We are looking forward to the Korea match today, and it should be a very different kind of game than the one we played against Argentina two days ago. The Korean women have been getting thousands of fans out to their games, so we will face a barrage of noise and we will be seen as the definite "away" team. We are getting used to crowds booing and jeering at us and I have become quite comfortable with this type of noise. It is surprising how quickly you can train your mind to think that the booing is actually directed at someone else, and not in fact at you! We all have our own pre-game rituals and ways of coping with the fans and stress.

The game

We won the game, defeating the Koreans 3-1. I think we played a really good first half, although we could have come out a little stronger right from the start. However, we soon found our rhythm and spent most of the time during the first 45 minutes, bombarding the Korean net. I should quickly mention that the huge stadium full of fans did not quite happen the way we expected. There may have been 400 people in total. Probably a factor in this is that the kick-off time was 2:00 pm on a Monday afternoon.

We went into the half 1-0 up from a goal by Kara. Sincy dribbled down the left side of the field before slipping it in, behind the Korean back four. Kara ran on to the ball and slid it into the net. It was a very pretty goal. I don't think anyone would deny that we deserved the lead going into the half, but I do think that we should have put a few more chances away. The score could, and probably should, have been 3-0.

We started the second period very much like the first, and we were soon dominant all over the field. Sincy scored our second goal from a give and go with Tank and Diana on the right flank. D. received the ball at the top of the 18 and slid it across to Sincy who was alone at the top of the box. She usually scores from there and that is exactly what she did. The third goal was also by Sincy, but I can’t remember exactly how it happened. In general terms, the ball went in behind the Korean defenders and Sincy slammed it home on the half volley.

The period at the end of the game was slightly frantic. We never seem to make things easy on ourselves. Even though the score in the 70th minute was 3-1, we played as if the game was much closer during this brief 10 minute stretch of the game. We eventually wrestled things back under control though, and closed out what could have been a really good great game. Instead, because of how chaotic we allowed the match to become, this was only a fair performance for us.

We now have two games won, and only one more to go before we can start to allow ourselves to think about the possibility of the finals. So far, so good.

Post Game

The relief following the tension of a match can cause strange events to happen. Tank tried to hide in Jonelle's hair. How does she manage to keep all that hair out of the way in a game? Following the game and return to the hotel, Sincy and Sophie  found a "Descending Life Line" that was in storage and not attached. This is basically a rope that is meant to save lives if you have to evacuate the hotel from a 9th storey window. Sophie gave the device a little go on the wall, just to see if it would hold her.

However, most of the time was spent when Amy decided it would be a lot funnier to tie Sophie up with the 9 storeys of rope. This is the kind of thing that happens when we are given too much time for ourselves.