Region II Championships - Wednesday, June 27
Saturday, June 30, 2007 at 07:39AM 
Of Goose Bumps and Fingertips
Suffice it to say that I didn't sleep very well last night. Between my new roommate's snoring (Mark Cook - our club's Girls Director of Coaching - moved over to our hotel as he was the sole remaining BTFC representative left in Iowa and needed a place to crash) and my excitement for what the day would bring, once I woke to a unusually loud snore at 4:00AM I wasn't able to find dreamland again.
It gave me some relatively quiet time to reflect upon the last year with this group. Almost one year ago to the day we faced Internationals (OH-N) in the US Club Soccer U12 Region Finals. We had many of the same players involved at that point, though some were with us as guest players for that event and not on our official roster. We fell to Internationals 3-2 in overtime, overcoming a 2 goal first half deficit to reach the extra time period. The following month, we had tryouts and began our sometimes controversial fall pool training program with 32 kids. Blue and White teams were finalized in mid-October and we began training in earnest as an official team in November.
Since August of 2006, this group has had around 175 soccer sessions together. This includes outdoor training, optional finishing sessions, FIT Training, Video Analysis, indoor training, friendlies, league games, tournament games, and Futsal/Street Soccer sessions. Before anyone faints due to seeing this number, understand that many days we had FIT Training, Video Analysis, and indoor training back to back to back. Also, we played multiple games in one day at tournaments.
The sheer number of touches on the ball alone would have likely been enough to elevate the team above other Minnesota teams at their age group. Couple this with the fact that 1) all the girls possess above-average athletic ability, and above-average interest, passion, and commitment to the sport, 2) each girl is challenged constantly in our training environments, in our league games and friendlies, and by our tournament selection strength , and 3) the girls are under 24/7 guidance (during soccer activities) by a relatively knowledgeable soccer professional, and now you have a group that can play with anyone in the country on any given day. This is a huge testament to the Bangu Tsunami club and what it offers to interested families, to the commitment of the parents involved and the trust they put in the soccer leadership, and to the girls themselves for their effort and attitude throughout the year.
* * * * *
I arrived at the fields around 6:20AM... for an 8:00AM game. Told you I couldn't sleep. I was also sockless and commando as I hadn't packed for a 6 day stay, but that's probably to much info for anyone, or "TMI" as my girls tell me. Actually, we had to be on site to sign in as a team at 7:00AM, so I wanted the girls around at 6:50AM. It was another gorgeous morning, though not as hot as previous days. We got checked in promptly and headed over to field #4.
Like the semifinals, this game was held at the James Cownie Soccer Complex. We had played all three group games at Hidden Valley. The JC fields were just as nice, though I had heard earlier in the week that they had been a little wet.
I'm just so impressed with the field conditions down here. Looked like the girls were playing on carpet.
There is no chance you would find a youth complex with as many fields in such great condition in MN. Man, what our club could do if we had access to our own facilities on par with either of the complexes down here in Des Moines...
I didn't change our warm-up much. I do like to vary what I do with the girls as we have so many games in the summer months between league and tournament play, and the same old routine can get old and dry. However, my thought is that in a situation like we have found ourselves in, in new territory and in the late rounds of a major competition, routine is a good thing. The girls will take comfort in the routine and it will help them relax under the pressure.
So we began with some Walking Soccer, moved to some shooting/long balls, on to crossing and finishing, finally with some 5v5v5. There was the same positive vibe in the air and I had a feeling this was going to be our day.
The rest of the morning is a bit of a blur, but I'll try to recap as best I can.
The game started out well for us. We pressed the attack and created a handful of dangerous opportunities in the box, though we failed to pull the trigger a few times when I thought we should. We looked to knock the ball around a bit, but still did what we do best - play direct when we can, find our forwards' feet and in space, attack the flanks, and defend like demons all around the field.
Internationals GK was solid, making a number of good saves in the first half.
We nearly took the lead around the 12th minute when Hannah (CD) stepped up to smack a free kick from about 35 yards out against the underside of the crossbar. The ball ricocheted straight down, bounced off the GK and Millie (LF) came close to reaching the loose ball. The GK was able to recover and smother the ball at the last instant, but it was a great chance for us.
