Today we play Brazil at 7:10pm. So we again take a lazy day at the hotel so we can stay out of the sun and rest for the game. A few of us went for a walk down the street and others hung out. Nothing big.
Its now time to get on the bus for the game. The bus is here on time and so we get on with the Brazilian team. Kind of odd taking a bus with your opponent to the game. While on the bus the Brazilians starting banging on drums and singing. We look at each other and contemplate joining in or singing some American song louder then them so we mess with their mojo. The only problem is there isn't one song that we all know to sing. So we dont.
So here is the recap of the game....they were good...very good.
We got back on the bus and when we go to the hotel we changed and hit the club hard...I mean HARD!!! We had to drown our sorrows somehow.
I just woke up now and I am going to hit the beach...We have a day off today so it's on.....
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday July 14th
Today we play our second game. The game is at 6:45 pm so we have the entire day for nothing. Im telling you we really did nothing. We woke up for breakfast and some of us took our clothes yet again to get washed. After breakfast we went back to bed. We woke up again and went to lunch. After lunch we stayed awake but just watched tv. Some of the guys spent time with their families but the rest of us stayed in and out of the sun.
At 5:00pm we met downstairs to catch the bus to go to our game. The bus was late...but when it finally got to the hotel it was only big enough for 10 people. We were willing to make it work but the driver was unwilling. So we had to call for a bigger bus which took another 30 minutes. As soon as it got to the hotel we got on and headed to the game. We were stuck in traffic for a long time. We even went to the wrong facility to start with. This driver, I swear was on drugs. We almost killed one lady on a motorcycle. We went into areas of Tel Aviv, that I am sure more people who live here have never seen. It was the longest and weirdest roundabout way to get to the field.
We finally got to the facility 20 minutes before the game started. Remember the game is at 6:45 and we were suppose to leave at 5:00pm. The weird part of the entire thing was that Argentina was not at the facility either. We got changed and on the court and thats when we knew they were here too. I was hoping for a forfeit. We warmed up and got ready for the game.
We started the same way. Aaron in goal, Josh at defense, Ian and Simon in midfield, Mike up top.
We played even with Argentina for most of the first half. They scored 2 goals near the end of the half and at half time they were up 2-0. We were upset with the score but it was much better then what it could have been. The Argentina team has been working together for years. Our team has been together for almost 2 weeks now.
The second half on the other hand sucked. They scored 5 more that half, 3 of them were all our teams fault which should not have happened. But it did and they scored. The game ended 7-0, we lost our first game. CRAP!!!
We went to get on the bus to head back to the hotel and realized the bus was not at the facility. We were stranded. So we stayed and watched the next game. It was Estonia vs Brazil. To our surprise Estonia scored the first goal. Our entire team went crazy for Estonia. They have been having a very hard time losing to Finland 7-3 and US 11-3.
So they scored first followed by the unrelenting domination from the Brazilian side. At half time the score was 12-1. OUCH is right.
We left at half because the bus finally showed up. This time it was a different driver, thank the lord. But as it turns out this guy must have been a relative because he too got lost. He took us to 2 different hotels before he would listen to us saying MARINA TEL AVIV. He actually called someone to find out where we were staying because why would Americans know what is going on. It took this man who spoke no English and what it seamed as very bad Hebrew, 45 minutes to 1 hours to get us back to the hotel which is maybe 25 minutes away with traffic. It was an unreal day.
No one was hurt...only our pride was a bit lacking. Oh and to make things worse...we got back at 10:00pm (our game was over around 8 or a little after) and dinner stops at 9:00pm. We complained and they let us make our own sandwiches. They gave us cold cuts (turkey and salami) some bread, some humus, and salad. So it was us, a few guys from Hungry and Denmark (they spell it DANMARK)
Today could have been worse...but it was one of those days that you wish didnt happen. Lets just hope we get a better result tomorrow. Till then....
