Let me explain the origin of Qianaha. For quite some time, the girls on the team have a chant for me. They yell, “Qiana-ha! Qiana-ho!” Several Brazilian players have these same endings as well Robinho, Ronaldinho, Pretinha (former Team Chicago Player now a pro player in Japan or England (I forget)). I simply take it as a compliment, chant along and laugh.
On Saturday, our team participated in the first game of the Liga Dinamite. It is a championship will take place over the course of the next two months on selected Saturdays. All of the games will be played in Pavauna. Therefore, the coach decided that everyone should meet at the Pavauna metro station. And, we should bring plenty of bug spray because Dengue (some disease that is killing people) is rampant in the area so we needed to make sure to spray.
Since I was coming from Copacabana, I had to leave from the Cantaglo station. This would be my first time riding the metro by myself so I made sure to ask one of my helpful translators, Isabella, for travel time estimates and other important details.
Our game was scheduled for 3:30 or 4:00, but we had to meet at the Pavauna station at 1:30 p.m. I have a usual pre-game schedule of things that I must do, but I also needed to incorporate a quick run-through of my trip to the metro station. Therefore, I started my morning at around 5:45 a.m. I had my water and protein shake. Read my written game visualizations. By this time, Zona Sul was open so that I could go eat my breakfast and buy my pre-game apples and water. I rounded off the remainder of my schedule with a quick birthday call to my granddaddy, some rice, beans and bread and another re-check of my equipment bag.
With my Portuguese travel book in hand, I headed quickly into the Cantaglo station. I was slightly confused because Isabella told me to look for line 2. After asking two gentleman, I realized that I would have to take the Line 1 metro for 10 stops and then switch to the Line 2 train and take it to the last stop. Fortunately, I was able to confirm that I understood everything that they instructed me to do once I saw the metro map. Plus, as an added precaution, I had my new Claro cell phone. Isabella’s number was in my address book in case I needed to make a quick call.
Everything went smoothly, and I was one of the first girls to arrive at our meeting spot. I could see a sigh of relief on some of the girls’ faces when I stepped off the train.
Once everyone was accounted for and all hugs and greetings were exchanged, we proceeded to walk to the stadium. One of our technical coaches served as our guide. Our walk took us through the middle of an open air market and a restaurant. We walked on a bridge, by a church and finally ended up at the field.
Some other teams were playing a game so I had two apples in my bag. I shared one with my teammate Maria Clara and I proceeded to eat the other while we watched the game. Some of the players did the same. There was a really fluffy cat walking around so some people found entertainment playing with it. Other people danced and sang songs from their headsets.
As the game neared, the coach called 11 of us over to his table. He showed us the formation, and so as not to be presumptuous, I checked the board to notice my name penned in the position of left zaga. Nice!
After the pre-game discussion, time went pretty quickly. All uniforms were handed out. The starting 11 went through the warm-up with Igor. All starters signed the starting card, and the game got under way.
I think for me, whether I am playing in a park, or at practice or in a game, it takes one or two plays to my side of the field to help me settle into a game. It allows me to get a read or two on some players in my area, see some possible passing options and get a touch or two on the ball.
The field was not even so there were some sketchy places. Despite the conditions, I didn’t have a problem retreating to defend runs. Actually, there was one play where a forward had passed our lateral. (I will use a runner’s term here.) I “walked” the girl down. I remember thinking in the back of my mind (Chris & John) that I can catch her if I pump my arms just a little faster. I came towards her at a slight angle and reached her quick enough that she didn’t have time to cross the ball or cross me up to go to the inside of the field. To be honest, I don’t know if she even saw me coming. Well, I was able to knock the ball out of bounds. The crowd cheered and we were able on the next play to get the ball back up the field. After the game, one of my teammates came up to me and said (in Portuguese) that I am very fast, and she wanted to know if I liked the game. I told her thank you and I did enjoy the game. At the end of every game, everyone wants to know whether or not you had a good time. This is probably one question that I am never asked in the U.S….
Other game recaps: The referees made some outrageous calls. Two of our players received yellow cards for fouls. Our coach came on the field to rightfully give the referee a piece of his mind, and he was ejected from the game. The other team received a penalty kick, which resulted in a goal. We didn’t really get any calls in our favor. The girls wouldn’t even shake our hands after the game. One girl kept saying something to me, but it didn’t matter because I couldn’t understand what she was saying anyway. Our team won 2-1. The coach said I played very good. Igor said I played well. We talked about some timing/trapping questions that I had. The crowd was overwhelmingly cheering for us, and I realized it was because some of my teammates had thrown wrapped chocolates to them before the game! The power of chocolate continues to amaze me.
