Friday has arrived, only one thing was on my mind waking up this morning. Game day v Brazil. Finally, we can get our tournament underway and put down our marker in the women's football tournament.
It felt like time stood still all morning, we had so much to pack in but it seemed weirdly spread out. I think everyone just wanted 5pm to come but took longer than anticipated. Unit meetings done, set plays done, pre match eaten... It was time to get on the bus to the Raketa stadium and play Brazil.
Stepping off the bus nerves began to set in, going through my jobs and how I wanted to make sure I didn't let anybody down. The changing room laid out with all our kit, that by the way never fails to get me pumped for a game seeing your shirt hung up on a peg. It was time to get in the zone and be ready when that whistle blew.
Warming up was a taste of what to expect for the next 90minutes of football, boy it was hot. Rumoured to be around 35 degrees this was going to have an affect, not massively, but it was important we helped ourselves as much as possible to save our energy and stay hydrated.
5pm was fast approaching, teams were in the tunnel, it's time to perform. Lining up on the pitch while the Univeristy anthem played (I think it was that) I began to get teary, it suddenly hit me what a fantastic occasion this was and wow I was actually playing v Brazil!!... As always the game is a bit of a blur but let me try and summarise it for you.
First half we started off well, created openings but didn't quite nail the final ball. Brazil showed their flair and skill in their midfield and attacking ranks. I think we got a bit too respectful of Brazil, purely for their name, and they began to grow into the game. Not really creating much but making us play sloppy passes and panic.
Halftime was good rest bite for us, it gave us time to analyse them and we said we could afford to press higher up the pitch, we felt they were poor playing out the back so we could utilise this to create more chances... Within 2minutes of the 2nd half we had our first clear cut opportunity (I'll spare Aileen the embarrassment of explaining what happened). But we felt ontop and kept going forward, and before you knew it we was 1-0 up. Dan Carter cleverly turned their centre half, skipped round the keeper which then she was fouled. No penalty, the ball rolled towards Fran Kirby who cheekily curled and chipped it towards the empty net. A despairing Brazilian tried in vein to clear it but it was already over the line and she just looped it further into the goal.
Buzzing, we had scored, it's taken a few games to get off the mark but wow was it worth the wait. We felt sky high and from then on we still continued to press and create more openings, a second goal was inevitable. Low and behold, we had a 5v2 situation, Fran again involved but this time picking out Aileen Whelan with her cross who sweetly volleyed a left foot shot into the roof of the net. 2-0, almost job done.
The game was sealed after again continued pressing and workrate ensuring they wasn't going to score and we preserved our clean sheet, final whistle. GBR 2 BRAZIL 0. Great result and the second half performance we can be proud of.
Expectation is high of ourselves now to continue this standard and we need to make sure we recover properly for our next game v Japan on Sunday. We all know we're capable of doing well in this tournament, today showed that, and you've gotta beat the best to be the best. Starting with this win is definitely a step in the right direction for our goal of being Champions.
Naomi Cole, Team GBR #3.
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