Man, I just love Gillette Stadium.
Today I had the pleasure of attending MLS' Futbolito, a 4 on 4 soccer tournament that involved 4' by 6' nets and a 20' by 30' field, as well as no goalies and a weird box in front of the goal that you couldn't touch the ball in (to reduce "camping"). There were tons of people there, with 24 fields per practice field (48 total) and another 12 or so inside Gillette Stadium itself (where the above picture is from). And even though it began to rain early on (and just got worse, as my shirt and pants were stuck to my body as I left), some great soccer was played and a lot of awesome times were had.
I personally had the pleasure of following around my brother's under 16 team, FCLC, as they played throughout the day. Two wins (7-1 and 5-2) were followed by a disputed tie (I say it was 8-7 us, the ref claims 7 all), and that was good enough to win the group. What followed (post Qdoba stop) was an intense matchup against the always pretty good but also always a little chippy FC Puma entry. FCLC went up early but Puma came back, and FC was down 6-5 as the game neared the end of the second half. Both teams started to push and shove a lot and get a little frustrated in the slop, but somehow FCLC's Johnny McBride caught hold of one and put it in the net to tie the game up at 6 a piece just before the second half ended. Truly the stuff of champions.
OT One was Sudden Death, but no one managed to put a shot in. There were several good chances from both teams, but a lot of the period was filled with pushes and complaints about no calls, mostly from one Puma player who scored a lot of goals but also apparently thought he was a ref.
OT Two was short and bittersweet, as one Puma player took the ball about two minutes in and put in the game winner from close by. He followed this up with one of the least classy displays of sportsmanship I have ever seen, as he extended both arms, middle fingers raised, towards the entire FCLC team. A hard fought game by both teams, and I'm impressed by Puma's resolve to come through in a double OT game after losing the lead late in regulation, but I can't get behind a team that pulls crap like that. So kind of a shitty ending, but I guess it is what it is (although, to be fair, this was the semifinal - Puma was killed by FC United in the actual final, so karma is a BITCH!).
Some other notables of the day:
(Almost) Goal of the Day - At one point in the tie game, FCLC's Uday Agrawal had a great chance all alone right in front of the net with a 3-1 lead. Instead of putting in the easy goal, he fell to the ground and attempted to head the ball through the "no touch" box and into the net. The ball stopped just short of the goal line and no goal was scored, but it was easily one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen on a soccer field.
Store of the Day - Bass Pro Shops. The one in Patriot Place not only has archery and fishing lessons available, but it also had a giant ship AND giant whale. It's pretty ridiculous, but also kind of awesome, and there must've been 400 people in the store today during a break from gameplay. I was impressed.
Last but not Least, Team Name of the Day - The very first team FCLC faced called themselves the "Scrappy Sausages," which was pretty funny. I guess they were actually Canton High School's JV team. For the record, Canton has been home to Mo Vaughn, Dana Barros, Randy Moss and Jonathan Papelbon, among others. So that's pretty sweet.
Futbolito!
