DAY 7: 4 August 2009

Hello Iowa!

Today was a day filled with anticipation.  The boys were well rested and ready to compete against the National Champion Brazilian U16 team Cruzeiro.  Four of the players on the Cruzeiro team compete on Brazil’s National Team, and several of the players expect to sign professional contracts when they turn 16.  But first some culture.

We visited a lakeside area outside of the Cruzeiro Training facility.  Famous Brazilian architect Nehimiah, who is now about 100 years old, designed the Catholic Church on the lake and the adjacent Mineirao Stadium, the second largest stadium in Brazil.    After lunch, we visited the Cruzeiro Store where the kids spent some of your hard earned money on Cruzeiro gear.

At 2 pm, we boarded the bus for the Cruzeiro professional facility.  One of our guides on the bus was Ze Carlos, a decorated former Cruzeiro player, who played in more professional matches than any other Cruzeiro player.  Ze Carlos stuck around to watch the match.  In fact, when we arrived at the gated facility, it appeared that the match was much anticipated by many of the Cruzeiro coaches as well, who followed to spectate.  We were warmed up Brazilian style by own of the Cruzeiro coaches and ready for the opening whistle.

The Iowa boys soon learned how fast and skilled a player must be to play at a national level in Brazil, when, within the first minute of the match, a short square pass in the back was intercepted by the Cruzeiro striker and promptly placed squarely in the corner of the net.  The scoring and level of play would not decrease, as Cruzeiro staked themselves to a 5-0 lead at half and an 8-0 final.  The game marked a valuable and unforgettable learning experience for the Iowa ODP, Region II Champions:  No matter how good you are, there may always be someone better, so keep working to get to that level.  A lesson many of the boys talked about as we walked off of the field.

As we left the playing field, several of the professional Cruzeiro players were exiting their own training session and several of the boys were able to garner autographs or photos.  

In the evening, we went to another mall, this one more like Merle Hay Mall versus the Jordan Creek style we had experienced earlier.  Many of the boys snuck in some Subway, apparently craving some Americanized cuisine.  After our short mall stay, we boarded the bus and returned to Cruzeiro, a more humble, but wiser soccer group.

– Submitted by Brian Bergstrom