The tournament had a knock-out system from the first match. The first match for the boys was relatively easy and we won 2-0. This was not the case for the girls, as they had to play penalties. It was the last penalty kick, and our team had the chance to win. Lucia (Mexican, 1st year) looked at the ball, then at the goalie’s eyes. She waited for a second and thought about the future. She kicked the ball. It went far out and hit our own keeper who was waiting on the sideline. We all began to shout and curse. However, the referee announced that she had kicked the ball too soon, and the penalty needed to be taken again. She made no mistake the second time.
For our second match we (the boys) were slightly over-confident, and, even though we were not playing so badly, the other team scored a goal. It was an intense match and we tried our best, but we could not overcome the disadvantage. In the end we lost with our face looking at the sun, like real men do. That’s life, and one has to learn from one's mistakes.
The boys were out and our only chance of spending the night in Mumbai rested with the girls. We decided to cheer them on to the end. And so we did. It was a real tough game and we could see from the start that whoever scored first would win the game. Sadly, at the end of the first half the referee decided to call a penalty for the other team, for what was apparently a handball inside the area. The referee ignored our impassioned claims and our coach had to go and talk personally with him. Nevertheless he stood his ground, arguing that he knew the FIFA rules. So, in order to stay in the tournament we had to score and quickly. We tried really hard, the girls from the pitch and the rest of us from the tribune, singing, dancing, and shouting. It was lots of fun and even though we lost, we were not sad.
Mumbai, Mumbai, Mumbai … we could not spend the night with you, but we learned our lesson: always score first.
Santiago
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