debit Cards / ATMs
Major establishments accept credit cards whose logos are posted in their front windows, just as they do in the USA and Canada. You should check with your credit card company to see if they charge you an international transaction fee or foreign transaction fee. Visa and MasterCard charge a processing fee on international transactions, and most card-issuing banks add their own fees on top of that. They equal to generally a percentage of your overall purchase price, sometimes as high as 3% extra.
ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) in Italy are known as Bancomat, and can be found anywhere in large cities as well as in small towns. The machine operates just as ATMs do anywhere else; at the beginning of the transaction, it prompts the user for the preferred language. Simply withdraw money as you would at home. Of course, in Italy the money will be dispensed in Euro, but when you return home, your bank will have converted the amount of your withdrawal into dollars using the most beneficial exchange rate possible. Pay attention: your bank account may have daily withdrawal limits, e.g. US$300, therefore, you have to account for the currency conversion when withdrawing euro in Italy.

Top 10 Things to Bring to Italy (tripadvisor.com)

1. Euros--many, many businesses in Italy do not accept credit cards, even in big tourist destinations like Rome and Venice. Don't wait until you're there to try to get local currency.
2. A debit card that's going to work--since credit cards are not widely accepted, you will need ready access to cash. Your bank, however, may suspend your card if they notice unusual activity. Call them before you leave to let them know you'll be travelling so this doesn't happen.
3. A cable-style bicycle lock--If you will be traveling from city to city by train, you can lock up your bags and have a leisurely meal in the dining car without having to worry about someone making off with your luggage at the next stop.
4. Mp3 audio tours--guided tours are a great way to get the most out of your visit, especially since you can ask questions of your guide. They can be expensive, though, especially if you are travelling as a family. There are several mp3 audio tours covering various points of interest in Italy that you can download for free.
5. An extension cord or 3-way splitter--Camera batteries, mp3 players, laptops, PDAs, cell phones...If you are traveling with more than one person, the number of gadgets that need recharging can multiply quickly. Get more mileage out of your outlet adapters with a splitter.
6. An extra outlet adapter--If you lose one, you won't have to waste time or money (as much as 10 times what they cost at a discount store) to replace it.
7. Conditioner & hand lotion--these products, staples in American hotels, are seldom provided in Europe. If you can't live without them, bring them.
8. An Italian-English dictionary--Folks always appreciate your efforts to at least make an attempt to communicate with them in their own language first. And many Italians who speak English are proficient, but not fluent. A dictionary helps to bridge the linguistic gap.
9. A handheld GPS--Many writers, guides, and travelers say the best part of enjoying an Italian city is getting lost in the little alleyways and side streets. Knowing you can get "unlost" any time you're ready can take the stress out of exploring. Just finished up at a museum and you're famished? A GPS can list the restaurants near your current location.
10. Patience--In Italy, a meal at a sit-down restaurant is meant to be a relaxed, leisurely affair that allows plenty of time to enjoy food, wine, and good company, and can easily last 2 hours. With a limited amount of time to see and do everything they hope to, many tourists just want to eat quickly and get back to sightseeing instead. This disconnect in expectations can result in stress and frustration for both the customer and the restaurant staff. If you choose a restaurant with table service, be patient and "enter in" to the Italian way of doing things. You will enjoy your dining experience much more, and come away with a more comprehensive experience of Italy, as well. If you just don't have that kind of time to invest in a meal, choose a restaurant with counter service, instead