Day 2 in Denmark:

Our first full day. We woke up for an 8:30am breakfast, and then we walked through the streets to a field that was outside of a school, where we had a short practice , consisting of a small sided scrimmage. After walking back to the hotel, we went to the cafeteria where all the teams eat. We were served hamburgers with real Heinz ketchup which we were excited by because it was the first American
Food we’ve had.

In the middle of the day sometime before our game, we all took a walk to a local grocery store. It felt like we had been walking for days but we were all being a little dramatic cause it probably only took 20 minutes one way. At the grocery store it was kind of overwhelming at first because we couldn’t really understand much. But we figured it out and they even had American food like Oreos, and Nutella which was very exciting.

Following that we had a 3:45 game against Bondby. At the field we got to meet some of Phil’s family, which we were all excited about. All of the younger kids from his family were wearing Team Chicago gear, even though they couldn’t really speak English we still had our own little fan club. Although we lost the game 2-1 to the Danish girls that stayed with us, it was a fairly even match , and hopefully we’ll get a chance to replay them in the finals.

After the game we went to get dinner in the cafeteria again, the dinner consisted of Danish meatballs and potatoes with gravy. Then some of the team went to go watch the Brondby professional reserve team, while the rest of us went up to our rooms.

After that we were all in the same hotel room talking to the Danes after the game, having a good time. It was 3 of the girls who had stayed with us and one of the girls’ brother and his 2 friends. Although they were standing on the opposite side of the room and not even speaking English , we got in trouble for having boys in the room. We’ll never make that mistake again. They all got kicked out, and we were hungry so Phil walked us to a restaurant Klubhouse to get some food and ice cream. That pretty much concluded our night because after that we went back to our rooms and went to bed.

Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo are currently in Denmark playing in the prestigious Brondby Cup. During their visit, the players will write a daily blog, which will be shared here on TeamPages.

We started out with a five hour wait in O’Hare, which as you know is filled with things to do (sarcasm), but it was fun because we all knew that when we boarded the plane we were on our way to Denmark.

Once we boarded the plane we pretty much all passed out within the first 20 minutes, until awoken for our 5 star meal. The meatloaf surprise and potatoes wasn’t that bad, plus we were all starving. After forcing it down, we all got settled in and found our way back to sleep. Well, most of us.

We awoke to the airplane lights shining on us and to our surprise it was daytime out. We got off the plane excited to see Denmark, only to wait in the airport for a couple more hours. But we got our bags, exchanged our money, and got on the bus.

We drove past some beautiful Danish countryside, and then through a tiny little village. We pulled up to our hotel which happened to be right next to the professional soccer stadium. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time for a nap, but probably wouldn’t have taken them anyway because we were all so intrigued by the hotel. Our rooms are the cutest little European style with a wrap-around balcony connecting all of our rooms. Plus a view of the stadium and the beautiful practice fields.

We got dressed in some warmer clothes and headed to the stadium to watch the professional Brondby team play Silkeborg in the Danish league. Luckily we got to sit in the VIP section so we were very close to all the players. The Danish U18 team that visited us 2 weeks ago were there as well, so it was fun to see them all again.

After Brondby won 2-1, some of us were able to go on the field and take pictures with a few of the players. It was similar to being at a Chicago Fire game, just better soccer. Overall the game was our first really great experience in Denmark with many more to come. We came home exhausted and went to bed ready to rise for our next day in Denmark.

Hope D’Addario & Dana Miller

Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo fell agonizingly short of the USYS National Championship game, but won the bronze medals as the 3rd best U17 girls team in the U.S.

In the final group game against the top-ranked Legends Breakaway from Southern California, Botafogo needed a win to secure a spot in the final. Playing in searing heat and humidity, the two teams put on a show worthy of a national championship game. Both teams were intent on keeping possession and playing out of the back, and for 90 minutes it was an intriguing chess-match between two fantastic teams.

After a scoreless first half, Breakaway scored first early in the 2nd half immediately after Botafogo missed a great chance. But it didn’t take long for Botafogo to answer back when Zoey Goralski picked up the ball off a throw-in at the halfway line and drove at goal. Sensing that the GK was off her line, Zoey unleashed a bomb from 25 yards out over the hapless keeper to level the score.

The last 25 minutes was a fantastic contest between two teams that were going all-out for the win. Zoey Goralski came closest to notching the all-important goal for Botafogo, but the Breakaway GK made a great save at the foot of the post. As Botafogo threw all caution to the win to get the game-winner, Breakaway managed to notch the winner in the dying minutes of the game.

While the result meant that Botafogo came up short in its quest for a National Championship, it was an incredibly proud team and coaching staff that emerged for the trophy ceremony shortly after the game. Finishing 3rd in the Nation after an incredible season, and with the knowledge that they had played an amazing game against a fantastic opponent, the players were determined to enjoy their accomplishments over the past year, and to start focusing on climbing the final two steps on the podium at next year’s National Championships.

Team Chicago Academy-Botafogo tied CESA from South Carolina 2-2 on the second day of the USYS National Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was a totally dominating performance by Botafogo in the first half as they took a 1-0 lead into the break off tri-captain Hope D’Addario’s beautiful strike from 25 yards out.

In the 2nd half CESA started playing very direct, and was able to knock Botafogo off its game plan. The score was tied after a corner-kick about 20 minutes in, but Meegan Johnston restored the lead for Botafogo with perfectly taken PK with 20 minutes left. Unfortunately, CESA was able to find a late equalizer in the 89th minute, so Botafago now needs a win against the top-ranked team in the country Legends Breakaway tomorrow morning, and some help in one of the other two games, to advance to Sunday’s final

Team Chicago Academy-Santos midfielder Katie Ciesiulka has accepted a generous scholarship offer to continue her career at Marquette University.

Katie, who plays her prep soccer for Joe Moreau at Neuqua Valley, will be part of Head Coach Markus Roeders’ incoming 2014 class. Katie will join fellow Team Chicago Academy standout Ashley Handwork, who is part of the 2013 class, and follow her older brother, Bryan, to Marquette. Bryan Ciesiulka is a Junior standout for the Marquette men’s team.

Marquette is a perennial national top-25 program, and one of the top Big East teams.