Alex Dubow of the U-13 FC DELCO Cannibals will be doing a daily blog during their trip to the Dallas Cup. Check back each day to see Alex’s recap and thoughts of the Tournament.
Saturday, March 22-Saturday Friendly
Today we had a 11:00 AM friendly against Nomads from California. They won the tournament last year and they are very good. We tied 1-1 and me, Mike Discavage, and Andrew Gonzalez did not play due to injury. Brett Campbell also did not play since he left last night. After the game we went to Fuddruckers and we all got milkshakes. After that we went back to the hotel where we hung out until 6:30. At 6:30 we went out bowling and we all had a great time. After bowling we came back home and hung out until 10:30 when we all went to sleep. We have to leave tomorrow at 9 to catch our plane and finally go home. This is my last entry. Hopefully this got us ready for state cups.
Friday March 21-Friday Friendly
Today we started off with a friendly at 10 against SC del sol xtreme white from Arizona. It was a chance to play some different positions for us. We beat them in the end 3 to 2 and both our teams played very well. After the game our team went to Whataburger. Whataburger is a fast food chain in southern areas similar to our McDonalds. After Whataburger we saw the Lower Merion Velez play their quarterfinal game. They lost in PK’s and it was very close. After that game we went back to the hotel and hung out until we went to go see the semi final games for the U–13 age group. We saw that both games were interesting and we now know that Southampton from England is going to play FC Barcelona from Southern California in the final. After those games we went to the super group game of Liverpool against Benfica of Portugal. Liverpool won 2-1 and now they are on to the finals. Tomorrow we have a friendly against Nomads from Southern California.
Thursday, March 20-Tie !!
Today we tied our last game and we can’t advance. We finished 1-1-1. We scored 8 goals and only gave up 2. We played West Coast FC who is 8th in the country. We tied 1-1, and we dominated the whole second half. They scored within the first minute from a couple of small mistakes. After that goal we really clicked on and started to control. Our team in the second half hit the post twice, the crossbar once and we had several breakaways, but we could not get the ball into the net. After that game we came back to the hotel and hung out for many hours until we went to our favorite restaurant, Bone Daddy’s. Bone Daddy’s is a steak house and all the waitresses are good-looking girls. We had a lot of fun and we took many pictures. All of our team had a competition who could get the most hugs but no one really counted. After Bone Daddy’s we went back to the hotel and Biff made the curfew at 10:15 because although we are out of it, we still have a friendly at ten tomorrow against a team from Arizona.
Wed. March 19-Victory !!
Today was our second game and our first victory. We beat Intercolegial Chihuahuas from Mexico. We had an offensive burst today, and we won 7-0. This was very good because those bonus points could help us advance. Our offense includes Brett Campbell, Max Kroschwitz, Danny Gonzales. They all comtributed to our goals and also our midfielders that consist of Sammy Yarosh, Colin O’Neil, Carlo DeMarco, Sean O’Brien, Matt Lindheim, Jeremy Schwartz, Ben Marks, and Andrew Gonzalez. Grant Vasi played goal in the first half and combined with Zack Steffen in the second half for a shut out. After the game we went out to a restaurant with burgers and grilled cheeses. We thought that the restaurant was very good and had very good service. After lunch we went back to the hotel. There we had two hours before we went to the Super group game. We saw two games. The first one was Sao Paolo against Leicester city. Leicester city won 3-0. We saw the first half of the Benfica vs. Guadalajara Chivas game also.
Tuesday, March 18-Rain !!
Today was our second game against West Coast FC was cancelled due to rain. Instead of our game, our team went to the movies and the mall. Our team was split in half between two movies. Half of our team went to see Semi-Pro and the other half went to see Never Back Down. Personally I wanted to see Never Back Down and I thought it was very good. After the movie our team went back to the hotel were we hung out until dinner at Papasito’s at 6. Dinner was great and many people liked it. After dinner we came back to the hotel and hung out until our curfew at 9:45. It rained a lot today with flooding and hail. We hope the fields will be ok to play tomorrow.
Monday March 17-Game 1
Today was a bad day for FC Delco. We started off with a 10:00 game and we arrived an hour early to warm up. We played the Lonestars Red from Austin, Texas. We played them very even through out the whole game and finally at the end of the game, about a minute into injury time they played a cross to their forward who just hit a little part of the ball. The ball flicked over our keeper Zack Steffen and it just trickled in. Zack played amazing in the goal and he stopped a break away half way through the game. Today a large factor of the out come of the game was the wind. We were with it in the first half and against it in the second half. The defense that consisted of Colin McGlynn, Mike Discavage, Grant Simon, Alex Dubow and Dillon Engel played very well and we were on our heels the whole second half because we were against the wind. After the game we went back to the hotel and went out for lunch. Then we had many hours in the hotel to just relax until dinner at 7:00. For dinner we went to Café Amore and there we had Italian food. After dinner we had a team meeting and Biff talked about our game and how we couldn’t finish. He then made our curfew at 9:45. It is supposed to rain really hard tomorrow but we hope we can play.
Sunday March 16-Opening Ceremonies
Today we didn’t have any particular time to wake up at but we had to be in the lobby at 2:00 for the Sao Paulo vs. Andromeda game and for the opening ceremonies. The game was very good and Andromeda won 5 to 2, which was very surprising because Sao Paolo won the tournament last year. After the game were the opening ceremonies. On the field we saw all the teams that we are going to play and some local teams like the Lower Merion Velez. We were on the field for a long time and we saw almost every team. After the ceremonies we went back into the stands and watched the first half of the Liverpool vs. FK Slavija. From what we know, Liverpool was winning 4 to 1. After that we left and went to Campisis, a small Italian restaurant right near the stadium. We pre ordered so we were real quick, in and out. When we got back to the hotel we had a team meeting that consisted of a 9:30 curfew and the starting line up. We are all very excited for tomorrow’s game and we hope we do well.
Sat. March 15-Arriving in Dallas !!
Today we arrived in Dallas at around 12:30. Our team right away started playing in our hotel, which we also stayed in last year. Our hotel has racquetball courts that we have already started to use to play soccer in. After playing, we went with the coaches to the main hotel to register the team and at the tournament’s store we all picked out Dallas cup souvenirs. After that we went to BJ’s burger joint. Of coarse they had to forget someone’s food and it was me, but on the bright side I did get a plain pizza on the house. Biff made our curfew at 9:45 to get us in bed and make sure we are getting a good night’s sleep. Although we have no games, tomorrow is a pretty big day for us and it really is the start of the whole tournament.
Friday, March 14
Hello, my name is Alex Dubow and I am on the U 13 FC Delco Cannibals. We are leaving tomorrow at 9 AM for the Dallas Cup, which is one of the top tournaments in the country. Tonight our coach, Biff Sturla, gave us a terribly hard practice to prepare us for Dallas. We have been training very hard all winter but tonight was our most intense practice. Last year we made it to the quarterfinals but this year I feel that our team is motivated enough to go further. What might help us accomplish more wins are our eight new players that joined our team in June. Tomorrow we will all fly out to Dallas but one player, Jeremy Schwartz has decided to take a road trip and take a 18 hour drive. I will update this journal tomorrow night when I will be in Dallas. Wish us luck.
