Brazil Web Log
June 21-July 3
Days 1 and 2
After about 28 hours of traveling from home to the CT here at Atletico, I truly feel like we are world travelers. I must say that it is easy to quickly forget how hard it is to get here when you are immersed in such a great soccer atmosphere.
Our flights, luggage and connecting with individuals meeting us in Miami went very smoothly, unlike last year’s debacle when all of our luggage was lost. We arrived around 12:30 in time to observe the US?s demise in the Cup. After sitting in the same room three hours later and watching Brazil toy with Japan, the effort to come to Brazil to improve in soccer seems clearly worth it. I had to think that possibly some of the youth pros in the room whooping and hollering when Ronaldo or Ronaldinho slipped a no-look pass to someone or when Robinho ran by three players might someday themselves be playing for Brazil in the World Cup. Beto, the coach that trained the boys this afternoon, apparently was the centerback for Roberto Carlos`s original pro side in Sao Paulo. There are several players from Atletico in every Brazilian side from u-15 to the u-23 team. We look forward to watching Brazil play in the next round and maybe in the quarterfinals before we leave.
The boys will train twice a day except Sunday, including 3 friendly matches. On Sunday we will take them to the Sunday street market in town, then to the mall and finally back to watch the u-17 team play an important cup match at the CT at 3 PM. The pro team plays an exhibition here also on Saturday against a third division team from close by.
Today was a holiday because the national team played. That in itself is pretty different from what we are used to. Throughout the game we heard honking horns and firecrackers and I am sure that will continue through the night.
Tonight we are having a pickup game from 730-830 on the sand soccer field under the lights-no shoes. We have access after that to the sauna and baths in the pro locker room.
Day 3
Before I get into today’s activities, I realize I may not have given you enough background on what it is like here. Atletico is in the middle of a $6 million dollar renovation on this facility. The dorm we are in is nice! When they finish renovating the place, our building will be a very nice youth players’ facility, but the old building where we stayed last year will apparently be a five star hotel, suitable for visiting professional teams, including the Brazilian World Cup team in 2010. Right now there is a lot of construction going on. They are also preparing their stadium to be a venue for the World Cup in 2014 when it comes to Brazil. Our rooms are brand new -- 4 to a room with two showers and two toilets for each unit. There is a fridge with mineral water for the kids anytime they want it. The dining hall has the same food as last year-which I think is good, but I eat anything. It is basically a big tent while they are finishing all of their offices, labs, locker rooms. We still have access to their number one weight room, sauna, steam room etc.
The boys change into brand new Atletico practice gear for each session and their personal stuff gets washed any day Monday through Thursday. They get fresh towels daily and maid service. Not bad for kids at camp! We got them phone cards today and are getting a lot of money changed into Reals tomorrow for Sunday's outing to the street market and the mall.
This morning we got up and the boys did technical training for two hours with Beto and 8 of the reserves from the juvenil team, who will have a game tomorrow here at the CT. We will play a friendly at 2 PM and then catch the second half of their game. The juvenil team (u-17) has three players from the Brazilian u-17 squad, so it should be great for the kids to see. This afternoon there will be a session with goals and goalkeepers. This morning, our only goalkeeper, James, trained with the goalkeeper coach and the two goalkeepers for the juvenil team.
After the session and before lunch Oscar Erichsen, the head of the facility, spoke to the boys and showed videos to make them understand better what is going on here. They had another technical session after lunch with goalkeepers this time and shooting. We managed to catch the last half of the second set of World Cup matches back at our rooms.
Tonight the boys wanted to play pickup sand soccer again and have access to the weight room, steamroom etc. After the snack at 10, which was pretty much another meal last night, they should be ready for bed.
Tomorrow we train in the morning and should be able to catch the second half of the friendly the pros are playing here at the CT. In the afternoon, there will be our friendly at 2, followed by catching the second half of the u-17 game. Apparently the junior team (u-20) now also have a game on Sunday which we will be able to see.
Day 4
The boys played a bit this morning on a short field as preparation for the friendly this afternoon. As they came out of the locker room, the first team was playing right there. They got to see about an hour of the match and I think these games are just as important for them to learn from as their own sessions.
The 8 Brazilian kids that were training with us in the morning are reserves from the juvenil and junior teams. To give you a perspective, two of them, Gabriel and Fabio are good enough for me to recommend to some colleges as instant starters and full scholarship players. Neither has been able to crack in to the junior team here, so they are either going to school in the US or being sent to a smaller club in Sao Paulo where they might be able to get a game with their junior team. There are just so many good players here, it is great for our kids to see the level and then they will not be impressed by anything they see in US youth soccer.
After the session we watched the Germany-Sweden match and then had our first friendly. Basically all the kids played on the same team bolstered by 4 very good Brazilian players. Our opponent was a selection of players-mostly to be the nucleus of their rising u/14-15 team. Several of the boys on the other team were extremely talented 13 year old players and only one or two were older at 15. We lost 4-2, and were down 2-0 at the half, both goals by their number 10, a left footed center midfielder. The first was a free kick from about 30 yards, and we got our first taste of a real Brazilian free kick. There was a similar goal scored by Atletico in the pro scrimmage.
Some of the players we saw today were here last year trying out when I brought my first group. They are from very poor families and it is neat to see them thriving in this soccer club, which gives them so much. The game was mainly for evaluation and the group will be split up beginning Monday when a number of younger kids will be training here in the mornings.
Tomorrow we will have a full day out at the Sunday street market and then some sightseeing and the mall. I changed about $1500 today at the airport and will be handing out money in the morning. The boys may want to play sand soccer again tonight but I think they may be happy to rest a bit. We are watching the Argentina-Mexico game right now.
We are having a few more computers set up here but I have my laptop set up now as well. You should be hearing from the kids some if you haven't. After tomorrow's outing, we will settle into a weekly routine next week.
Lots of soccer to say the least. Everybody is healthy and happy.
day 5 and beyond
