We began our trip in London, England where we stayed for two nights. While in England, we were trained by the Tottenham Hotspur Academy coaches. The following day, building on the training that we received, we beat the U15 Girls Spurs Academy team by a score 5-1. In addition to playing soccer in England, we also had the opportunity to be personally toured around White Hart Lane, home of the Tottenham Hotspur.
Before leaving London we had the opportunity to visit some famous landmarks such as Big Ben, Buckingham Palace as well as a beautiful boat tour up and down the Thames river. The following morning we flew into Gothenburg, Sweden. We stayed on the water in Gothenburg in an amazing hotel. We met many kids in the tournament from all over the world. After games we would hang out with the kids playing Wii, Guitar hero, walking down by the water, or even taking the boat into town to shop.
It was an amazing opening ceremony that made you feel like you were at the Olympics or at World Cup!
The Opening Ceremony of The Gothia Cup was at the Ulevi Stadium with more than 50,000 people in attendance. It was an amazing opening ceremony that made you feel like you were at the Olympics or at World Cup! My team, the Hotspur, made it to the final 16 in the U16 group composed of 148 teams. The highlights of our success were that we went undefeated and un-scored upon in group play. We beat Gothenburg’s local girl’s team in penalty kicks and only lost in the quarterfinal round on penalty kicks after tying the game with less than one minute left in regulation time. I was very proud of my team’s efforts and accomplishments. Overall, words cannot describe how much fun I had on this European Tour. It was more than I ever could imagine and an experience I will always remember.
I would like to thank EPL Sports for organizing a trip of a lifetime. I would also like to thank the EPL staff for being our personal guides and accompanying us during the entire trip. Having them there all the time, as a part of the team, they became like part of our family. Every match, every dinner, ride into town they were there to lead the way. Now, even to this day, we have maintained our friendships and visit with them. I highly recommend EPL Sports to any team who is considering an European tour.