OPENING CEREMONY and soccer updates

I apologized for the delayed post. I have had three hectic emotional days with the men's soccer team and they do wear me out! I really needed a break and not sure when I will ever get one but am enjoying it so far. Here is the new post as I promised on Opening ceremony and soccer team updates.

Opening ceremony was a BLAST!! It was unbelievable. When we (USA) walked together to the arena, there were bunch of taiwanese fans cheering us on, they get excited to take pictures with us, or give them high five, or thumbs up, it is like we were celebrities. We walked into the arena right next to Track and field stadium to stay with ALL athletes, coaches, support staff from all over the world in one plnace while we wait for the parade. We watched the huge screen on whats going on with the opening ceremony at the track stadium. I learned that the city of Taipei spent 20 million american dollars putting up this awesome opening ceremony festivities. Also, the director of choreography was also the director for Beijing Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremony. Finally, we walked into the Track and field stadium and everyone was cheering, and we were very inspired. We also get to see the torch relay and how they start the fire. (it's really hard to explain), when they torched the fire to the wire and it goes directly to the fireworks on the top of the roof from that side to the other side to light up the fire pit. It was stunning! This is truly a special memory for me, and the rest of everyone that were there. I took lots of pictures so you can look at them. I am curious to see what the closing ceremony will be like.


As for the men's soccer team, it has been an overwhelming the past 3 days, this past sunday, we played a hard fought game with Japan and unfortunately, we couldnt score so it ended up tie 0-0 so each team gets one point (2 points for win, 1 point for tie, 0 points for loss), really we didnt play very well. So, we knew that we would have a long shot to make the playoffs (The top two teams in each pool advance to the playoffs, (16 teams, 8 pools overall, 4 teams in each pool) We lost to Ireland, and tied Japan. The next game would be brutal since we will play against Great Britain, the defending world championship team and number one in the world. The soccer team had little faith in themselves, and thinking that they are done for the Deaflympics. Today, we played against them (they were tall, fast and physical and one thing to add.. they love to trash talk), it is like David vs Goliath, and somehow suddenly out of the blue, the soccer team showed their TRUE HEART of this game and stunned the British team 3 to 1. In order to advance the playoffs, we have to win by two goals and WE DID IT! It was unforgettable experience and we cheered wildy and could not believe that we beat the number 1 in the world. Also, we made the top two teams in the pool and advance to the playoffs for the first time ever in the Deaflympics history for USA men's soccer team. We are fired up and looking forward to play either Russia or France on Thursday.

We are starting to believe that we can beat anybody in the world no matter what and just aim for the GOLD! The soccer guys are barely hanging in there with all the bumps, bruises, sprains, strains, and fatigue but they truly showed their heart. One of the soccer guys told me that he cannot believe with all the ups and downs til now, so I responded back to him 'thats what the olympics are all about!'