ECNL Blog Takeover from Spain

Today's blog is taken over by '97 and '99 CASL ECNL teams who are currently in Spain. Beth Skinner, one of the mom's traveling with the teams and coaches, is sending pictures and anecdotes of their trip (despite the spotty wifi). See her pictures and write-up below!

The 99 and 97 CASL ECNL girls are having a great time in Spain. We toured the city of Madrid and had a chance to practice speaking and reading Spanish! Tapas, paella and churro are new to our vocabulary.  On Saturday we we attended the La Liga match Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano.  It was awesome.  The chants are nonstop. Ronaldo scored the first goal and Real Madrid went on to win 5 to 0. Sending Rayo Vallecano down to the second division.

On Sunday we toured the city of Madrid. In Plaza Mayor we saw many street entertainers performing for coins- tensile bulls and lots of visual illusions such as headless people.   One little boy about the age of 3 was fascinated by us and as he was leaving the Plaza with his Dad he turned to wave to us.    

In the afternoon, we toured the Spanish FA Complex and saw the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2008 and 2012. We watched exciting highlights of some unbelievable goals that resulted in the championships.

Our first training session with Real Madrid was great. It was challenging and we will have 4 additional sessions. 

We played our first of 3 games on Monday against women's teams from Rayo Vallecano. The u14s played against u16s and scored three goals for their first win. 3 to 0.  Avery Gardner, Grace Wagner and Audrey Prevost scored our goals, and Marlayna Frutiger and Gabby Derosier notched the shutout. Our mid field and defense were solid throughout the game with everyone contributing.  

The u16s played an exciting match against the Spanish National team comprised of u18s and above. Morgan Goff had a hat trick and led the team to a 3 to 3 tie.   CASL led the half 2 to 1. Rayo Vallecano brought on a few new team members and fresh legs in the second  half to end in a 3 to 3 tie.   

We celebrated our successes with pizza!