At 5:00pm we met downstairs to catch the bus to go to our game. The bus was late...but when it finally got to the hotel it was only big enough for 10 people. We were willing to make it work but the driver was unwilling. So we had to call for a bigger bus which took another 30 minutes. As soon as it got to the hotel we got on and headed to the game. We were stuck in traffic for a long time. We even went to the wrong facility to start with. This driver, I swear was on drugs. We almost killed one lady on a motorcycle. We went into areas of Tel Aviv, that I am sure more people who live here have never seen. It was the longest and weirdest roundabout way to get to the field.
We finally got to the facility 20 minutes before the game started. Remember the game is at 6:45 and we were suppose to leave at 5:00pm. The weird part of the entire thing was that Argentina was not at the facility either. We got changed and on the court and thats when we knew they were here too. I was hoping for a forfeit. We warmed up and got ready for the game.
We started the same way. Aaron in goal, Josh at defense, Ian and Simon in midfield, Mike up top.
We played even with Argentina for most of the first half. They scored 2 goals near the end of the half and at half time they were up 2-0. We were upset with the score but it was much better then what it could have been. The Argentina team has been working together for years. Our team has been together for almost 2 weeks now.
The second half on the other hand sucked. They scored 5 more that half, 3 of them were all our teams fault which should not have happened. But it did and they scored. The game ended 7-0, we lost our first game. CRAP!!!
We went to get on the bus to head back to the hotel and realized the bus was not at the facility. We were stranded. So we stayed and watched the next game. It was Estonia vs Brazil. To our surprise Estonia scored the first goal. Our entire team went crazy for Estonia. They have been having a very hard time losing to Finland 7-3 and US 11-3.
So they scored first followed by the unrelenting domination from the Brazilian side. At half time the score was 12-1. OUCH is right.
We left at half because the bus finally showed up. This time it was a different driver, thank the lord. But as it turns out this guy must have been a relative because he too got lost. He took us to 2 different hotels before he would listen to us saying MARINA TEL AVIV. He actually called someone to find out where we were staying because why would Americans know what is going on. It took this man who spoke no English and what it seamed as very bad Hebrew, 45 minutes to 1 hours to get us back to the hotel which is maybe 25 minutes away with traffic. It was an unreal day.
No one was hurt...only our pride was a bit lacking. Oh and to make things worse...we got back at 10:00pm (our game was over around 8 or a little after) and dinner stops at 9:00pm. We complained and they let us make our own sandwiches. They gave us cold cuts (turkey and salami) some bread, some humus, and salad. So it was us, a few guys from Hungry and Denmark (they spell it DANMARK)
Today could have been worse...but it was one of those days that you wish didnt happen. Lets just hope we get a better result tomorrow. Till then....
Monday July 13th
So today we had our first game of the tournament. I have posted a game report a bit earlier so everyone knew about it as soon as we could. Today was a very nice day. We got the first win in the history of Maccabi Futsal. Not a bad feeling. So when the game was over some of the guys stayed to watch Brazil play Finland. The rest of us went back to the hotel. The Brazil game ended 11-2 in favor of Brazil so we have to watch out for them because they are a very good team.
We changed and hung out a bit back at the hotel. The day was pretty much just us hanging out. The players who's family came to watch hung out with them and everyone else just did whatever. Aaron, our trainer Allen and myself went for a walk to see some of the things around the hotel.
At 4:15pm we had to be back at the hotel and dressed for Opening Ceremonies. We wore white shoes, our Adidas Kacki shorts, our dark blue button down USA top and a really bad straw woven hat. (we really didn't like it, it didn't really fit my head, but it was a very hot item of trade for everyone.)
We get to Ramat Gan Stadium and are led like sheep into a very large fenced in area. This area was big enough to hold all 9000 some odd people walking in the opening ceremonies. They had food, water, popsicles, and shade for everyone. This is the start of the trading. I mean OMG...everyone wants everything. The only problem is that we need to walk wearing our own gear...as soon as we are done its fair game to get rid of everything. People are trading shoes, shorts, pants, shirts, jackets, hats. At the end of the ceremony you can not tell who is on what team. I left with a Turkey polo, South Africa shirt, Holland hat, and my USA shorts since no one wants them. I even traded my bag to Brazil for their team bag.
