Brazil U20

I attended the Brazil U20 exhibition last night at the Scott Gallagher complex in Creve Coeur. My God! I forgot how cold and windy it gets on the Missouri River bottom.

This was my first 'official' live soccer match. Although they we 50 minute exhibitions, I'll call them 'official' because everyone was in uniform, they played the national anthems, etc. As luck would have it, I ended up sitting next to National Soccer Hall-of-Famer Harry Keogh. This is the rough equivalent of going to your first baseball game at some AA park and finding yourself next to Kirby Puckett.

The Scott Gallagher All-Stars, all high schoolers, acquitted themselves well. On their heels most of the game (they only managed one shot on goal in 50 minutes) they only let in one goal from a very talented national squad.

Speed and conditioning were the hallmarks of the Brazilians, covering the entire field while the S-G squad were bracketed by the visiting squad. The Brazilians also possessed the ability to shift gears on dime as a unit - their bursts of speed putting the home squad in a reactionary mode. The All-Stars seem to have the edge on aggression and, surprising to me given Brazil's reputation, ball control.

Despite freezing my toes off, I had a blast.