One of my favorite moments came early in the first half when Millie (RF) did what she does best and took on opposing defenders in their box. She danced by 2 or 3 of them near the endline to the right side of goal, then was forced back towards the top of the box. A defender poked the ball away from her straight in the path of Becs (RM). Millie saw Becs wind up for the strike on goal, eyes wide as teacups as she processed the impending ball to the face. With cat-like quickness, Millie threw herself face first to the grass, head turned away from the shot, trying her best I'm sure to have her body sink as low as possible into the ground. The ball whizzed over her head by about a foot. I was laughing so hard, I can't actually remember if the ball was saved or shot wide. Glad Millie had sliders on, she may have peed her pants a little there.
My thought was to play everyone during the first half, then gauge who was on and who was off their game and make adjustments from there. I wanted all the girls to take part in this experience. Though I feel that our top 11 can play with anyone, I don't think we have an edge over the stronger clubs/teams. Our advantage comes from the strength of the other 6 girls we have waiting in the wings as there has not been one team that I've seen who can match our overall team strength.
Scratch and Hannah didn't step off the field from their center back positions, and I rotated Nash, Becs, Sophie, and Maddie as outside backs. Lily, Macky, and Brownie took shifts in the center of midfield, with Bidi, Jilly, Blondie, Maddie, Getch, and Becs all seeing time out wide. Ripper, Millie, Sting, and Blondie saw time up front.
I had been warned by a friend of mine on the Blue Valley Stars Ratpack team (KS), that Internationals had one of the best players in the region on their team. A #12 who played in the center of midfield. He was right, she was an amazing player who tore us up. Athletic and fast and great with the ball. We tried to key on her and double when we good, but she was difficult for us to handle.
Midway through the first half, #12 received the ball about 30 yards from our goal, dribbled straight up the middle through 4 players on her way to be taken down in the box for a PK. Internationals had their GK come up to take the kick. Tori (GK) went the right way and made a good effort, but the shot was too high.
Maybe she was their best shooter, maybe they were a bit cocky, I don't know. Regardless, I was hoping for a save not only to preserve the 0-0 deadlock, but moreover to see the ensuing scramble and panic as the International GK and defenders rushed back to defend their open goal. It would have made for a memorable experience, that's for sure!
Internationals were dangerous on the attack, and hit a crossbar of their own after a great finger save by Mudd. They played a decent offsides trap as well, and we were caught a few times by it.
The half ended 1-0 for the Ohio team. The girls were down a bit and Mark C and I did our best to keep spirits high.
At the break, we addressed a few key points:
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We would continue to play as is in a 4-4-2 for the first 15 minutes of the second half to try and get the equalizer. If we could not break through, we would shift to three in the back, pushing numbers forward and stepping up our intensity on getting balls into the danger area. We would press them all over the field, concentrating on high pressure in their defending third. This would involve taking some risks in the back down defending numbers, but a 1-0 loss was the same as a 4-0 loss at this point.
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We talked about beating their offsides trap with long diagonals for midfield runners, greedy dribbling forward instead of passing by central mids, and forwards working hard to be aware of their position.
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Lastly, we talked about believing in the girls around them. We would not get back in this game by one player thinking they had to do everything. We arrived at this point as a team and we'll leave this place as a team, win or lose. The girls had proven they could come back from a 2 goal deficit against this very same team last year, and we needed to believe we could battle back now.
The second half started out well again for us. I had dropped Ripper into the center of midfield to hopefully give us some added aggressiveness there, and pushed Jilly up top (she usually played wide for us).
We attacked in numbers and defended relentlessly trying to win back possession when lost. We pressed the Internationals in their end and Macky and Lily (CMs) kept the ball alive in our opponents half countless times with headers off GK punts and goal kicks.
Macky found herself 1v1 on the GK a few minutes in due to an uncoordinated offsides trap push, but her shot was parried by the closing GK as Macky slid to hit it.
About 12 minutes into the second half, the Internationals doubled their lead off another very skillful piece of dribbling. We had begun to lose the midfield a bit and our defenders had begun dropping back too far when the Internationals were in our half. This seemed like a natural tendency as we knew we were facing talented opponents. However, this allowed the Internationals to spread the field out a bit in depth, leaving too much space in a lateral channel, 20 - 40 yards in front of our goal. The Internationals were able to draw our center mids out wide a number of times then switch the ball to a central player with miles of space. We couldn't organize pressure from the center of the field on these girls quick enough, and our opponents had at least 2 dangerous strikes from about 22 yards out. Their second goal came as a result of this as one of their players, another skillful midfielder #24, received the ball at the top of our box and cut across Scratch (CD) to the inside of the field.
