Men's Soccer Costa Rica Trip Blog: Day 2

Emory University junior goalkeeper Caleb Grisell will be blogging throughout the men’s soccer team’s preseason trip to Costa Rica.

Click here to view pictures from the trip (updated 08/09)

We arose today to another tremendous meal before we set off for our tour of downtown San Jose. Our bus took us through downtown as Gabby, our tour guide, pointed out and described the different sites, icons and attractions of San Jose. We stopped at the National Museum where we all got out and proceeded to walk around.

The first thing we ran into was a square covered in pigeons. Upon entering, we were bombarded by street vendors selling corn seeds to feed the birds with. While many of us hesitated at the fear of possibly contracting Avian flu, several brave souls, including Andrew Natalino and our team athletic trainer Melissa, courageously stepped out into the square to feed the birds.  Within seconds, they were literally covered with pigeons.

We then made our way to a local market. While it may have looked rough from the outside, we were all amazed with the incredible products and merchandise it contained once we entered.  Authentic soccer jerseys, hand-made masks and jewelry, and awesome t-shirts were just some of the purchases made, but the most popular purchases were the hand-made hammocks several people bought.

We returned elated from our trip downtown and our purchases to another incredible meal. Once we had finished lunch, we went to our rooms to begin to prepare for our game later in the day against Brujas FC.  When we got to the stadium, we were filled with excitement.  It wasn’t just our first game in Costa Rica, but our first game of pre-season and the 2010 season, so we wanted to set the tone for our upcoming year.

The stadium we played in was incredible.  A turf field, although it was the rainy season and rained before and during our game, the pitch remained in perfect condition, overlooking the local mountain range.  It took us about 15 minutes to settle down once the game started, as the combination of not playing together for so long, and playing against the reserve team of one of Costa Rica’s best professional sides was simply a recipe for that.  

Once we settled down and started to knock the ball around, we began to get some decent opportunities. Ross Chaffin and Michael Scannapico both created several chances up top with the best chance of the half coming from a Chris Howie free kick that was headed on goal and rebounded off the keeper’s hands into the middle of the six yard box in front of a wide open goal.  Brujas FC created several opportunities too, attacking with great pace and numbers. Their presence and comfort level on the ball was something we had rarely seen before and it helped the created multiple dangerous opportunities, of which they scored on a pair.  

Coming into half time down 2-0 we did not feel overly discouraged.  Although the score line was not in our favor, we felt we could compete with this team and were not overly outmatched. We entered the second half with a whole new sense of confidence, and began to play a much more aggressive and physical style.  While we didn’t have the majority of possession, we started going forward quicker and with more conviction, which led to better opportunities on goal. Bryan Fedner and Nick Jones (who is just coming of an ACL injury) both played very strong second halves, establishing a presence in the middle of the field and also providing our forwards and wings with service.

While our organization and overall defense improved from the first half, Brujas FC, was able to sneak one ball past the back line and finish on the break away for their third goal. After the game finished we exchanged congratulations and thanks with the other team for an excellent game. Chris Howie was given an award by Brujas FC as the player of the match while Coach Sonny Travis awarded their number 10 the player of the match.