PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. (Friday, January 4, 2008)- After having time to digest last night’s events, my thoughts remain the same - I could not be happier with our group after drawing 1-1 with one of the top two teams in China.
We knew that playing a game this early in the year was going to be challenging. When you add to that an ultra-technical and organized Chinese National Team, players sprinkled into the line up, and the worst rain/wind storm that California has seen in years, I was not sure what to expect. As a staff, we knew that we had a great group of players. At the same time, we had not even trained together once. Despite all of those obstacles, the girls really did a fantastic job.
From the opening warm up, I knew we would be fine. We kept the team in the locker room until about 35 minutes before the match began due to the weather, and we then decided to go with an quick, yet efficient warm up. Our captain, Kendall Fletcher, had the team while the staff was organizing our possession grid. It was not long before they were in there pinging around the ball. After four minutes of watching them break each other’s pressure, it was apparent this was going to be fun to watch. Possession is the backbone of our team, and it is especially important for our success in this match. One of our major keys was to keep the ball out of the hands of the Beijing team. We knew the more opportunities they had to break us down, the more dangerous they would become.
A look at the game plan (without much detail):
Without the ball:
* Everything is done as a group with the first defender dictating pressure.
** Focus on that first defender as a team so the right decisions are made in all other positions.
*** (Most important) Recovery runs- Not the big ones but the little ones that happen all over the interior of the field that are needed to cut out combinations and wall passes.
With the ball:
* Keep it SIMPLE. As the game develops, someone will emerge as a special player. Until then, everyone must get into good spots and play simple.
* Keep the ball for long periods of time so we get that rhythm. Keep it out of Beijing’s possession.
*** Mix up our attack. Most things would be short tonight, but we also had to stretch them with the occasional long ball.
We played a 4-4-2 most of the night with moments in a 4-4-1-1. The starting lineup:
GK Karen Bardsley
B Kara Kabellis
B Janessa Currier
B Jill Oakes
B Kendall Fletcher C
M Kacey White
M Rosie Tantillo
M Brittany Klein *
M Leah Tapscott
F Ouying Zhang
F Kandace Wilson
* Staff pick Player-of-Match
Reserves:
Kikki Bosion
Cammie Levine
Brianna Buffington
Kasey Moore
The first half was played evenly with the Blues heading into a strong wind. Defensively, our team could not have been better as they did not break once, only allowing a few shots from outside the box. Watching the players off the ball, we were very pleased with their focus and organization. It confirmed why they were not getting broken. The absolutely masterful play of Brittany Klein as well as strong performances by Kacey White and Rosie Tantillo in the midfield created opportunities for Ouying Zhang and Kandace Wilson. Meanwhile, our best chance of the half fell to Brianna Buffington as Kacey split the back late in the first 45 minutes to send her on a breakaway. With the wind in our faces, it was very safe to say that we should have been up at the half.
As the second half started, we tweaked our philosophy a tad by adding high pressure ALL over. The result was Beijing seeing our half of the field a handful of times in the second 45. Kendall Flecther scored on a set piece around the 65th minute mark and as the half wore on, it became set play after set play. Statistically, we had 19 corners to their 0. But as the game of soccer goes, you have to finish more then one no matter how much a team can dominate. We left the game within reach and on their only flash of brilliance of the half, Beijing equalized in the 78th minute on a semi-counter attack that ended with a magical combination on top of our box. The last ten minutes were all Blues, but we could not put one away.
A special mention on the back four (Kabellis , Oakes, Currier and Fletcher): they were rock solid defensively and shared the ball together like it was the last match of the season, constantly breaking the frustrated pressure of their opposition.
On a personal note, it was such an amazing feeling being back on the bench after five months. I am very proud of the team and staff.
Result:
Pali Blues 1
Beijing 1
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