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RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS: ROUTED BY THE USA 12th May Let's get this over with. In Washington D.C. we lost to the United States last Saturday by 6-0! Losing like this is a HUGE blow, to the ego, to our mentality and to how we view ourselves as individual players and as a team. In the game itself we never got under way. We never played well, but at half time the score was still only 1-0. There were sparks from us, but we never produced the flame, and we were never the team we were in Mexico. This is the difference between good teams and great teams: Consistency. We are currently the 9th placed team in the world, and this is exactly where we deserve to be with performances like this one. To be top 5 in the world we have to become a team that plays well, day in and day out. As Even stated in our wrap up meeting, we not only have to bring our "A game to every match, but also to every practice, if we are ever going to get better. This is the same Canadian team that played the Americans into a penalty kick, shoot-out less than a month ago, and much of the difference is psychological. This time we were trashed and we did not have the right mentality. However, one can talk about mentality all we want, but these are just words. How we play through aches and pains, how we practice in cold/snow/rain .. .goose poop, these are the important times. The fact is that when our mental toughness is most needed, we need to be ready and buckle down. I know we have what it takes as a team. We have seen it countless times before. Having to beat Mexico in Mexico was tough as all hell, but we stood together. Again consistency comes into play. We cannot show up for some games and not for others. Full stop. The Americans were on fire and they destroyed us all over the field. In fact, the only player I thought played well for us was our poor unfortunate bombarded goal keeper Erin. If she had not been on her game last night the score could easily have been 10-0. We were that bad. I will end my rant now by saying that we are a good team. We are a team that occasionally shows glimpses of being great. I know I am biased. But I am hoping that this loss is a turning point. This type of loss that makes you want to hang your head in shame. It is the type of trial that makes you question why you play the game, and whom you are playing for. As Karina said in the team meeting afterwards, we can let this loss get us down, or we can use it instead to inspire us to greater things.
RhianWilkinsonSoccer.com is the Official Website of Rhian Wilkinson.
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