First Match July 3rd

At 9am this morning we played FC Chodov, a local team from Prague. We played on a short, but very wide, turf field located about 20mins from our hotel the TOP Hotel. When we first arrived weentered the locker room, painted neon green, and got our boots on, then went onto the field andwarmed up. All the guys were really excited to be using an actual locker room to get changed in instead of the back of the car like in the US. After we had warmed up for about 45mins we went back in the locker room for the pre match speech and line up.

We started out the match with our new 4-2-3-1 formation. We made a few thrusts forward early, but FC Chodov, in a blue and white striped kit, had the first dangerous attempt at goal, a header off of a freekick that was acrobatically turned away by goalkeeper Justin Orton. But from then on, it was all FC United. Defensive midfielders Brendon "Weinsteiger" Weinhardt and Sam Hamilton controlled the middle of the pitch and ensured that all the play was in FC United's offensive half. About 20mins in, Andrew Baggaley took advantage of lackluster passing in Chodov's backfield by stripping a defender of the ball and firing a semi-toeblow shot under the goalkeeper from about 18yards out, making the score 1-0. Just a few minutes later, Leo Volz's shot deflected off a Czech defender for a corner. Mike Schmid took the corner and picked out Steve Rizzo, who bulged the back of the ol' onion bag with a header. FC United kept up the pressure for the remainder of the half, going in 2-0 leaders at the whistle.

After an inspiring speech from Coach Blumenthal, the boys took the field for the second half. More of the same from United, and Mike Schmid weaved through three Czech defenders and slotted the ball past the keeper for 3-0. Moments later Ross Trudnak played a chip behind the defense and Schmid finished it on the half volley. At 4-0 the Predators were still prowling, with Rizzo narrowly missing on a left footed shot and Brain Hunt making a valiant foray into the opponents box, only to be foiled by a tweet of the referee's whistle. FC Chodov only succeeded in putting one more shot on goal, but Orton made another nice diving save. At the final whistle, FC United stood victorious 4-0.

Overall, the boys dominated the game and performed well in every position. Tomorrow they play FC Stresovice and ZCE Plzen, at 1:15 and 4.