First Training in The Books

The U.S. team held about a two-hour training in the afternoon on the first day in New Zealand and the players got a chance to get the legs moving after the long flight. Despite some high winds that gusted up to 25 miles per hour (ok, we admit we have no idea what the winds gusted to, but 25 MPH sounds pretty blustery and it did make hitting long balls difficult), the squad had a productive training session and now has just five days before the first game against Japan on Oct. 30. The Japanese and the French have arrived as well (we haven't seen the Paraguayans yet, though) and all the teams are staying at the same hotel. Some of the Japanese players are on the same floor as the USA. Awkward? Perhaps. But the players are being more than cordial thus far when passing each other in the lobbies and a Japanese player even tought Erika Tymrak a bit of Japanese while waiting for an elevator. While Tymrak's claim of being tri-lingual is probably a bit of a reach (she does speak English and Polish), it was still a nice moment of cultural diplomacy between the two first match opponents.