Team savors last day of their stay at Ticho's Hotel

Today the team spent their last day at Ticho's Hotel in Castellaneta Marina. The boys relaxed on the beach, played beach volleyball, and savored their last gourmet meals served by the Ticho's staff. Tonight they will tour the Sassi's of Matera where the film Passion of Christ was filmed and will attend the Scirea Cup final of Juventus against Sparta-Prague at Matera stadium.
Tommorrow the team will move on to Rome for three days of touring.

Tichos staff who provided deluxe service to the team and travelling parents:
Cossimo, Raffaele, Tommaso, and Antonio

Team tours ancient city of Taranto during rest day

On Thursday June 16th, the players toured the city of Taranto , an ancient Greek and Roman port.
There the players toured the old city,  saw Castle Aragonese, many churches, and the Greek/Roman museum. The day was capped off by a shopping spree at a local mall.

Pateadores vs. Zenit St. Petersburgh Consolation Round 2-2

Tonight's game was a rematch in the consolation round with Zenit of Russia. Again the boys came out strong scoring in the first ten minutes with a Juan Carlos Martinez goal off of a rebound from Dario Garcia's shot. This was set up by a flicked header from Andres Roman. The boys continued with great defending from the back line of Giovanni Partida, Nick Stanley, Corey Schramm and Senna De La Cruz. The Russians eventually tied the game off a questionable PK. With quick play from Trevor Hyman out of center midfield, they continued to  connect and play in sync with quick passing creating shots for Andres Roman and Juan Carlos Martinez. Eventually the Russians scored the second goal to go ahead and the boys fought back to have Juan Carlos Martinez knock in the equalizing goal off the Russian's goalie error. At half time, the score was 2-2 as the boys were battling and feeling good about their chances.
In the second half with subs Michael Grey, Tony Velasquez, Chris Costantini and Alex Jackson. Our boys battled as they were down a man in the second half due to second yellow card offense. Michael Grey was key in tracking back to play both center mid and transitioning to forward on attacks. The game eventually ended in a 2-2 tie going to PK's. Tristan Thompson, Michael Grey, Corey Schramm, Nick Stanley and Tony Velazquez all converted their PK's but fell short in sudden death. Another excellent performance from our boys as they never stopped competing. In the locker room after the game the boys were in good spirits as they knew they played great and were just unlucky in PK's. They celebrated with a classic Italian pizza party in town with all the parents supporting and celebrating with them.
Tomorrow is a rest day as they will spend the day on a private tour of Tarranto a 45 minute drive from the hotel.

Game 3 vs. Zenit, St. Petersburgh

Last night's game against the big and strong Russian Zenit team started off strong with same style of play carrying over from the previous Noicattaro game. They came out playing fast and aggressive scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes. With crosses coming in from wide players Tristan Thompson and Senna De La Cruz who provided play down the line to forwards Tony Velazquez who scored first with a left footed shot from top of the box to get the boys off to a great start. The second goal came from Alex Jackson who capitalized off the error from Russian goal keeper. Playing on a fast turf against a very fast and big Russian team was a difficult task that brought out the fight in the boys but eventually fell short as they just couldn't match size and strength with the Russian Zenit team. In the end they battled, never quiting and for the first time experienced what it was like to have home field fans as the stadium was filled with Italian fans along with the parents from the team cheering them on. The cheering was led by Scott Hyman's stepfather Mike who had all the chants going "U.S.A" keeping the boys in an American fighting spirit that never quit. It was certainly something to experience as the boys continued to fight and kept trying to score.
In the end as Andres Roman, Juan Carlos Martinez, Dario Garcia and Giovanni Partida continued to bring an energy that almost scored three times in the second half. All in all it was a solid performance from the boys as they played with heart and intensity.

Game 2 vs. Noicattaro 1-1

Good Day Everyone,
Today the boys played the team from Club Noicattaro. This team had tied Bari the night before and the boys played just amazing. As we arrived to the stadium, it was an older stadium with grass that seemed to suit the boys perfectly. In this game the boys responded with an intensity and drive we didn't have in the first game. They were moving the ball with precision and at a pace that took Noicattaro by surprise. With a fast play style that was created by Trevor Hyman, Dario Garcia and Tony Velazquez playing out of the middle, they created many attacking opportunities through the outside midfielders Chris Constantini and Tristan Thompson. Many chances were created with fast ball movement which eventually led to a pass from Tony Velazquez to Alex Jackson scoring with a right footed first touch goal. Getting that first goal really lifted the spirits of the boys causing them to play with an intensity that kept Noicattaro on their heels. The defending in this game was just spectacular. By switching Corey Schramm from midfield to center-back, with his defensive organizational skills, he lead the way along with Nick Stanley, Michael Grey and Skyler Ibarra to hold a solid and tough back line. Throughout the game the defenders were winning balls out of the air and slide tackling with an aggression that seemed to cause the Italians to dive for calls. Eventually they equalized on a highly questionable PK given by the referee. It was an amazing slide tackle by Corey Schramm as he came across the box to slide tackle and win the ball. Unfortunately the referee bought the dive awarding Noicattaro the PK, ending the first half 1-1.
As the second half began, the scoring chances continued to come with an amazing 30 yard cracker of a shot from Trevor Hyman. His shot knuckled and swerved causing the keeper to perry it away. Another near miss from near post from Andres Roman that rolled within inches from going in for the winner. The incredible defending and wide play continued in the second half  as Senna De La Cruz, Gio Partida and Juan Carlos Martinez continued to push for that elusive winning goal. In the last few minutes the boys were able to get what they thought was the winning goal off a nice cross to Chris Costantini who headed it into goal but was called offside. This was another questionable call as the game had no assistant referees to the boys frustration.
In the end it was a wonderfully played game by the boys who impressed the parents and more importantly the Noicattaro team who advanced to the second round with a tie. The Noicattaro coaches and players complimented the boys with their speed, fast pace ball movement and their hard play and tackling. Clearly something that made us all very proud of the boys.

Photos

First Scirea Cup Game vs. Bari

Buon Giorno a Tutti! Today the boys played a very hard game against professional club side Bari from the hometown team from Bari, Italy, who happened to be finalist in last year's tournament. The game was played on turf field of Stadio Laterza, with fireworks and ceremonial start with the National Anthem of both countries. The boys nervous energy was apparent at the onset but were  able to channel it to a strong start by scoring first after the injury foul to Esteban Reyes. Unfortunately his injury is a big loss and will most likely cause him to miss the next match.
The boys battled hard and played with an intensity that created the first goal of the match by Tony Velazquez. It was set up by by an overlapping run by Senna De la Cruz after passing it to Tristan Thompson who knocked it in to Giovanni Partida, who then placed a nice through ball onto the diagonal run of Tony Velazquez beating the keeper with a nice finish. Bari quickly came back and tied the game as they received support from the hometown crowd. The boys eventually succumbed to the onset of fatigue and inexperience of European style of soccer that they are not exposed to back in the states. It was an eye opening experience but proud to say they never quit and played hard throughout the game.
They will face Italian side Noicattaro tonight at 8:30 pm. Italian time. Wishing our boys the best of luck for tonight's match. Photos and video footage to follow!