On Saturday, our team participated in the first game of the Liga Dinamite. It is a championship will take place over the course of the next two months on selected Saturdays. All of the games will be played in Pavauna. Therefore, the coach decided that everyone should meet at the Pavauna metro station. And, we should bring plenty of bug spray because Dengue (some disease that is killing people) is rampant in the area so we needed to make sure to spray.
Since I was coming from Copacabana, I had to leave from the Cantaglo station. This would be my first time riding the metro by myself so I made sure to ask one of my helpful translators, Isabella, for travel time estimates and other important details.
Our game was scheduled for 3:30 or 4:00, but we had to meet at the Pavauna station at 1:30 p.m. I have a usual pre-game schedule of things that I must do, but I also needed to incorporate a quick run-through of my trip to the metro station. Therefore, I started my morning at around 5:45 a.m. I had my water and protein shake. Read my written game visualizations. By this time, Zona Sul was open so that I could go eat my breakfast and buy my pre-game apples and water. I rounded off the remainder of my schedule with a quick birthday call to my granddaddy, some rice, beans and bread and another re-check of my equipment bag.
With my Portuguese travel book in hand, I headed quickly into the Cantaglo station. I was slightly confused because Isabella told me to look for line 2. After asking two gentleman, I realized that I would have to take the Line 1 metro for 10 stops and then switch to the Line 2 train and take it to the last stop. Fortunately, I was able to confirm that I understood everything that they instructed me to do once I saw the metro map. Plus, as an added precaution, I had my new Claro cell phone. Isabella’s number was in my address book in case I needed to make a quick call.
Everything went smoothly, and I was one of the first girls to arrive at our meeting spot. I could see a sigh of relief on some of the girls’ faces when I stepped off the train.
Once everyone was accounted for and all hugs and greetings were exchanged, we proceeded to walk to the stadium. One of our technical coaches served as our guide. Our walk took us through the middle of an open air market and a restaurant. We walked on a bridge, by a church and finally ended up at the field.
Some other teams were playing a game so I had two apples in my bag. I shared one with my teammate Maria Clara and I proceeded to eat the other while we watched the game. Some of the players did the same. There was a really fluffy cat walking around so some people found entertainment playing with it. Other people danced and sang songs from their headsets.
As the game neared, the coach called 11 of us over to his table. He showed us the formation, and so as not to be presumptuous, I checked the board to notice my name penned in the position of left zaga. Nice!
After the pre-game discussion, time went pretty quickly. All uniforms were handed out. The starting 11 went through the warm-up with Igor. All starters signed the starting card, and the game got under way.
I think for me, whether I am playing in a park, or at practice or in a game, it takes one or two plays to my side of the field to help me settle into a game. It allows me to get a read or two on some players in my area, see some possible passing options and get a touch or two on the ball.
The field was not even so there were some sketchy places. Despite the conditions, I didn’t have a problem retreating to defend runs. Actually, there was one play where a forward had passed our lateral. (I will use a runner’s term here.) I “walked” the girl down. I remember thinking in the back of my mind (Chris & John) that I can catch her if I pump my arms just a little faster. I came towards her at a slight angle and reached her quick enough that she didn’t have time to cross the ball or cross me up to go to the inside of the field. To be honest, I don’t know if she even saw me coming. Well, I was able to knock the ball out of bounds. The crowd cheered and we were able on the next play to get the ball back up the field. After the game, one of my teammates came up to me and said (in Portuguese) that I am very fast, and she wanted to know if I liked the game. I told her thank you and I did enjoy the game. At the end of every game, everyone wants to know whether or not you had a good time. This is probably one question that I am never asked in the U.S….
Other game recaps: The referees made some outrageous calls. Two of our players received yellow cards for fouls. Our coach came on the field to rightfully give the referee a piece of his mind, and he was ejected from the game. The other team received a penalty kick, which resulted in a goal. We didn’t really get any calls in our favor. The girls wouldn’t even shake our hands after the game. One girl kept saying something to me, but it didn’t matter because I couldn’t understand what she was saying anyway. Our team won 2-1. The coach said I played very good. Igor said I played well. We talked about some timing/trapping questions that I had. The crowd was overwhelmingly cheering for us, and I realized it was because some of my teammates had thrown wrapped chocolates to them before the game! The power of chocolate continues to amaze me.
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