We knew then Quentin Westberg speaks French, but with Quentin scheduled to arrive on Saturday, we knew we would have to figure out a way around the language barrier without him. Luckily, Greg Dalby picked up a good amount of French in Southern Belgium playing for SC Charleroi. Says the defender - "Belgium is an interesting country in that in the north they speak German and in the South, French." You learn something every day. Greg was called upon to talk to the bus driver at the airport as we were loading the equipment.
Later that evening, assistant coach Lubos Kubik arrived and helped relieve Greg of his (minimal) translation duties. Lubos picked the language up during a brief stint with French club FC Metz. Sitting at the front of the bus, he's now in charge of helping out with the drivers on the way to training, and with the wait staff in the meal room. For some reason, they didn't know English words like "salami" and "syrup".... we don't mind working with the language barrier though, as long as they keep those baguettes coming. Yumm...
Friday, May 16, 2008
Breaking Language Barriers
Work the Circuit
This afternoon the players hit the weight room again, as the rain continued on and off all day. (Of course, while we were in there the sun was pretty much out the entire time.) Strength and conditioning coach Tomek Kaczmarek took the players through a circuit of nine core, upper and lower body techniques in the Musclation room.
There are members of the gym, like a YMCA, as well as other teams who also train there, and every now and then a member would wander in alone, and then realize that there are 20 people in there all dressed alike and rotating stations. It's fun to see their faces though as try to figure out what's going on... you can almost see them thinking. Sometimes they come in and work out - we don't mind, there's plenty of room! - and sometimes their nerves get the best of them.
Breaking Out the Balls and Weathering the Weather
The team took to the field this morning for the first time since arriving in Toulon and got their first touches on the shiny new Nike Omni balls.
Unfortunately, the rain came down this morning and is not expected to let up until late tomorrow. The rain varied between drizzle and downpour throughout training, but the good news is that the field stayed in pretty good shape. We're the only team training on it throughout the tournament, so hopefully it will hold up well.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Galacticos
Coming straight from their exhibition against USL side the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Galaxy contingent of Julian Valentin, Bryan Jordan and Mike Gavin arrived at the team hotel tonight in Toulon. It was a long travel day, but you can tell that the trio is excited to be here - they anxiously hit the hotel's fitness center to loosen up a bit before bedtime and get ready for training tomorrow.
No Time for Jet Lag
As you can see, the players didn't hesitate to shake out their understandably road-weary legs this afternoon. The players on hand went through some light running, biking and stretching in order to start regenerating their bodies before two training sessions scheduled for tomorrow.
You may also notice in the photos that the U-23s have officially become the first youth national team to get their hands on the new warm up gear, previously only worn by the Men's National Team. We were going to try to keep a secret, but wanted to prove that the guys were already preparing for next Wednesday's opening match.
Also, we admit to not knowing much of the French language, but it has to be said that we love the French word for weightlifting, "musclation". No really, that's actually the word for it. Check it out on the sign outside the door:
Check Out Out View!
We Made It! (Well, some of us anyway... )
Most of the U.S.- based group has arrived in Toulon after a four-city that has taken us across the pond... the players traveled from wherever they were to JFK in New York to meet up with the group, then it was an overnight flight to Munich followed by a late morning jaunt to Marseilles. After a pretty lengthy delay both on the plane from Munich- due to air traffic caused by the Cannes Film Festival - and in luggage claim - due to a broken baggage belt that may or may not have been caused by our equipment - the team hopped on a charter bus and made the final one-hour drive to Toulon.
In all, eight players and a number of staff made the journey from New York, and we met up with Kamani Hill and Greg Dalby in Marseilles. The Hertha Berlin duo of Bryan Arguez and Ellis McLoughlin arrived shortly before the team departed for training. The remaining players will be streaming in over the next couple of days. We'll be back later tonight with more, but for now... time for a cheese-and-baguette dinner!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Closing Up a Successful Shop
Well, it wasn't the happiest way to end the tournament, but in the end it was mission accomplished for the OLYMPIC Team in Nashville. It's been 23 days of training, matches, traveling and bonding for the 20 players plus the staff.
