Spain trip September 2014
The exciting news came in March, that Pateadores SC were invited to the prestigious international youth tournament hosted by club De Las Rosas. This tournament is for players born in 2001 and held in Madrid, Spain. Featuring such professional clubs as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona , Athletico Madrid and Liverpool but to name a few.
The team departed from Orange County on Sunday September 14th - arriving in Madrid the following day- the team then took a light training session before an early night to rest and recoup orate . The following day the team trained in the morning and then went by bus to watch the Champions League game between Real Madrid and Basal at the Bernabeu Stadium.
The serious business started Wednesday with two friendlies - first against Jeff united (Japan) 2-2 the second against a Spanish 2nd division youth side 1-2 loss - this enabled the coaching staff which comprised of Mario Gonzalez , David Zipla , Ben Forey and Jon Szczuka to rotate the 18 player squad and work on various tactical aspects in preparation for Friday .
The team were grouped in bracket D with FC Barcelona , Canario and Getafe . Pateadores started with a tough game v Spanish La Liga side Getafe but came through with a solid 2-0 win - the second game was against Canario, a lower league Spanish side and the Pateadores were again victories this time 4-0 which guaranteed our spot in the last 8. Our final group game was against the mighty FC Barcelona - the team worked extremely hard thought out against such a quality side eventually losing 3-0.
Our quarter fixture the following day was against Spanish champions Athletico Madrid - in a tight first half with Athletico up 1-0 , Pateadores were awarded a penalty but unfortunately their goalkeeper made a great safe - The Spanish team went on to win 3-0.
Pateadores played another two games to see where they placed - a 2-1 win against Alcobendas CF and a 2-1 defeat against Real Vallecano.
Overall the Pateadores placed 6th out of 16 teams, a fantastic achievement - the trip ended with some sightseeing in the city of Madrid before the team boarded the plane back to Orange County on September 23rd
