Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

SOCCER IN LA MANGA 30th March and 1st April 2009

We played Kolbotn in our first game of the La Manga Topserrien tournament today, and the final score was a 2 - 2 tie. Kolbotn is a very good team, so on any other day I would be reasonably pleased with this result. Today though, I am not. We were by far the better team, and we let them back into the game.

At the half, Team Strommen was dominating all over the field, and we went into the break with a 2-1 lead. After the restart however, they scored an unbelievable goal from the corner of the 18. We began the second half much like the first. We continued to dominate and were the better team, but gradually Kolbotn came back into the match and took advantage.

They started hemming us back into our own end, and we were soon defending for our lives. The inevitable happened. They caught a lucky bounce from a poor clearance and the ball went in our net. They had tied the game up.

I was disappointed with our effort at the end of the game. I think that there are many things in a game that you cannot control, but physical effort is not one of them. My college coach, Angela Kelly, always used to say that this, and I have found it to be among the most helpful soccer tips I know. I was frustrated that we didn’t do better in this match, but I was thankful, yet again, that this was a pre season game and that we can learn from the loss.

1st April

Happy April Fool's Day. I am exhausted and looking forward to some food and bed. We had a lighter day of training yesterday, the day after our match against Kolbotn. Thank goodness, as my body has been really aching.

This morning we had an early breakfast, followed by training at 9:00 am. The morning turned out to be a busy one, but at least this meant that we could have the rest of the day off. Usually, days off for the national team squad mean that you get the afternoon off, followed by the evening meal and then a meeting. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that we literally had the rest of the day and evening to ourselves.

I ended up going to a pitch and putt course with four of my teammates. Now, this is strange for someone who is not a great fan of golf, or perhaps I am not a great fan because I do not play a very good game. Anyway, I sure do end up playing golf often. The main problem is that I now have to admit to having had quite a bit of experience at the game. This makes people much less forgiving and understanding when I end up in sand traps/lakes/trees/ car parks or bushes, after every hole.

In all, this was a good afternoon and we followed up our golf game with some Spanish ice-cream at a local mall. I would love to pretend that this was a well planned excursion, but the truth is we got quite disastrously lost after we left the pitch and putt course and accidentally ended up there after many side trips involving U-turns and traffic circles. In my opinion, the end finally justified the means, and the ice-cream was well worth the longer than usual trip home. I will admit however, to being relieved that we did eventually arrive back at the hotel.

I am now watching television and starting to get excited about the international games coming on tonight. One of my teammates here is the sister of the Norwegian 'keeper so the atmosphere during the games is even better than watching Wales play with my mother and brother - and that is really saying something.

On the soccer front, we play against Floya tomorrow. Kristina Kiss and Randee Hermus used to play for them.