Our defenders had dropped back too far and we did not have a cover player close enough to Scratch, so #24 was able to get of a shot under relatively no pressure.
Tori made a fantastic effort to reach the ball, but it was a high, powerful shot the screamed past her outstretched fingertips.
Down 2-0 with 25 minutes to play. Crap.
This was the first goal this team has given up in the run of play (excluding the PK earlier in the game) in 5 State Cup games and 4 Region II Championship games. An impressive feat for the girls, but a tough time to have the streak broken. I heard their coach yelling "Now we put them away!". I knew if they got their third we'd be toast. But as I've told the girls on countless occasions, 2-0 is a fragile lead at best.
We changed formation at that point, pushing up our right back into midfield, our right mid up top, shifting our remaining three defenders into the middle, and asking our wide left mid to attack more. We took some risks playing numbers even in the back, forcing our defenders into a number of man-on-man situations, trusting our athleticism and tenacity to carry us through.
And we pressed on, with the added encouragement from the sidelines about believing we could do it.
Our GK Tori (I'm going to stop using Mudd as Tori deserves some name recognition) was kept busy but was up to the task. She forced another tough shot into the crossbar, a save that I heard some of the International parents verbally applauding. She kept us in the game.
In the 27th minute we finally broke through the Internationals' defense.
Ripper (CM) won the ball in midfield and found Maddie (LM) in space.
Maddie took a touch, surveyed the field, and sent a fantastic diagonal ball to Jilly (RF) from about midfield.
Jilly ran the ball down, out pacing Internationals speedy sweeper #40, settled it with a touch,
and fired a low, hard shot into the far side of the goal from about 16 yards out.
Finally!
I looked down at my watch... 27:36. Man, nail biter.
We pressed on and could feel the momentum shift clearly back in our favor.
Two minutes later, Sophie (LD) went up to try and head the ball out of danger and the ball stuck to her headgear! Sophie, along with most of the other players on the field, stopped for a second in disbelief, then she started running toward the Internationals' goal. International players recovered from their astonishment and tried in vain to football tackle Sophie as she weaved closer and closer to their goal. She was too fast. I couldn't believe that the ball stayed on her head, but 50 yards later she dove over the goal line to give us the tie! I knew this head gear would come in handy!
Just kidding.
Five minutes later, we were awarded a throw in deep in Internationals' half. The ball was somehow sent into the danger area and half cleared on the volley, thanks to a good challenge on the clearing defender by Millie in the box.
We have talked a lot in the last few weeks about no free clearances for opposing defenders. Even slight pressure is enough to cause inaccurate clearance attempts.
The ball was cleared to the other side of the goal and dropped to Blondie. Surrounded by two defenders, she faked a volley with her right foot
that made the closing Internationals defender jump and turn her back
then used an inside of the foot sweep trap to bring the ball down to her left (weak) foot.
Shoot. That was all I remember thinking.
She fired the ball at goal with a decent low shot and all I remember seeing was a wall of white shirts in front of her,
then the bulge in the back of the net.
Goose bumps.
Unbelievable.
I still can't grasp it. The sheer determination and fight on the part of the Bangu girls was astonishing. And to have two girls not known for the goal scoring ability step up and see us to the tie... amazing.
Looking back at it now, I wonder if I should have used the momentum to continue to press the attack. We had it, that was clear, and I could have easily not yelled out any changes and kept going for the final 4 minutes (we had 2 minutes of additional stoppage time added). However, the girls were tiring, having given everything in the struggle to claw back into the game. To have Internationals score now would have been absolute heartbreak.
So, I yelled out instructions for the girls to return to their 4-4-2 formation and we closed out the half.
I was so stunned at the break before overtime that I didn't really have much to say to the girls. I just praised their effort and resolve, their fighting spirit. I couldn't say much more... they just amaze me. I did manage to get out that we wanted to continue to play our game in the 2 x 10 minute overtime periods. Defend well all over the field, stay behind your teammates, believe that you can do it. Off you go. Have fun, enjoy the moment.
I'd like to think that the overtime period was all us. I think I remember having that sense, but to be honest, it's all a blur. Tori continued her solid play in net, confident and sure handed.
