U-20 Women's World Cup 2008

WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!

2008-12-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

Sunday December 7th, 2008:

After a hard fought 1-0 victory against Germany, we made it to the finals. North Korea beat France in the final, so it was USA vs North Korea in the final. We played in the La Florida Stadium in Santiago, Chile. It was a sold out crowd with about 13,000 people in attendance.

We all were more than ready to play in our final game together. Although it was sad, we knew we had to play our best to achieve our goal. We started off very nervous, but ready. The entire team and staff believed that we were going to win. It was awesome to have full belief in one another that we could achieve one of our life time goals in the next 90 minutes.

When the final whistle blew, everyone went crazy. It was amazing to have that gold medal placed around our necks and kissing the trophy. Some of the girls become emotional after we received our individual and team awards. To look around and see 19 of my best friends celebrating, was unbelieveable. As the red, white and blue confetti was shot into the air, our trophy was raised above our heads. Although it was tough being away from our familes and homes, we all had the times of our lives. We all will never forget what we did in the 2008 U-20 Women's World Cup. It is a moment in my life I will never ever forget.

--Christine Nairn

USA vs. England

2008-12-02T14:53:00.000-08:00

Tuesday December 2nd, 2008:

We beat England! The score was 3-0, and it was a great team effort. All three goals were scored in the second half. Over 11,000 people came to watch our game. It was so loud that you could barely hear anyone on the field talking to eachother. It was so awesome to see how the crowd was so involved with the game. It was fun to see the crowd start the wave and go crazy!

We are on the semi finals against Germany. Our game is at 7 pm, Chilean time. We are just getting our last couple of training sessions in before our game. The team is very excited to play, and do our best. We all believe we can win, so wish us luck!

--Christine Nairn

Advancing On The Next Round!

2008-11-27T17:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday November 27th, 2008:

Sorry I have not been able to get on the Internet much at this hotel. The Internet has been up and down, and today was the first day where I could actually get online. We have still been very busy with practicing and getting ready for games. Before I forget, Happy Thanksgiving!

We ended up beating Argentina 3-0. It was a hard fought game, but we got the result. We played well as a team and got the three points. We now have six points and are at the top of our bracket.

Yesterday, we played China. It was not our best game we have played here in Chile. We lost 2-0, but we fought hard and almost scored multiple times in the second half. Fortunately, we will still advance from our bracket. We received first place and France in second place. Now we are on to the Quarterfinals! We all are very excited to play our next game, which will be against England. We know that they will be a tough opponent, but we are up for the challenge. Tomorrow is a travel day, back up to Chillan. Well that is all for now, I hope everyone had a nice holiday!

--Christine Nairn

The Next Step

2008-11-21T19:04:00.000-08:00

Friday November 21st, 2008:

Tomorrow we will have our second group round game against Argentina. Our game is at Noon Chile time, so it would be on at 10 am ET. Our scouting report tells us that Argentina will be a tough opponent, especially when we are playing in South America. Argentina tied their first game against China, 0-0. We need to get a result tomorrow in order for us to definitely make it out of our bracket. We are very excited for our second game, and have confidence in ourselves to play well.

Since today was a light training day, most of the girls caught up on some homework. There are four girls, including me, who did not enroll in the fall semester so we decided to watch movies all day. We watched Ice Age: The Meltdown, The Bourne Identity, Remember the Titans, and Finding Nemo. It was fun to be able to relax and not have to worry about homework or tests. Well, I will keep you all updated on how we do against Argentina. Wish us luck!!

-Christine Nairn

USA vs. France

2008-11-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

Thursday November 19th, 2008:

Today in our game against France, we won 3-0! It awesome to start the tournament off with both a win and shutout! We are all very excited to get this win under our belt and move on to our next opponent. The goals were scored by Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux (2). It was a total team efffort!

The stadium was packed with fans. We even had our own little cheering section behind us! It was really cool to hear the fans yell and scream when a goal was nearly scored, or put into the back of the net. It was very hot out in the sun, so everyone was packed in the shade. The weather did not seem to effect the fans, because they were their from before warmups to the time we left the field. I can't even stress how amazing the fans are here, they are so involved with every shot, pass, or foul of the game. After halftime, it felt as if we had won over the crowd. They started USA chants, songs, anything you could imagine. It has been great to be a part of this tournament.

We are all very excited for our next game, but tomorrow will be a very relaxing day. With a light training session in the morning followed by some shopping around town, it looks like it should be a fun day. Thank you for everyone who watched our game on ESPN2, we are so greatful for all of your support! We will continue to work hard and make the United States proud!

-Christine Nairn

2008 U-20 World Cup Starts Tomorrow!

2008-11-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Tuesday November 18, 2008:

Over the past couple of days, our team has been very busy with getting everything ready for the World Cup to start. We are currently in Chillan, Chile (5 hours South of Santiago) for our first two group matches. Our hotel is much better than the one in Santiago, besides the Internet. Since we are not in a major city, our Internet access is very limited. On the bright side, the food is deliscious! They are serving us all different types of food, so we have a variety of choices.

Tomorrow is opening day of the 2008 U-20 Women's World Cup. This afternoon, we travelled to the stadium in which we will be playing. It was renovated earlier this year, and we will be the first game ever to be played on that field. We all are very excited to start group play against France. We feel that we are physically and mentally ready to play our best. Our game will be televised on ESPN2 at 1pm. I hope you all will join in and help support our team!

-Christine Nairn

Landing In Chile

2008-11-14T15:26:00.000-08:00

Friday November 14th, 2008:

After a 13 hour flight and a 2 hour charter to our hotel, we are officially in our second day Santiago, Chile. It has been hard getting adjusted to the time, but it's great to finally be here. Due to flight arrangements, we weren't able to play against South Korea. Our flight was very early, so Tony thought it was better that we not play. Although we missed our last scrimmage, we are all very excited to start the tournament. Tomorrow we are packing up our bags and driving 5 hours to Chillan to open up group play with France.

We have only been here for two days and we already miss American food. The hotel is considered to be one of the best in Chile, but their food is not the greatest. We are all trying our best to branch out and try the food. Unfortunately we are moving to a smaller hotel, so we are hoping for the best with both food and internet access. Well I will keep you all updated over the next couple of days....

-Christine Nairn

Only A Few Days Left

2008-11-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, this is my first time blogging so bare with me...Freestate has asked me to keep a blog during my upcoming month long trip to the World Cup. I'll try to keep you updated as much as I can with what's happening with the team.

Friday November 6th, 2008:

It's down to the last few days before I leave for the U-2o Women's World Cup. It is crunch time when it comes to training and work out sessions. Everything is getting really exciting because we finally got all of our Nike gear for our trip. As a team, Nike gave us new shoes, cleats, warm-ups, casual clothes, back packs, and luggage to travel. Our coaches wanted us to look professional, so Nike gave us everything we could have wanted!

This year the World Cup is located in Chile. On Tuesday November 11th, the team is flying into Los Angeles for our last friendly before we head down to Chile. We will play against South Korea's National Team. Our previous camp, in Los Angeles, we played at the Home Depot Center. It was during that camp that we finally started playing as a team. I am very excited for what lies ahead for this team as we go on our month long trip to the 2008 U-20 Women's World Cup!

I will be updating this blog as much as I can during my stay in both Los Angeles and Chile. Wish us luck!

-Christine Nairn