Journal #3 Friday, June 22, 2007
We all woke up very sore in the morning and didn't feel like getting
up. The time difference and training schedule made for a very difficult morning.
In the end we did wake up and then went down to the usual breakfast at the hotel.
We got out quickly and bored the bus for the same playing field for another day
of training. We entered the big gates once again and got dressed. After we came
out we saw a lot of new people that we hadn't seen before, including three Australians.
We started the training with the Australians and some of the youth academy of
Malwee. The training began with light drills and progressed into four on four
games with keepers. At this point I was given pads but had already sustained the
worst burses I've ever had. On one play in the last five minutes of training I
came out to get a ball on a one on one situation as a keeper and slide on the
floor. I got the ball but the forwards follow through hit me in the head and I
stayed down. I get back up and try and play but there is obviously something wrong
as people start to realize I can't really walk. So I down and the coaches and
medical trainers come to see how I am doing and apparently I was not at the capacity
to speak English so our coach decided to take me to the local hospital. I don't
really remember that much of the experience but I do remember the hospital was
a little shifty but overall fine. After that incident, my coach said he would
let me play until Monday. After the hospital, we went to a big stadium and met
up with the rest of the group. At this point I was fairly lucid but still very
out of it. At this point more of the youth team and pros were playing with us
so the level of play was much higher. After they played and I watched, we all
watched the pro first team practice and had a good time meeting all the players.
Their practice was amazing because Malwee has about seven or eight Brazilian international
players. Because we stayed and watched the pro practice we missed dinner and just
went back to the hotel to shower and meet up down stairs afterwards. When we did,
everyone was really hungry so we went out to eat. Our coach took us to a restaurant
with live music and good food. The band there was pretty good and they played
a good mix of Brazilian and Famous music. We were all a little surprised when
they opened with "Light my Fire" by The Doors. After that we all walked
back to the Hotel and slept well.