But walking into the stadium (we all got pictures of it) surrounded by THOUSANDS of people was unreal. To make things cooler the prime minister and the president were both in attendance and made speeches. We just had some problem understanding Hebrew. But it was so amazing.
We were stationed on the left side of the main stage. We were given props so we could add something to the show. But again we were to excited and wrapped up in trying to trade ourI gear that we really dropped the ball on that. I think one of the coolest things about the ceremony was when Jason Lezak was one of the torch runners and he lit the torch in the stadium.
To be really honest I cant tell you what was going on, on stage. I was not paying attention. Like I said I was trading my gear. What I do know about the show is from watching my brothers mini videos of things he noticed while he was trading. I mean Aaron got a shirt from Palou. They only have 1 junior swimmer and 2 coaches. Aaron got the coaches shirt.
So to sum it up...we will have to go back at watch the opening ceremonies on Direct TV channel 366 when we get back to Cleveland. Until then I will just keep on trading my gear like everyone else.
We changed and hung out a bit back at the hotel. The day was pretty much just us hanging out. The players who's family came to watch hung out with them and everyone else just did whatever. Aaron, our trainer Allen and myself went for a walk to see some of the things around the hotel.
At 4:15pm we had to be back at the hotel and dressed for Opening Ceremonies. We wore white shoes, our Adidas Kacki shorts, our dark blue button down USA top and a really bad straw woven hat. (we really didn't like it, it didn't really fit my head, but it was a very hot item of trade for everyone.)
We get to Ramat Gan Stadium and are led like sheep into a very large fenced in area. This area was big enough to hold all 9000 some odd people walking in the opening ceremonies. They had food, water, popsicles, and shade for everyone. This is the start of the trading. I mean OMG...everyone wants everything. The only problem is that we need to walk wearing our own gear...as soon as we are done its fair game to get rid of everything. People are trading shoes, shorts, pants, shirts, jackets, hats. At the end of the ceremony you can not tell who is on what team. I left with a Turkey polo, South Africa shirt, Holland hat, and my USA shorts since no one wants them. I even traded my bag to Brazil for their team bag.
But walking into the stadium (we all got pictures of it) surrounded by THOUSANDS of people was unreal. To make things cooler the prime minister and the president were both in attendance and made speeches. We just had some problem understanding Hebrew. But it was so amazing.
We were stationed on the left side of the main stage. We were given props so we could add something to the show. But again we were to excited and wrapped up in trying to trade ourI gear that we really dropped the ball on that. I think one of the coolest things about the ceremony was when Jason Lezak was one of the torch runners and he lit the torch in the stadium.
To be really honest I cant tell you what was going on, on stage. I was not paying attention. Like I said I was trading my gear. What I do know about the show is from watching my brothers mini videos of things he noticed while he was trading. I mean Aaron got a shirt from Palou. They only have 1 junior swimmer and 2 coaches. Aaron got the coaches shirt.
So to sum it up...we will have to go back at watch the opening ceremonies on Direct TV channel 366 when we get back to Cleveland. Until then I will just keep on trading my gear like everyone else.
Monday, July 13, 2009
USA vs Estonia
We just got back to the hotel from the game. I would like to inform everyone that we took it to Estonia and beat them 11-3. We should have scored more but we didn't.
The starters were:
Aaron in goal
Josh in defense
Simon and Ian in midfield
Mike as forward
-----
The game started with Estonia scoring first with in the first 2 minutes. Followed by Ian scoring our first goal 45 seconds later. Then we opened it up. Mike had goal number 2, then Josh, Jared (me) had the 4th and what would turn out to be the game wining goal...oh yeah...go me.
David had the fifth goal and then we went into half time...Half time score USA 5 , Estonia 1.
We took a break and went back to our very well air conditioned locker room and talked and got ready for the second half. Sergio was detained by the Maccabi USA news team as they interviewed him at before he could get to the locker room.
