Day 7: Dublin Cup + International Champions Cup (7/30/2016)

July 30th was all about soccer/football. The morning and afternoon was filled with two games the boys played in The Dublin Cup and then the kids and parents attended a match for the International Champions Cup (Celtic vs. Barcelona).

DUBLIN CUP, DAY 2

The first game of Day 2 in the Dublin Cup was against a Scottish team named Iverness Caledonian. It was an exciting game - but unfortunately we lost with a final score of 4-2. We found out, after the game, that the opposing team's top scorer was actually from their older team that was playing in a different bracket and that type of activity is common in this tournament. It would have been great to see what our team could have done without the other team playing with the older player. Brad played in the first half and had a good game.

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

Game vs. Iverness Caledonian

US Revolution (USA) & Iverness Caledonian (Scotland)

In between games we relaxed a bit and had some lunch. On our way out to the second game of the day, Brad got to chatting with some players from an Irish team named Wexford Schoolboys. They were hilarious. They quizzed Brad on everything from if he would vote for Donald Trump to what state he lives in, to who is favorite team is.

Brad and some players from the Wexford Schoolboys

The boys relaxing at lunch.

The second game of Day 2 was against an Irish team named Douglass Hall. Unfortunately, this game resulted in a 5-0 loss. Brad played in the first half and had a pretty good game. Both games on 7/30 were a bit challenging from a parenting perspective and from Brad's perspective as well. Some decisions were made by the head coach that neither Rob or I felt comfortable with. Brad also felt some discomfort since the coaching decisions impacted the relationship he had with one of his teammates. It was very difficult to watch as a parent. We're chalking it up as a learning experience. We as parents (and B as a player) won't always agree with the decisions coaches make. We can only control how we react in those situations and do our best to act with integrity.

Game vs. Douglass Hall

Game vs. Douglass Hall

Game vs. Douglass Hall

US Revolution (USA) and Douglass Hall (Ireland)

Brad & Mario (US Revolution GKs) and the Douglass Hall GK

INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUP - Celtic vs. Barcelona

After the two Dublin Cup games, we headed to the BIG game of the day - - Celtic vs. Barcelona. The boys were excited to see a professional match and some big name players like Messi and Suarez. The coach dropped us off several blocks from the Aviva stadium and we got to walk with some of the passionate Celtic fans while they sang their songs and chants. The atmosphere was incredible!

The team in front of Aviva Stadium

Some of the boys at Aviva Stadium

The team (and parents) watching the match.

Celtic vs. Barcelona

Team Wadas at Aviva Stadium

After the match, we walked back to the coach. On our walk we had an incident that was quite terrifying. Some of the parents and the coach were in front of our group and some of the parents were towards the back to ensure that we didn't have any straggler boys. We were walking on the left side of a closed down street. The boys were on the sidewalk. I was walking just off the sidewalk in the street with another parent while Rob was walking just in back of me. In front of us we had two boys and Bradley. I was looking to my right when we heard a very loud BANG. I turn to my left and see the closest boy to me on the ground with another parent rushing over to him. The boy that was between the one on the ground and Brad had run away from the smoke that was now filling up the side walk and Brad was in shock standing still. Rob runs in to the smoke and grabs Brad while the rest of us try to get the kids away from the sidewalk. It sounded like a gun shot but with the smoke we weren't sure what was happening. The first thought in many of our heads (that were close to this explosion) were "it's a bomb" - so we were thinking "get as far away from it as possible in case something else happens. The boy who fell to the ground turned out to be fine. He regained his hearing after a while. We found out that a fan had thrown a firework/smoke bomb in to our group of children. That first minute after the bang was the most terrifying in my life. It turns out that if you were further away and watching this from a distance, you could tell what it was. But for those of us who were close, it didn't seem like a smoke bomb or firework. We got the boys back to the coach and got back to the hotel for some dinner and rest.

For more photos of our activities on July 30th, check out the photo album HERE.