From Bradenton to Tampa to Nashville, the players and coaches have gone their separate ways - Some to Krakow, Poland with the MNT, others back to their clubs. But they now all have the Olympic rings in their sights. We'll be checking in with the Olympic Team periodically leading up to Beijing in August, but in the mean time, enjoy a busy spring with both the MNT Blog as they gear up for major friendlies and World Cup qualifying, and of course the award-winning WNT Blog as it heads to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico for their Olympic Qualifying campaign.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Scoreless at the Half
The U.S. and Honduras are deadlocked, 0-0 at halftime at LP Field. The U.S. seemed to have the better of the chances, but couldn't put one away. Cervi hasn't recorded an official save, but has been called upon to punch away a few crosses.
The U.S. has nine shots in the match, with two on target.
More PKs at LP
Once again, the first game of the double header between Canada and Guatemala here at LP Field has gone into a penalty kick shootout. This time there was no overtime - after a 0-0 regulation, Canada converted in the shootout to take a very respectable third place in the CONCACAF tournament.
That means, if either the U.S. or Honduras can't participate in the Olympics this summer for whatever reason, Canada will be next in line to take their place.
Tournament's Best XI
The CONCACAF Technical Study Group has announced its "Best XI" for the Qualifying tournament, along with seven players who earned Honorable Mention. The U.S. leads the way with five players being honored.
Midfielders Dax McCarty and Mo Edu, defender Michael Orozco and forward Freddy Adu were named to the Best XI (or "All-Tournament Team), and Sacha Kljestan earned honorable mention for his work in the midfield.
It's hard to argue putting the U.S. defenders and defensive midfielders in there, considering the U.S. has given up just one goal in the tournament. And, as you probably know, Freddy leads all scorers with four goals, even though he sat out the team's final group game.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Southern Hospitality
It's hard to describe the experience the team just had attending the Nashville Predators game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Sommett (pronounced "so-MAY") Center, just a few blocks from the hotel. We can't thank the Predators' family and fans enough for how well we were treated throughout our time in their "home". For a lot of our players, especially those from So Cal, this was their first live hockey game and after the Predators won in a shootout, they are hooked on the sport. Robbie Findley couldn't believe how fast the game was, and Mo Edu was ready to buy season tickets to the Maple Leafs.
Below is a slide show and a little description of what the afternoon was like... though we don't think the photos will do it justice!
As we mentioned, this was the first live hockey game for many of our players. Here are Dax and Seitz helping their teammates figure out the rules.
Stu was trying everything to get on the Jumbo Tron – unfortunately he couldn’t top the Predator Dancing Super Fan during “Cotton-Eyed Joe”, but that didn’t stop him from trying…
Jozy was interviewed by Fox Sports Network during a break in the game
David Freeman, part of the Predators’ ownership group, also owns a piece of
The staff also brought down t-shirts for all of the players, which they wore proudly, as you can see.
The team was introduced on the Jumbo-Tron during the second period, receiving a standing ovation from the nearly 20,000 fans in attendance. They showed highlights of Thursday’s game against
Once they were on the Jumbo-Tron, the boys spent quite a bit of time signing autographs. Yes, that is a new MNT jersey that someone was wearing at the game. The players took the time to sign programs, tickets, tshirts and even shoes that were coming at them from every direction.
But of course, the highlight of the afternoon for most of the guys was a visit from the Predator cheerleaders, some of whom will be in attendance at our game on Sunday afternoon.
Seriously, we can't thank the Predators enough - especially David Freeman, Senior V.P. Gerry Helper and Director of Community Relations Rebbecca Ward for everything. It was a great way to spend an afternoon in Nashville. Our 13,000+ fans on Thursday night were great, and we hope tomorrow the people at LP Field will be as supportive of the team as the fans at the Sommett Center.