As soon as we stepped on the court to return to our bench, the news group called over me and Aaron and wanted to talk to us about playing in the Maccabiah games as brothers on the same time. We answered questions and then the second half started. We turned it on again and put in another 6 goals and giving up 2 more. Simon had number 6, Ian scored the 7th. Simon then stepped up again and had goals number 8 and 9 which gave him the first hat trick of the tournament for our team. David scored the 10th goal and Ian followed up with #11 for his hat trick to end the game 11-3.
We all played very well and were very happy with the result. We just wish we didnt give up as many goals as we did. The best thing about this game, besides us winning our first game in the tournament and 6 of the 11 people on the team having a goal or more, was the Ron Carner the over all sports chairman for Maccabi USA came to our game. After the game Ron called me over to congratulate me on the teams win. He is very happy and impressed with the team we put together. The first ever win for the first ever Maccabi USA Futsal team to play in the Maccabiah games. This is a great feeling right now...but also right now we have to get ready for Argentina tomorrow...that will be a tough team. BRING IT ON!!!!!!
The starters were:
Aaron in goal
Josh in defense
Simon and Ian in midfield
Mike as forward
-----
The game started with Estonia scoring first with in the first 2 minutes. Followed by Ian scoring our first goal 45 seconds later. Then we opened it up. Mike had goal number 2, then Josh, Jared (me) had the 4th and what would turn out to be the game wining goal...oh yeah...go me.
David had the fifth goal and then we went into half time...Half time score USA 5 , Estonia 1.
We took a break and went back to our very well air conditioned locker room and talked and got ready for the second half. Sergio was detained by the Maccabi USA news team as they interviewed him at before he could get to the locker room.
As soon as we stepped on the court to return to our bench, the news group called over me and Aaron and wanted to talk to us about playing in the Maccabiah games as brothers on the same time. We answered questions and then the second half started. We turned it on again and put in another 6 goals and giving up 2 more. Simon had number 6, Ian scored the 7th. Simon then stepped up again and had goals number 8 and 9 which gave him the first hat trick of the tournament for our team. David scored the 10th goal and Ian followed up with #11 for his hat trick to end the game 11-3.
We all played very well and were very happy with the result. We just wish we didnt give up as many goals as we did. The best thing about this game, besides us winning our first game in the tournament and 6 of the 11 people on the team having a goal or more, was the Ron Carner the over all sports chairman for Maccabi USA came to our game. After the game Ron called me over to congratulate me on the teams win. He is very happy and impressed with the team we put together. The first ever win for the first ever Maccabi USA Futsal team to play in the Maccabiah games. This is a great feeling right now...but also right now we have to get ready for Argentina tomorrow...that will be a tough team. BRING IT ON!!!!!!
Sunday July 12th
Well its finally here. The first day of the tournament. We don't have a game but as it turns out the open futsal game between Brazil and Argentina is the very first game of the competition. So last night we told everyone about going to the game, what time to be at breakfast and what time we would be leaving. So in the morning we meet up with Josh, Mike, Aaron, Sergio and myself. No one else shows up for breakfast.
So we eat and go to the hotel lobby and try to get a ride to the game. The first bus left at 6:45 and the second bus is leaving at 8:30am. The first game starts at 8:30 so we got 2 cabs because we didnt want to miss the game.
We got to Zisman Hall and went into the stands to watch the first game, Argentina vs Brazil. That game starts off slow and methodical. Both teams play the ball around well but its not to physical of a game. Brazil scores first off a deflection from an Argentina defender. Then with about 2 minutes left in the half Argentina ties it up 1-1.
The second half was a totally different game. Both teams were physical and it was a more fast past game. Around half time the junior Brazilian teams showed up to cheer with drums and music and it was very distracting for Argentina. But both teams worked hard and in the last 15 seconds of the match Brazil puts it away for the win. For the next 10 minutes they were singing and dancing and just being ridicules.
The next game was Finland vs Estonia. Both these teams started to warm up and we realized that each team only had 1 ball per team. No one comes prepared ....except for us who brought 8 balls. So this game is totally different from the one we just watched. Estonia looked clueless but they ended up scoring 3 goals against Finland. Where as Finland is bigger and they look stronger but they too made a lot of mistakes. So this game finished 7-3...Finland had control for most of the game but they let up and pushed to far up and that let Estonia score a few times. (I forgot to mention that Estonia's Goal keeper got a red card and will be out of the game against us...)
