an ESPN experience

June 1st, 2010 · No Comments

Back at home. No trophies this time, but the kids certainly showed they can play with nationally and regionally ranked teams and hold their ground. I’m very proud of the AUSA Wizards and especially proud of Lorenzo – in my very bias opinion, the best player in the team in this tournament!

In the first game, the Wizards played the Pinecrest Premier Blue (PPB) team, currently ranked #1 U10 team in the nation. Now, for the record, the Wizards are officially a U11 team. However, to be fair, our team is really composed of both 10 and 11 year olds. I’m not sure if the team was nervous, tired, or what, but the Wizards did not start the tournament running on all cylinders. They were making silly mistakes, and not passing the ball as well as they usually do. Yet, they were up 1 x 0 at half time; and they kept the score tied at 1 a piece by mid second half. However, they lost their concentration, were a bit unlucky on a couple of plays, and let Pinecrest pulled way in the last 15 minutes of the game. Final score AUSA 1 x 4 WPU.

Despite the score, Lorenzo played the best match of his life. He was 110% focused; he was ready; and not once was the Pinecrest striker able to get around him or even take a shot at goal from within our box. Brilliant! He was, without a doubt, the player of the match. And the sad truth is that I know the Wizards could have beaten this team if everyone else had played their usual game.

The second match was, in my opinion, an even tougher match. They played the Wesley Chapel Flames – another top ranked U11 team with huge kids. Let me say that again, HUGE KIDS! (I don’t know what they put in the water in S. Florida, but it certainly made me want to discover the magic recipe or start asking for some notarized birth certificates.) The Wizards did play better; but again, they did not play to their potential. Case in point, we started the match by letting them score right at kick off – a very painful wakeup call. After surviving the first few minutes, the team started to loosen up; they pressured WCF; and they created some really good changes. Unfortunately, our shots were just a bit off the mark.

In Brazil, we are all very familiar with the expression: “Quem nao faz, leva.” Loose translation: if you can’t score, they will. We certainly had our changes, but precisely because we couldn’t find the net, we were down 2 x 0 at half-time. We played much better on the second half and created even more changes. But just to prove its point, the old soccer expression held true, and we lost by 3 x 0. WCF did deserve to win; but it was again very frustrating to know we could have beaten them.

Lorenzo had another stellar match!

Another parenthesis…And for those who are not soccer aficionados, I apologize in advance for maybe losing you here. But this is an important point. The U11 age group plays an 8v8 format – or 8 vs. 8. The Wizards usually plays a 2-3-2 formation – which really means: 1 keeper, 2 defenders, 3 mid fielders, and 2 forwards. That also means that when the opposite team is coming at us — say from the left side, the two defenders will slide to the left side of the field to cover the play, leaving a pocket at the right side of the defense. This space is supposed to be covered by the right mid-fielder, who will drop to cover our “back side” and essentially become the “missing” right defender. Unfortunately, our back side was exposed throughout the first two matches, and our opponents took full advantage of it.

The third match was against the Brazilian Twisters. As the name suggests, it was composed of a full squad of Brazilian kids (all from the Miami area) + 1 African kid (another giant). BT had tied with WCF and lost to PPB on the dying minutes of the second half. So we knew we had yet another tough match to play.

But with two losses, the Wizards were out of the semifinals, and the kids were now playing for pride.

To take care of the back side issue, the coaches changed the team formation to 3-3-1; thus making the team a bit more compact and making sure there would always be a defender on the back side. It worked!

The Wizards controlled the mid-field and the tempo of the game; they had a much easier time transitioning from defense to mid-field to offense; and they finally started to play the football we know they are capable of. We were up 4 x 0 by the end of the first half, and BT didn’t even know what hit them. We played just as well on the second half and the Wizards won the match with ease. Final score AUSA 7 x 1 BT. Best player of the match? The entire Wizards squad – the team finally played to their potential as a team. But if I had to pick an individual player, I would have to choose William, who scored a gorgeous, curving direct-kick from way outside the area in the first half AND defended a penalty kick on the second.

A bitter-sweet victory, which left everyone wondering “what could have been” if they had played this well on the first two matches…

All in all, it was a fantastic experience for the kids, and I cannot wait for the U12 season.