Here I sit after day two of the tournament. We've won all games but one and we are playing for the championship round. I could not be more proud of our boys. Despite their travel and adjustment to new rules of play, they are playing better than I had ever imagined possible.
The logistics of this tournament have been difficult for an english speaking coach, but I've gotten a lot of assistance. Not only from Gudmundur in the U.S., but also from coaches here in Iceland. Kalli from the KR club and Steinar from Throttur have been quite helpful. Our friends at Grotta and Sulfoss have also pointed us in the right direction a couple of different times. Of course Google translate has been invaluable. Each time I receive a tournament update via text message I try to get to the computer so that I can figure out what we're supposed to be doing next.
The tournament involves much more than soccer. We've had boat tours, bus tours, parades, indoor celebration games, a relay race, dances, and an all star exhibition game, all packed between regular games and meals. Keeping track of when we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner has been tricky enough. Add in all the other stuff and my head has been spinning. I mentioned to one of the other coaches about the difficulty of keeping on track with schedules when I don't speak Icelandic. He replied that it's next to impossible to keep on top of everything even when you speak the native language. There are just an endless amount of activities.
Despite the non-stop activities, I've been lucky enough to travel with some wonderful parents. All of them are passionate about soccer, but also very grounded with making sure this trip has as much to do with soccer as it has to do with a fantastic life experience. I think this tournament provides a good glimpse into Icelandic culture. Football is huge here, so experiencing Iceland from this angle is particularly meaningful. There is no question that this tournament is about the kids. I admire all of our parents for their willingness to compromise and put the needs of the boys first.
Tonight after two full days of games I met with several of the club coaches at a tournament social. With 5 wins and 1 loss in the bracket of the top teams, we've gotten noticed. Several coaches remarked about our style of play being "individualistic." This description was first delivered to me as a critique at the friendly game in Reykjavik. Despite some wonderful play, we lost both scrimmages because we had not become adjusted to the tactics of the 7v7 game played in Iceland. The no offside rule is a huge change for our boys, who are accustomed to stepping up to trap strikers offside. When they stepped up in the scrimmages they were punished by easy through balls to strikers that would have normally been 10 yards offside. Based upon a couple of comments from the Icelandic coaches and one of the tournament directors, I sensed that they felt our "individualistic" play was our downfall. As we played more games in the tournament, however, the "individualistic" nature of our play received more and more accolades. Coaches admired the skill at which many of our players could attack 1v1 and I discussed with several of the coaches the differences in training philosophy that Rush takes to create confident 1v1 players.
One of the most interesting questions I received from an Icelandic coach was how much time we spent working on running in our trainings. He and his coaching staff had assumed that we spent a lot of time teaching our players to run fast, and that it was also clear we had conditioned them. I confessed to him that we rarely run in training without the ball and that living a mile above sea level might have something to do with our endurance.
At the same time some coaches admired our creative attacking and 1v1 skills, I took notice, and I think some of our players and parents also took notice, of the simplicity with which the Iceland boys approach the game. We were beaten by a team today - Bradeblik, that moved the ball incredibly well with one, two and three touch soccer. Most of their goals were simple tap-ins after beating our defense with quick, intelligent passes. 1v1 soccer is not absent from the Icelandic game. It's just not quite as noticeable because they only dribble when it makes sense to dribble, where our team finds itself dribbling sometimes when a quick pass would be much more effective.
Another difference with the Icelandic players was their ability to finish goals. My observation was that it took our team twice the opportunities in and around the box to yield a goal versus the opportunities from some of the higher level Icelanders. Their ability to finish one time balls from the outside was impressive.
At the 7v7 level in Iceland the rules allow for pass backs to the goalie and the goalie can pick it up with his hands. On goal kicks, the goalie also has ball in hand rather than kicking the ball from the goal kick. My personal view, and the view shared by every Iceland coach I spoke with, was that the pass back rule actually hurts development. They complained that the goalies do not learn enough about how to handle the ball with their feet because they never have to. I observed that every team we played had a dedicated goalkeeper that played both halves. Perhaps these players are unable to play any other position because they lack the foot skills. I prefer the no pass back rule in the U.S.
Tomorrow when they play for the championship they will be playing before many curious Icelandic coaches, spectators and players. I confess that winning is nearly the last thing on my mind. I so desperately want them to play confident creative soccer -- because that is why they are getting noticed. As the games have gotten more and more difficult, the soccer has gotten more and more stiff. The boys are playing less creatively and more fear is creeping in. Of course this is natural, but I'm hoping that the play in the championship round is full of confident attacking soccer.
Greg P. June 24th
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