I think we should be set for tomorrow but we have to work hard and not let up at all.
After the game we jump on the bus with the teams and head back to the hotel.
We rested a bit after lunch and then at 3:00pm we went for a team run. Then had a meeting at 4:15 to talk about the game and our team.
At 6:00pm we left to go to Kfar Maccabiah for a pre tournament dinner. This dinner was unreal. The food was ok...everything else was sick. Imagine a rock festival with 5 side stages and 1 main stage, cross that with a normal circus without the animals, throw in the performers from Circus De Solie from one of the Las Vegas shows and enough food to feed over 9000 people....yeah it was intense.
We left early because our bus in the morning was leaving at 6:45 am for our 8:30 game. We wanted to get some rest so at about 9:00pm we got together and went to the bus to go to the hotel. As we were leaving we heard the techno remix for Havanagela.
I really wish we could have stayed longed because I got the feeling something really cool was about to happen. We will just have to wait until the 19th Maccabiah games to experience it all again.
Lets get up for tomorrow...our first game of the tournament vs Estonia. BRING IT ON!!!!!
So we eat and go to the hotel lobby and try to get a ride to the game. The first bus left at 6:45 and the second bus is leaving at 8:30am. The first game starts at 8:30 so we got 2 cabs because we didnt want to miss the game.
We got to Zisman Hall and went into the stands to watch the first game, Argentina vs Brazil. That game starts off slow and methodical. Both teams play the ball around well but its not to physical of a game. Brazil scores first off a deflection from an Argentina defender. Then with about 2 minutes left in the half Argentina ties it up 1-1.
The second half was a totally different game. Both teams were physical and it was a more fast past game. Around half time the junior Brazilian teams showed up to cheer with drums and music and it was very distracting for Argentina. But both teams worked hard and in the last 15 seconds of the match Brazil puts it away for the win. For the next 10 minutes they were singing and dancing and just being ridicules.
The next game was Finland vs Estonia. Both these teams started to warm up and we realized that each team only had 1 ball per team. No one comes prepared ....except for us who brought 8 balls. So this game is totally different from the one we just watched. Estonia looked clueless but they ended up scoring 3 goals against Finland. Where as Finland is bigger and they look stronger but they too made a lot of mistakes. So this game finished 7-3...Finland had control for most of the game but they let up and pushed to far up and that let Estonia score a few times. (I forgot to mention that Estonia's Goal keeper got a red card and will be out of the game against us...)
I think we should be set for tomorrow but we have to work hard and not let up at all.
After the game we jump on the bus with the teams and head back to the hotel.
We rested a bit after lunch and then at 3:00pm we went for a team run. Then had a meeting at 4:15 to talk about the game and our team.
At 6:00pm we left to go to Kfar Maccabiah for a pre tournament dinner. This dinner was unreal. The food was ok...everything else was sick. Imagine a rock festival with 5 side stages and 1 main stage, cross that with a normal circus without the animals, throw in the performers from Circus De Solie from one of the Las Vegas shows and enough food to feed over 9000 people....yeah it was intense.
We left early because our bus in the morning was leaving at 6:45 am for our 8:30 game. We wanted to get some rest so at about 9:00pm we got together and went to the bus to go to the hotel. As we were leaving we heard the techno remix for Havanagela.
I really wish we could have stayed longed because I got the feeling something really cool was about to happen. We will just have to wait until the 19th Maccabiah games to experience it all again.
Lets get up for tomorrow...our first game of the tournament vs Estonia. BRING IT ON!!!!!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday July 11th: A day at Gordon Beach
Today we had a day off from everything. All stores are closed...well most are closed and we were on our own to get transportation to and from a facility we had to book. So we didn't organize anything and just hung out. Breakfast was early as usually and most of the team slept through it. A few of us on the other hand were up and at breakfast to start our day right.
