It was the first time we were playing on a real grass field. It was not in the best condition of  but at least did not have major holes but the ball was bouncing a lot.

We knew that the tendency would be an easy match for us considering that SSIS lost 3 matches before and won only one but it became a rather … obtuse match. First they started the game with a ball size 4 instead of 5. According the the SISAC regulations both boys and girls must play with ball number 5. Louise talked to the referee and we switched the ball. This was a major issue that I will address soon enough.

As soon as the game started, believe it or not, they shot first and it was actually a great shot, defended by Bella and even hit the side pole but a team that has a captain like Louise, can rest assure that things will be always under control. Louise got the ball and soon connected a counter attack together with Marta. At the third minute Kyra got a ball in the box , rotate and shot to score the first goal of the match.

Three minutes later, the play of the match. Bella got the ball, and with her hands, she threw at Marta, who was around the center of the field. She trapped the ball already dribbling a player, sprinted, dribble another, before shooting at the goal, dribble one more and booom! A goal that Messi would be proud of. Incredible! I am glad we film the match because this is a goal to watch over and over again on replay (I’ve already watched 3 times.. wait.. four times now). Credit also to Bella, that connected so fast the counter-attack. Also, in our favour the size of the goal boxes. It was 1/4 of the field! I never saw boxes so large.

The pressure was all ours. After the first ball in the beginning, Bella had no trouble whatsoever. They have a fast player, #23 but Katy was able to always anticipate her moves so it was not too dangerous. On minute 12, something very unique; we had a free kick in our favour and Louise passed to Marta inside the box. Their goalie started screaming, high pitch screams “get her! Get heeeeeer!!!”I know Marta can bring fear to defenders but never saw something like this. Of course there is a reason, two minutes later, Marta got the ball and there was no scream that would stop her, she shot with all her strength, 3 x 0 to us. Unfortunately I don’t get this goal on video because Maddi was so excited with the match that she forgot to film.

Things started going wrong on the minute 15. Louise passed a beautiful ball to Phoebe and when she was getting ready to shoot, their goalie came straight on Phoebe’s foot. Watching the video I can see that Phoebe was not even looking at the goalie. It was not her fault. Because of this, Phoebe hurt her foot and was out of the rest of the match. Their goalie also got injured on that play. The problem that I saw was that their coach took advantage of this and spent around 5-10 minutes talking to his team after their goalie was up.

At the 21st minute, a super scary moment. Kyra prepares to shoot at goal after a backheel pass from Marta and Kyra steps on a defender player’s foot and twists her ankle. At first, when I see her hitting the ground, I thought she hit her head. Kyra is a tough cookie, she would not complain if she was not in pain and I noticed her ankle was slightly swollen. One thing must be said about SSIS, their nurse was very professional, quickly brought ice, wrapped it around Phoebe and Kyra’s foot. Super high quality.

With the score in our favour, their goalie started to take ages to take the goal kick, more than 15 seconds when the rules are clearly says it’s 8 seconds to put the ball back in the game. As one more excuse, Marta took a powerful shot at goal on the 26th minute and I heard the goalie shout out of pain after deflecting it. I would say she was not used to the ball number 5, which is a bit heavier. Marta’s shot was strong but from what I saw, not even the strongest ones she can shoot. After that, if she was taking 15 seconds before, now was 20, 30 seconds and Louise started pointing it out to her. By the end of the first half Louise was telling me from far away that the girl was cursing non-stop and their goalie passed in front of our bench and shouted: “I can hear you b….”. Unacceptable! I told her to never talk to our players like this and I told her coach she cannot play anymore. I am very glad that SSIS coach is a reasonable person and he agreed with me. By the end of the match both coach and captain from SSIS came to apologize for her behaviour.

With a brand new goalie for the second half, nothing interesting happened until the 7th minute when Hailey shot from far away, the goalie deflected and took Suh-Young two shots to score. 4 x 0 .

With that score, I decided to test Inês as center midfield in case I have one day Louise cannot come to a match and I her as a Striker. It was a blessed decision because when SSIS got the ball to restart the match after the goal, Marta stole it, pushed a bit forward, passed to Louise and she scored our 5th goal.

Wait, there is more. Marta was getting bored with the match so she decided to spice it up a little bit by dribbling the same player 3 times and shoot to score her third goal, our sixth. She really honours that number 10 she uses on her back, like Pelé.

After that impressive performance, I took Marta out to rest, give some instructions and also to let the team get used to play without her, since there is a chance of her not playing against French school away. But that does not mean our team has no resources. If you were impressed by Marta dribbling skills, Louise did not want to stay behind; on the 17th minute she scored a corner Kick goal!! Besides organising the plays, Louise can be a GREAT striker too! A complete player. 7 x 0 for us.

Since the match became a show off of skills, Inês shoots a ball from really far away, close to the center circle and score a beautiful lob goal at the 20th minute of the second half. With 8 x 0 in the score, I pull Louise out and played with the possible team that will face the French school; Katy and Greta, Inês in the middle, Suh-Young and Sinead as the wings and Hailey as the striker. Unfortunately the referee ended the match 10 minutes earlier than supposed. Instead of playing 70 minutes like the rules says, we played less than 50 overall.

A great match for a solid team and if this team is solid, it’s in part for the solid captain we have. Today was a perfect situation to Louise lose her temper but the opposite; she showed the team that we are above any kind of provocation. Besides that, she helps the defenders, passes amazingly well and today scored two goals, one of them from the corner kick! Wow!

Next week two matches at home so let’s invite everybody we know to see our skills. Girls, you should be proud! Team 100% with an astonishing average of 7 goals per match! I never saw this before. What does this mean? Nothing! We still have to face strong teams like German school and YCIS again at home now. We are on the right track but nothing is won yet.

Goals: Kyra, Marta (3), Louise (2), Suh-Young, Inês
Assists: Marta (2)
MVP of the match: Louise