More from Steph

Stephanie's second blog post is up.

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2011/6/7/WSOC_0607112205.aspx

She is apparently not a fan of Pia's singing.

Update From Germany (July 5, 2011)

Hi Pilot Fans!

We have been all over Germany the last week and a half since the games started. We had a great stay in Dresden for the North Korea game, then on to Heidelberg for game two against Columbia. Now we are in Wolfsburg, home of Volkswagon, for our final group game against Sweden. Time has flown by between preparing for the game, game day, recovery and travel in between games. I can’t believe that we have less than two weeks of the tournament to go, hopefully !

As the team came out of the tunnel for our first game, my nerves were going. I knew that we were ready but we were facing a strong opponent who we knew could play some good soccer. All of us on the bench were screaming our heads off as the girls out on the field laid it all out on the line to disrupt the North Korean rhythm and build our own to score some great goals in the second half! It was inspiring to see how everyone worked so hard for each other out there and there was such a feeling of confidence and unity out there on the field despite the lack of communication because of the noisy crowd.

With a great first game under our belts we were excited about moving on to our next game against Columbia. We were overwhelmed to see about 500 U.S. military fans and families at our first practice in Heidelberg! Every game there has been so many U.S. flags that have instilled in us so much pride for our country! The support for our team has been special; no other world championship has felt like this. I hope that you guys were all able to see our game against Columbia where your Pilot players represented well! Megan got to sub in at half time and wasted no time in making an impact on the game. In less than ten minutes she made a great run into the box and with a beautiful ball by Lauren Cheney she was able to take a touch and blast it into the back of the net. I was grateful for that timely goal because then that signaled the start of my warm-up to head in to the game. I was a bit nervous but drew confidence from how well our team was playing against Columbia. I couldn’t believe that with my first touch on the pitch I got my first assist of the year and in the World Cup. I was able to find Carli Lloyd wide open in the middle of the field, and she did what she does, putting a blast on goal that had the keeper guessing which direction it was going!

It was a great feeling to be able to get on to the field and contribute. I hope that I get another opportunity, but if not I know that I will be screaming loudly from the sidelines cheering on my teammates to their best performance. This spirit of unity and support is truly what is going to get us far in this tournament. If we stay together, we are so strong. We can build confidence from one another and reach our dream of holding that Cup at the end! Watch for us on ESPN tomorrow against Sweden! It will be a great game to determine who finishes first in our group. Thanks for following us and for all of your support!

I' wondering why she got confused about the country she faced. Columbia doesn't have a team in the WWC. They are an NCAA program.

Then I remembered that UP was originally Columbia college, but changed their name to it's current appellation to avoid confusion with the institution that was originally named King's College.

Colombia looked like a pretty good team in their first game. I suspect they will be a team to be re ones with in the future. Say what you will about the Chavez administration, but they know Youth development in all fields.

Hey, Geez. Chavez rules over Venezuela. From the lack of their soccer teams in World Cup play, I doubt their youth program is all that great in soccer. Colombia is probably lucky he isn't their ruler.

ejjqb wrote:Hey, Geez. Chavez rules over Venezuela. From the lack of their soccer teams in World Cup play, I doubt their youth program is all that great in soccer. Colombia is probably lucky he isn't their ruler.

Haha.

Always a stickler for details...

It's at least good to see he's gainfully employed after being sacked at Columbia College.