At breakfast Aaron, Sergio, our trainer Allen, and I all figured we would go to the beach and get some sun. We talked to everyone else who decided to go their own ways for the day. Some people went to the hotel roof top pool, others went for a walk, and a few stayed in the rooms and slept off the night before.
At 10:00ish we were on the beach outside our hotel laying on chairs under an umbrella. It cost 60 shekels to get 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas. Its not a lot of money but it sucks having to pay for it. Also for a future note to everyone reading this...make sure to bring water with you to the beach...a 6 pack of 1.5 litter bottles is 9.90 shekels outside the beach...on the beach 3 bottles of 8 oz water is 33 shekels....we learned the hard way.
At this time of day there were not a lot of people on the beach. As the day went on it started to fill up very fast. The sand on the beach was very similar. When we got there it was hot but you could walk on the sand as long as you did it quickly. The later it got the hotter the sand became. When I say its hot I mean stick your hand in a boiling pot of oil and then throw it into the microwave for about 20 minutes...that should be close.
The water on the other hand was cool and clear. You could see the sand and the fish at the bottom of the water around your feet. The water splashed to your knees as the waves rolled in. As you walk out farther towards the break wall the water gets deeper but doesn't get past your shoulders until you get really far out. We are only in the water for maybe half an hour before we get out and go back to the chairs.
We do this a few times, beach to water to beach, all the wile looking at all the beautiful ladies in very small swim suits. We have yet to find "THE BEACH" (if you don't know what I mean then don't worry about it) but as soon as we do we will make sure to take pictures of everyone else and not of ourselves.
Around 3:00pm we packed up our stuff and headed back to the hotel for lunch. None of us realized how much sun we truly got that late morning early afternoon. But we figured it out by dinner time when it hurt to move.
After dinner most of us went to bed and tried to sleep off some of the sun we got that day. Others went out and partied it up a bit. Tomorrow marks the start of the tournament. We are not playing but the rest of the teams in our bracket are so we are planning on watching them play so we can get a feel for what we are getting our selves into.
At breakfast Aaron, Sergio, our trainer Allen, and I all figured we would go to the beach and get some sun. We talked to everyone else who decided to go their own ways for the day. Some people went to the hotel roof top pool, others went for a walk, and a few stayed in the rooms and slept off the night before.
At 10:00ish we were on the beach outside our hotel laying on chairs under an umbrella. It cost 60 shekels to get 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas. Its not a lot of money but it sucks having to pay for it. Also for a future note to everyone reading this...make sure to bring water with you to the beach...a 6 pack of 1.5 litter bottles is 9.90 shekels outside the beach...on the beach 3 bottles of 8 oz water is 33 shekels....we learned the hard way.
At this time of day there were not a lot of people on the beach. As the day went on it started to fill up very fast. The sand on the beach was very similar. When we got there it was hot but you could walk on the sand as long as you did it quickly. The later it got the hotter the sand became. When I say its hot I mean stick your hand in a boiling pot of oil and then throw it into the microwave for about 20 minutes...that should be close.
The water on the other hand was cool and clear. You could see the sand and the fish at the bottom of the water around your feet. The water splashed to your knees as the waves rolled in. As you walk out farther towards the break wall the water gets deeper but doesn't get past your shoulders until you get really far out. We are only in the water for maybe half an hour before we get out and go back to the chairs.
We do this a few times, beach to water to beach, all the wile looking at all the beautiful ladies in very small swim suits. We have yet to find "THE BEACH" (if you don't know what I mean then don't worry about it) but as soon as we do we will make sure to take pictures of everyone else and not of ourselves.
Around 3:00pm we packed up our stuff and headed back to the hotel for lunch. None of us realized how much sun we truly got that late morning early afternoon. But we figured it out by dinner time when it hurt to move.
After dinner most of us went to bed and tried to sleep off some of the sun we got that day. Others went out and partied it up a bit. Tomorrow marks the start of the tournament. We are not playing but the rest of the teams in our bracket are so we are planning on watching them play so we can get a feel for what we are getting our selves into.
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