The Road to Redemption

Today after lunch, the team took a few moments to think about where they stand right now and what might lie ahead. After a wonderful (and mostly funny) poem written and performed by assistant coach Tom Stone, the players and staff watched part of the Road to Redemption - a video produced about the Gold Medal Winning 2008 USA Basketball team. If you check out the clip above, you can see why there wasn't a dry eye in the room....

Regresaramos a Chillan

"It feels like a home game"

That was the general consensus today as the U.S. team pulled up to the hotel that we loved so much in Chillan. We got off the highway after the three hour drive from Temuco and started seeing the familiar sights ... then we got the same warm reception that we did the first time - actually if it's possible, it might have been warmer the second time.

Everyone is in the same rooms as we were before. It really feels like this is our home and Temuco was an away game! We just want to make sure we get the same results as we did here at Estadio Nelson Oryuzan!

The Story of Thanksgiving

We've finally gotten back to good internet here in Chillan, so we thought we'd share some of last nights "talents" from the post-Thanksgiving dinner Talent Show. Meghan Klingenberg and Keelin Winters - of Guest Blog fame - told the story of Thanksgiving... sort of.

Group of Death, Perhaps?

While every team at the event is tough, it's hard to come up with a tougher first round than pitting Japan, Germany and Canada against each other along with Congo. Japan came out firing and won all three of their matches to take the top place in the group, but Germany and Canada squared off this evening to see who else would advance to the quarterfinals.

After our fabulous Thanksgiving dinner, the team gathered around a big screen to cheer for our neighbors, but our efforts didn't pay off. Incredibly, the CONCACAF Champions were eliminated after their 3-1 loss to Germany and will be heading back up north early.

The other team from our region to advance to Chile - Mexico - also suffered a first-round exit with three losses. So it's up to us to represent CONCACAF!

Thanksgiving in Chile!

Well, it wasn't quite like home, but it was close... the U-20 team had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration here in Temuco tonight, complete with family members, standard traditions and some improvisations.... There was also a talent portion of tonight's festivities and of course, hilarity ensued.

The players enjoying a meal with their second family



Mautz's talent was knocking a bottle off Alex's head with a slingshot and a gummy bear... needless to say, Alex got hit in the head a couple of times


Kaley and assistant coach Amanda Cromwell did the Worm... they even had a race


And what Thanksgiving is complete without football? Tonight we watched futbol AND American football

All said, it was a really nice night spent with those we love. And really, what more could we ask for? A special thanks to the hotel staff and all the players' families who helped make it feel like home tonight. The people in our hotel had a difficult time understanding what exactly we celebrate, but they were eager to learn! We think that has something to do with all the food we ate...

Security Blotter

There was a lot of action from our security detail today....

-Today at training, we had our first glimpse of two policemen on horseback. We don't think we even need to tell you that it created quite a stir among the team. Thankfully, we were able to make friends with the officers and they let us pet and even ride the horses! Don't worry, it more like a pony ride where they walked us around in a circle.

-Then on the way home from our stadium walk through, one of the police escorting us home was on a motorcycle and he got hit by an SUV! The SUV just crossed into an intersection that our new friend was blocking off and hit him hard enough to knock him and the bike completely over. It was a few minutes until we got to the hotel and could talk to him.

Don't worry - he's okay. He kept telling us 'no problema!' and didn't even have a scratch on him. It was amazing. Surely that wasn't the first time that's ever happened to him, but to not even have a scratch or bruise... That's why we're not police officers - we bruise easily.

Hola, Temuco

Today the team did a walk through at Estadio German Becker in their second venue - Temuco. Lots of "oohs" and "aaahs" as the team explored the pitch before tomorrow afternoon's game.
The coaches are happy that the bench and technical areas will be nicely covered in shade by game time. The players are happy that there should be a good crowd in the 18,000 seat stadium as our game is serving as the opening act of Chile's final game.

Practice Hard...

...you don't have to tell these girls twice. This photo of Lauren Fowlkes leg was taken today at training, and it was from practice yesterday. Apparently she had a run in while defending Alex Morgan.

As bad as it looks in this picture, it still doesn't do justice to what are clearly cleat marks on Lauren's knee.

Where We Stand

The USA has already clinched a place in the knock-out phase of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, but there is still one Group B berth on the line on the final match day.. here is what we know:

• The U.S. can clinch the top place in the group with a win or a tie against China OR a France tie or loss to Argentina
• Should France win and the USA lose, the tie breakers would come into play to determine who would be the top team... here are the tiebreakers:
  -Goal Differential (currently: USA +6, France -1)
  -Goals Scored (currently USA 6, France 2)
  -Head to Head (USA 3, France 0) *this is as far as it could possibly go

For the second quarterfinal berth out of Group B:

• France has the edge with three points heading into Wednesday's game after their win over China
• Argentina and China both have one point, but... Argentina can take second place with a win over France. China can vault into second with a win, a French loss and some tiebreakers with Argentina.

By Thursday, we'll have it all sorted out!

A Warm Reception

Today the U-20 WNT was invited to the Consejo Ecologica Chillan, a small Nature Museum located not far from Estadio Nelson Oryuzan. We pulled up to the building with our big bus and a security contingent that consisted of no less than four armed policeman plus the people assigned to us full time - surely not a sight that the museum employees are used to. No matter, this is the reception we received getting off the bus by Lucy, the founder of the "consejo" who we later found out had a very impressive resume that included speaking at worldwide environmental summits.

Each player, including Elli Reed got a warm reception from Lucy as they got off the bus

The consejo was a place for underpriviledged children to come and create art while learning about the environment. There were some amazing paintings and other crafts made from recycled material and out back was a huge yard with a greenhouse and a big garden. They also had a stage that was set, and a trio performed some traditional Chilean dances just for us.

Before leaving, each player was invited to write a message on the stone wall in the back, and out front everyone added their handprint to the outside of the building.

Lauren Fowlkes, Kaley Fountain, Nikki Washington

Christine Nairn leaves her mark on the museum

It was a very nice change of pace... the team felt like they were in someone's home. Lucy emotionally told the girls how much it meant that they came to visit, and she had a hard time saying goodbye when we finally had to go. The feeling was definitely mutual. The girls felt like they'd just met a long lost grandmom who wanted nothing more than to take care of them.

And we're pretty sure that the young man teaching Kaley and Channy how to dance... well, he had about the best day of his life.

Who's Shaking the Bed?

Well... we just had a very small earthquake here in Chillan that really just felt like someone was shaking our beds and chairs. For several of the players it was their first-ever Earthquake, but a handful of California girls are old pros.

We heard initial reports that said the 'quake was stronger in Coquimbo, another World Cup... we hope everyone and everything is en tact over there.

Talk of the Town

Today, the front page story in all the newspapers in Chillan wasn't the USA's win over Argentina. That was a subhead of the photos you can see below:

U.S. Soccer's ace team of equipment managers somehow knew that the city of Chillan would be enraptured with the American girls, and created the sign you see above - nice job guys. Needless to say, it was a huge hit when it was unraveled after the post-game handshake. The crowd went absolutely wild, and as you can see from the headline, the city of Chillan thanked the girls right back.

Tomorrow we will make the three-hour bus ride to Temuco for the third game of Group B against China. There are many reasons we want to come away on top of the group - not the least of which is the opportunity to return to Chillan for the quarterfinals.