What I do remember is thinking about possible PKs and who I wanted to keep on the field. I know all the girls can strike PKs, but there are some who are better at this than others. This is by no means a cut on any of the girls on this team, but some are faster runners, some are better headers, some can dribble better, some can shoot PKs better. My no-brainers were Millie, Lily, Jilly, and Maddie. All had demonstrated the ability to put PKs away consistently in training, and Millie, Lily, and Maddie had all made PKs in the NSC Cup Championship game against Wayzata in late May.
As I was thinking about this, I looked down at my watch towards the end of the second overtime period and saw 9:20. I looked at the bench and saw Jilly drinking water. Crap!!! I called for Jilly to hustle to midfield, not yet knowing who I would have her pull out. The ball went out of play (we could sub on any stoppage) and I yelled for a sub, instructing Jilly to take out Nash and go play right back. I began to turn away and then realized that the ref didn't hear me even through both AR's flags were raised. "SSSuuuuubbbbb!!!!!" I yelled. No response. Who was this guy that wouldn't listen to me? A U13 girl?
Just as the International player was about to throw the ball in, I whistled... loudly. I have a fairly piercing whistle, honed to perfection through many years of soccer camp experience. The ref obviously heard it, stopped the play, and waved Jilly on.
So, at the final whistle, the 11 players left on the field were Millie, Maddie, Lily, Bidi, Macky, Scratch, Hannah, Sophie, Tori, Jilly, and Ripper. I had to choose 5 for the PKs, and went with the following players in this order: Millie, Lily, Jilly, Maddie, and Bidi.
My instructions to them were simple. Take a deep breath, visualize the shot (see it, do it), believe in yourself, and smile. This is not life or death. Regardless of the PK outcome, these girls needed to realize that I was extremely proud of their accomplishments and that they were champions no matter what the end result would be.
To Tori, my words to her were that I was looking for one big save. That's it. Do your best, smile, try and get us one big save.
I had seriously contemplated putting Ripper in net for the shootout. She was a larger presence in the goal that Tori was, and this was an important psychological factor in these situations. I have put Ripper in net in two other big tournament events, the 2006 USA Cup semifinals last year, and twice in the 2006 West Des Moines Premier Games to give us PK wins versus CSA Fusion (NE State Cup Champs) in the semis and BVS Ratpack (KS) in the finals. She is athletic, has strong hands, and quick reflexes. However, Tori had played a major part in getting us to this point and I didn't want to change the mojo now.
The girls were obviously nervous, Maddie was nearly green. I thought more than once during our break about changing her out of the first five shooters in our PK line up, but decided to stay the course with my initial decision.
I remember looking around the field to see it lined with people (except behind the goal where the PKs were being held). It was a beautiful morning, and I had goose bumps.
Internationals shot first, and their GK ran up to take the kick. Risky. Not only did she already shoot (Which side should I go to this time?), but also if she missed she might not be as sharp mentally to perform in between the posts.
She stepped up, shot to the same side as she did an hour ago, and...
Tori saved it.
Unbelievable.
Great start for us. Now, our girls don't have the added pressure of being down a goal and trying to tie it.
Little Millie stepped up to take our first kick.
Leading off with our U11 player in the Region Championships. Asking her to set the tone for us with a finish. Nice.
She hammered the ball against the back left stanchion, putting us up 1-0.
It was a great shot, but the Internationals GK almost got a hand to it. Wow, I remember thinking that she's going to be tough to beat.
Internationals scored their second, and Lily was up next for us.
Lily put us back ahead with a sweet inside of the right foot shot into the right side netting.
The opposing GK didn't make much of an effort to this one as Lily fooled her into thinking that Lily was going left (relative to the shooter). 2-1 Bangu. The girls sitting at midfield were all jumping around, except for Maddie who was sitting their somber and, IMO, a little out of it. "Maddie!" I shouted, are you OK? She nodded. Crap. Can I make a change to the shooting order still? I did't know.
The third shoot for Internationals scored a decent goal to Tori's right that I was a little surprised Tori didn't make a better effort for. Maybe I was expecting too much.
Maybe I should have played Ripper. Maybe I should play Ripper. Can I even play Ripper now? Is that legal?
Up stepped Jilly, one of our best PK shooters in all the training we did prior to State Cup and the girls who I was panicked to get on the field at the end of the second overtime period.
