Wednesday was a great day. We got to see the FC Slovacko Men's first team train, lunch at the facility, games against FC Ziln, then fine dining at The Compound.
It is always educational to witness a full professional team train. Following the training, Aaron Brunner had a great session about the training - the players were very insightful and obviously learned a lot about how a pro approaches training.
Both games went very well. Again, we were treated in high fashion, with a great facility in the outskirts of Ziln. FC Ziln's youth training ground is a three field complex siting in a beautiful valley. They have a small stadium, a full-size grass training field and a turf training field with lights. As with most, if not all, European club facilities, they had a clubhouse with meeting rooms, locker rooms and a small restaurant. It is amazing to witness the true family and social atmosphere of these clubs. It seems many club members spend the majority of the day at the club. The kids are training or playing, the young ones are playing and the parents are eating and socializing with the other adults.
The 94s took the field first against a powerful and athletic FC Ziln side, who scored an early flicked goal off a set piece from about 26 yards out. We chased the game for the remainder of the half, cutting out service to their powerful forwards. The second half adjustments proved effective as we dominated play, creating numerous chances, but unable to put one away. FC Ziln walked away with a quality victory; we walked away disappointed in the result, but proud of the effort put in by our players.
The 95s headed to the locker room, where Mr Fisher had all the uniforms laid out in an organized fashion. FC Ziln provided oranges and grapes on a silver platter. The opportunity to connect with team-mates and dress in a professional environment has a very positive impact on the players. They carry themselves differently, they approach their tasks differently, they take more responsibility for themselves and their team. The maturation differences are great to witness.
Once we warmed-up, we headed back to the locker room for final instructions and team line-up. The excitement to play was obvious and manifested itself early, with us scoring in the first ninety seconds. A very early goal, but not enough to erase the history written a day prior. Our momentum continued and we put away three more quality goals for a commanding 4-0 half-time lead, before heading back to the locker-room for some adjustments. The second half saw our purposeful efforts to play faster and more simple came about, providing some very high quality and entertaining soccer.
Tomorrow we depart early to meet the powers of Czech football: Slavia Prague, a top club in constant battle with Sparta Prague for domination of the Czech leagues at every age group. We greatly anticipate a great challenge.
