Frozen Failure!

Well there's really no better way to wake ya' up then getting your butt kicked at soccer while at it's way below freezing out!

Headed down to Apgujeong today dressed appropriately for the 20 degree weather. Kept my legs warm with a new pair of tights while my body was cozied up under a new Under Armor top that my mother gave me for Christmas. . . while it's sure to keep me warm I'm not so sure about the mock turtle neck that feels like it's trying to cut off my airflow whenever I'm running. . .anyways, at least I managed to stay warm. . .enough.

Before the match, Sun introduced us to the opposing team, AT United. Looking across the line there was no question that we were in for a match as AT looked young, strong and most of all, fast! All of these attributes proved to be true out on the turf. While we Spitfires hung in there for the first ten minutes, it didn't take long for us to realize that we were simply being outplayed. No AT player took more than two or three touches on the ball, and they didn't have to. Their game resembled a precision well oiled machine that new where it wanted to go and how to get there. By the end of the first quarter (not sure why we played four 30 min quarters. . .but we did) AT had put away at least five on us and showed no signs of slowing down.

With a better understanding of what we were up against, we took back to the field with a game plan. . .kinda. Trying to slow down the pace of the game we were able to posses the ball a bit more on offense but still were being utterly dominated in our own third of the game. As center midfield I could do little to help the defense line that continually had ball after ball driven over their heads and taken down by a skilled touch, followed by a rocket on net. Though their attacks were relentless, we managed to hold AT to only two goals in the second quarter.

Dodging Sun's substitutions I managed to stay on the field for the third quarter, fearful that if I sat on the sideline I would freeze. It wasn't so much the bitter cold that got to you as did the 30 mph gusts of wind that just stabbed like an icicle. Back on the field I was moved outside the wing and managed to pull off a number of almost-productive runs. Though we were unable to capitalize on anything I got in one of our few shots on net and still made it back to help out the left back on defense. Again, AT won the quarter by a three point margin.

Taking the field for the final time with the sun setting, I was determined to help slow AT's onslaught and volunteered for defense. Sun dropped me all the way back as the last man, sweeping behind Sae-won, an amazing older Korean on our team who I have full confidence in whenever he touches the ball. With David and James on the wings we managed to keep AT's talented offense scoreless for a full thirty minutes. On top of that, Jun-ho was able to knock in a goal off a break away, giving us a win on the quarter!

Though AT certainly won the game, their incredible level of skill really helped us in a way that playing DA-ROK cannot. By the end of the game we had started to figure out not only how to defend their quick one two passes but in turn, mix together some short quick movement on our side to capitalize. A great game that, although it didn't turn out in our favor, surely offered our Spitfire team a lesson that we can hopefully put in to use in these coming weeks.

Oh, and a small correction. . . I was informed at the game that my statement about tying Seoul United FC last week was incorrect. We did in fact put away two goals on them, that I had somehow forgotten. Though they were supposedly missing a key player or two, the victory still means that we defeated the top ranked team in Division 1. . . not a bad showing I'd say!

Hopefully it warms up a bit for next week's game. . . or at least the wind stops blowing. . . ondol (heated floors) sure is great but it takes a while to really get going!