Obviously, you can guess what happened. After the struggle to get her in the game in the closing seconds of the second overtime period, she miss hit her shot and the GK saved the soft effort.
Maybe I shouldn't have whistled so loudly 10 minutes ago. 2-2 going into the 4th shooter.
Internationals converted their attempt, again on a shot that I thought Tori might get to (she was close).
So up stepped green Maddie. Greener still as for the first time in this shootout we were "behind".
As she started her walk to the ball from midfield, I had one more thought of changing the shooter. It was gone in an instant, and all I yelled out to her was "Maddie! You can do it. I believe in you!" She smiled, and
proceeded to ping the left footed shot home. 3-3.
Internationals scored their fourth (on their final shooter),
and it was up to Bidi to keep us alive.
Man, the pressure she must have felt, knowing she needed to score to continue on to extra shooters.
I remember thinking it was too soft the second it left Bidi's foot and the GK got a GREAT jump to it.
But it was almost perfectly placed and low, just past the GK's fingertips.
Not sure it had enough pace left to hit the back of the net, but they all count when they cross the line! 4-4 after 5.
Unbelievable.
Now who? I looked down at the other team's coaches to see them looking towards the huddled masses at midfield in confusion and deep thought. They had the same struggle. We've used the girls we thought were best, now what do we do.
I yelled out to ask who was confident from the remaining shooters. Scratch raised her hand and some the girls were pointing at her. Ripper wasn't making eye contact, Macky and Sophie were just sitting there pointing, Maddie's face had begun to return to a non-toxic looking shade of normal.
I had had about an hour's worth of conversation with Scratch this weekend about confidence, most of the talk coming in the parking lot of the Old Country Buffet (love that place!) after our Sunday game against Kentucky. Ripper, Lily, and Maddie were there as well and we were all trying to talk some sense into the girl. She didn't think I thought she was a good player and that is why I've thrown her back in the center of our defense. She thought she was back there because I thought she couldn't play anywhere else. I tried to tell her otherwise, reminding her that besides our other center back Hannah, Scratch hasn't stepped off the field much in the last month. Does she think I would show this confidence in a player if I thought they weren't helping the team? Hello? Though there was clear proof in pure playing time minutes, Scratch had trouble grasping the thought. This was not the girl I wanted taking a PK at this point.
I yelled out for Ripper to take the next shot. She looked at me like "What the heck?!?! I wasn't even looking at you!" Ripper has not shown well in training session PKs and says she doesn't like to shoot in games. She has the skill for it, like all the girls do, but the mental toughness isn't as strong as others in this particular arena. However, I had confidence in her as a PTP (Prime Time Player) and knew she could do it.
Internationals converted their 6th shot.
This situation sucked. No matter how I tried to downplay the PK result, no matter how much I praised the girls for even reaching this stage of the event, any one who stepped up to shoot now, with us already being behind and with the possibility of feeling like she lost the game for us with a miss, we devastating. The results could be positive for sure, especially if Internationals missed their attempt and one of our girls would then have the opportunity to win it for us, but it wasn't setting up like that.
With words of belief and encouragement again from the coaching staff, knowing she had to score to keep us in it, Ripper took a LONG time walking up to the ball for her shot.
She backed up, set herself, took a deep breath, and...
found the back of the net, again, just out of reach of the GK's fingertips.
Again, the Internationals GK nearly got to with another valiant diving effort, again the shot was close enough to the post (though at a good height to block) to sneak past the outstretched GK's finger tips. Guess she's not adversely affected by her missed shot. However, now I'm getting worried. Their GK had come very close to our last two attempts. 6-6.
Again I saw the Internationals' coaches pow-wowing about who to choose next. They asked the girls and all the girls yelled out Megan and pointed to her. They actually pushed her out of the group towards the coaches and all I saw was this rail thin girl who looked like she was pushed out on stage in a school play and didn't want to be there. Megan tried to return to the circle of obscurity within the tangle of other Internationals players, but the wall of white jerseys refused her passage into their harbor.
So, Megan trudged up the field towards the PK spot. Now, I thought. Come on Tori, this is it.
Must have been the nerves because Megan hit the ball about as hard as I could have with a Full90 head gear... I think I could read the Adidas wording on it, even from my distance. Could you blame her? I'd likely feel the same if I was on the field at that moment. Tori moved towards the ball, likely thought it was rolling wide as she didn't seem to pounce to it, and watched it hit the inside of the post and roll across the goal line behind her.
