It was another very early start for the squad today: Not much chatter over breakfast. We were having our pre game training session at the stadium where we are playing tomorrow, so we had to be up early as the timing of these events is always difficult. Unfortunately, our bus driver managed to get a little confused about the destination on our drive over from the athletes' village. This is even though the stadium can be seen from the village itself!

 

Thankfully, Lauren Sesselman came to the rescue as translator and diplomat. I am not sure just how proficient she is in speaking Spanish, but all power to her. She managed to convey that we were definitely in the wrong place.

 

We did eventually arrive at th brand new stadium. The locker room is very cool, including the showers. These were probably the most exciting part of the trip for us, as we know we can use them (and we expect the running water to be hot) after our experiences at the village. The idea of a great, warm, maybe even hot shower, was the numero uno topic of conversation. The locker room facility is very modern, with a warm-up facility, ice baths available (although not for us), and a small chapel??.

 

The field is turf so.... well it looked and felt like turf. The practice session itself went well, although we are going to have to be a little sharper for our game tomorrow. Despite rankings, Costa Rica is a good team and we are going to have to be ready for a real battle, I think we are all looking forward to the game. The rest of our day was spent napping, studying match and practice video footage, team meetings, and eating- nothing new here at all.

 

Let's get this tournament started already!