After beating Germany with a 5-0 run in
the second half of the game, we started our journey to the finals
against Spain. Spain has always been a tough team for us. They are
fast and physical and besides us they are one of the only teams that
drive.
The game started with us going up 2-0
on counter-attacks. But it did not take long for Spain to respond.
Soon after they tied the score and eventually took the lead. The game
was more of a swimming match than anything. The referees weren’t
calling many fouls and neither team was playing for the centers.
In the last minute of the game, with
Spain leading 7-6, we called a Timeout. We ran a play and got the
ball to the center, but as was expected there was no foul called and
the game ended. Our hopes of winning a gold medal were crushed.
Reflecting on our loss we all realize
the opportunity we had but more importantly we know what still lies
ahead. No US team has ever won a medal at World Championships. If we
do end up getting a medal, this will be a first, which is on par with
paving our way to becoming the greatest American team of all time.
Tomorrow we will play Croatia for the
bronze. Croatia has always been a powerhouse and they have two of the
best centers in the world. After our loss last night we realize that
playing as bad as we did we are still on a competitive level with
anyone in the world. If we can play well we are the best team in the
world.
Tonight we will recover and watch a lot
of video. Tomorrow we will wake up, eat with Phelps and the swimmers
as usual, and then prepare to beat the Croatians. Our team matches up
well against Croatia and since Ratko Rudic was our coach we know all
the tricks they might try and pull. Stay tuned for more.
On Thursday, after beating Macedonia
earlier in the week, we had our last game of pool play. We played
against Romania in a noon game to see who would be first in the
bracket.
Just to set the scene, it’s about 98
degrees here every day and at noon it feels over 100. The pool grows
hotter throughout the week while the balls get worse. The game
started slowly, with us missing our first three six on fives. Our
defense stayed strong but we could just not score. After four brutal
periods in the sun, the game was finally over. We had beat Romania
7-5. Romania is a team that we always seem to have problems with–
earlier in the year we lost to them in a friendly match. But this
time we wanted and needed those extra days off that we got by
winning.
Today us, Spain, Croatia and Hungary
have the day off since we qualified first in our brackets. Next we
play the winner of the game between Montenegro and Germany. Both
teams are strong and just a month ago Montenegro was considered to be
the best team in the world. The other bracket games are Spain vs. the
winner of Canada and China; Hungary vs. the winner of Italy and
Serbia; and Croatia vs. the winner of Romania and Australia. It has
turned out that our bracket route to the final four was a lot harder
than Spain and Croatia’s, but in order for us to win the Gold we
will have to beat these teams eventually.
As far as the team is concerned, we are
all getting our rest and preparing for Tuesday night. Bailey has been
sick with a 102 degree fever, and he played that way against Romania.
This time off has been great for his recovery and hopefully he will
get out of the room today! Layne has been having back issues but with
rest and therapy he is already looking livelier. As for the rest of
us, we are getting our massages and taking advantage of the hotel
Spa. Tonight we will see who we play and we will immediately start
preparing for our next game (Germany).
Yesterday was our first game of the
2009 Fina World Championships in Rome. Of course, we started off the
tournament by playing against Italy— the host team. This seems to
happen to us a lot: in Beijing our first game was against China, in
Melbourne we were up first against Australia, and so on.
The day began with the Italian police
knocking on my hotel door at 5 AM telling me I had to go down to the
police station immediately. I refused to go without a valid
explanation and we agreed that I would go by myself later that
morning. When I finally arrived at the station, none of the officers
knew who I was or why I was there. They said the police must have
made a mistake. We stayed and tried to argue but realized it would be
better to just go home and get some rest, although the whole
situation was very suspicious.
As we left to the pool we noticed our
bus driver taking a different route. It usually only takes 20 minutes
even with the Roman traffic, but for some reason this ride ended up
being 45 minutes long!!
When we arrived at the pool we were
guided to the warm-up station, which was a 15 min walk, and began to
warm up for our 9 o’clock game. After the entire U.S. Team was
already in the water, we noticed that not even one Italian player was
there yet. Soon after we were informed that the game would be
delayed by 20 minutes, and then, as if they had known all along, the
Italians started arriving.
Playing at another team’s home, you
always have to be prepared for anything. Some surprises are small but
some are big, but the only thing you can do is stay focused
without getting frustrated. After the Italian National Anthem played, you could feel a tense and exciting vibe in the air. Everyone
was against us chanting ITALIA ITALIA! But this chanting soon ended.
After winning the sprint we immediately
went up 1 - 0 with a shot from Layne Beubien, and from that point on
we were in control. The referees made some terrible calls, majored
our player for nothing, and gave the Italians two questionable
penalties (one blocked by Moses), but in the end we played a superior
game. The Italians even had Vaseline on their bodies, and when we
told the refs they waited two quarters to check them and eventually
told them to wipe it off. (Remember, this should be a game
exclusion).
Now we are in a great position. We play
Macedonia on Wednesday and then Romania on Friday. If we win both
games we will advance first in our bracket. Macedonia has five ex-
Serbian players who are very good, and a Croatian goal keeper— all
very top-notch athletes. We are going to have to swim them and make
them play our game. Which in my opinion most people can’t play.
Stay tuned for more updates on our
games and feel free to email me with any questions or comments.