Crap. Did we miss our chance to win it?
All of a sudden, I saw a commotion on the field. What's going on?!?! Apparently, the Internationals were making a GK change. What? After SuperWoman almost saved the last two shots with terrific efforts. Holy crap, who are they going to put in now, someone with go-go-gadget arms?
After a brief delay allowing the International players to swap the GK jersey, Sophie stepped up to take our seventh shot.
I can't imagine what the lat few girls were feeling as they walked the 40 yards to the waiting referee.
Oh man, go-go-gadet arms might get to that.
Yes!!!! Past the GK's robotic extension arms, inches past the extended fingertips, and into the net! 7-7.
I looked back up to midfield and everyone was pointing to Scratch. And she was raising her hand. She wanted to take the next kick. Half the battle in situations like this is the confidence to hit the shot, so I nodded my head and she sprang up to the center of the field to await her turn.
An instant later, a little voice in my head screamed that this was an ideal moment to make a GK change of our own, if for nothing else but to freeze the next Internationals shooter - like a time out by the defending team when an opposing field goal kickers about to hit a 15 yard chip shot in sudden death overtime to win the Superbowl. I yelled back out to midfield and told Ripper to go to goal. "What the...!?!?!" her look said, then comprehension dawned and her confused look turned to the dreaded I hate you! look. "Come on girl, you can do it. We need you!"
Tori was looking at me with the "What the...?!?!" expression as well, but she gave up her gloves without comment.
Apparently, the GK needed to have a different jersey on than a normal field player, and Tori was wearing a t-shirt and couldn't give it up.
She yelled over to the sidelines for one of the players to find her bag and get Ripper her long sleeved green GK jersey.
This took a minute, but the jersey was found and Tori helped Ripper ready herself.
All in all, it probably took a full 3 minutes for us to proceed with the shootout. I felt a little bad for the young Internationals player waiting at the PK spot for all this to transpire. Did I really just try and freeze the nerves of a 13 year old kid? That didn't feel right for some reason, but to be honest, at that point I was looking out for my own.
The 8th Internationals PK shooter stepped up, struck a hard ball to Ripper's left, and
Ripper made the save.
Unbelievable.
I looked back to midfield, searching for our potential hero, the girl who could win the game for us, forgotten in the GK excitement of the previous 3 minutes. And my eyes settled on a tall, lanky girl, surrounded by her excited teammates, all patting her on the back and pushing her towards the penalty area. Dear Lord, it's up to Scratch.
At least she has a chance to win it for us. If the 8th Internationals shooter scored, Scratch would be going up to try and keep the game going. If she would turn out to miss the potential tying kick, pure disaster to an already self-questioning mind. But that's not how it happened. She now had a chance to give us the Regional Championship.
I would find out later that as she was walking up the field to the penalty spot (scratching her head constantly - so she is named), she was looking over at our sidelines and calling for her mom in a panic.
It took her a few seconds to set the ball in place as she kept putting the ball down, lifting her hands away from the ball and shaking them nervously before trying to once again reposition the ball.
I saw her finally set the ball in place then ask the ref a question. Apparently (again I would find this out later) she was asking the ref if she had time to visualize the shot. He shook his head and she backed up to strike the ball.
Silence...
then pure joy as her shot found the back of the net past a diving Internationals GK.
I was already on the field before the ball left Scratches foot. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the girls on the field race towards Scratch to celebrate. The girls on the sidelines were not far behind.
I started walking, then found myself running. All I remember was a group of girls in front of me in a huge group,
then I jumped on the group as I would have when with the Thunder and we were hog-piling a goal scorer after a huge goal. For some reason, the 12 and 13 year old girls couldn't support my weight very well, and the pile crashed to the ground.
Man, I hope I didn't just hurt someone, but no one seemed to care. Though we only have 17 players on our roster, there were 18 people screaming like little girls in that Des Moines penalty box that morning.
I remember looking up from the pile of Bangu players to see many of the moms also running onto the field in utter disbelief and sheer happiness.
It was amazing. In all my nearly 30 years of involvement in this beautiful game, this was hands down the single coolest soccer moment I have ever had. I get goose bumps just typing it.
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