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last night was disappointing to say the least . . . we played an amazing first half against the best team in the league and went into halftime up 3-1.  it was a great feeling knowing we held the control of the outcome . . . sadly, we ended up losing 5-3.  talk about a meltdown . . . its very difficult to describe what happened, very much at a lose for words, but malmo is one hell of a team that didn't stop until the victory was theirs and they made it pretty clear last night why they are the best team in the league. alright, i'm exhausted still from the game, going to take a nap haha then training, be writing soon!

kk

its the 1st day of september and looking back on the last month of my life sends me for a loop. its time to recap the month of august, even the not so lovely things i neglected to write about as they were happening.

i started off with an amazing trip to paris, then i was rudely awakened by reality upon coming back to k-town with our team on strike because our club was unable to pay our salaries for the month of july.  we had to go on strike because we couldn't keep training or playing because the club needed to feel some sort of consequence for what had happened . . . luckily for KDFF we have the most incredible sponsors in the world who have lifted the club out of its financial ruin and got us moving forward again. we've received our salary for the july and august since then.  however, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, the reaction to this strike was an emotional one.  this translated to the field no matter how hard we tried to separate it.  we have been unable to win a game the last 8 games.  and this emotional roller coaster off the field did nothing but distract us from our job which is to win soccer games.  there's no blame to be put anywhere or on anyone because there are so many factors and reasons for the things that happened to the club financially and to our team emotionally.  even with this bump in the road, our team has become closer than ever and we have all decided to leave our worries outside the doors of our club house and to just play.  

on the 15th of august we played against tyreso at home.  the last time we played them, we tied 1-1.  we played extremely hard that game i remember and it was also my first start at KDFF. we were very fortunate to get a point from them because they are an excellent team and we were struggling with injuries at the time.  we were looking to regain some pride as a team and our club name.  sadly, we played well, but tyreso got in behind our defense twice early in the first half and left us stunned at halftime down 2-0.  we dominated play the entire second half, but the hole of too big to get out of and we were counterattacked in the last minutes of the game and we ended with 3-0 lose at home.  i went in at the 63rd minute at left back.  i personally played well, but i always feel responsible for giving goals away when i'm in the back line.  this lose was the 8th game in a row we were unable to win.  we hadn't won a game since may . . . 

so we shifted our sites to this past weekend at Umea.  the last time we played Umea we beat them soundly 3-1 at home.  however, we were given some unsettling news that our young, gifted midfielder and my roommate Ante would be leaving the club within the week to go to Hamburg, Germany to play in the frauen bundesliga.  Of course we were shocked that a player was leaving, but even more so because we only have 14 players and 2 gifted youth players on our squad.  I was more sad that I was losing my friend and I hope she does amazing in her new team.  It's hard to this of my swedish life without her haha.  so another hurdle to jump over as a team . . . mixed emotions ran through the team, some felt hurt, sad, abandoned, and so on.  but one thing i know is that our team with never ever give up, no matter how small our roster gets, no matter how many points slip through our fingers, no matter how little other clubs think of us.  we were tested again as we played Umea this past Sunday.  we came out strong.  i was excited to start and everyone was eager to battle it out for 3 points.  we played fabulously, creating lots of scoring chances, keeping possession and shutting down most of their offensive stints.  but i've come to learn in this league the offenses of these teams are too strong to keep them at bay for 90 minutes when they still feel they can win.  we should have been up 3-0 after 30 mins, but Umea's forward got in behind our back line and made it 1-0.  at halftime we were confident in the way we were playing and thought we could turn it around. 1-0 is a dangerous lead for any team and we thought we could turn it back in our favor.  we dominated still in the 2nd half but after not even 10 mins, one of our players lost her mark in the box on a corner kick and we were down 2-0.  we were a bit dejected but we kept fighting and playing our game. hardly a minute later we were taken down in their box and awarded a PK which maggie converted beautifully.  we fought like hell but to no avail, we lost 2-1.  

of course we were disappointed with yet another lose, but we played so well and couldn't convert our opportunities.  we made the long 15 hour train trip home to k-town and got refocused for the game today against Malmo.  they are leading the league by 12 points and have the most potent front line i've ever played against.  but no team is without weakness.  we had a great training and meeting yesterday about how we will prepare our minds going into this game today.  tactically we will play what we are most comfortable with and our goal is to keep the shut out, that small detail with give us the chance to maybe be the first blemish on Malmo's record for this season.

i'm confident in myself because i'm confident in my teammates.  we are fighters, this last month could have broken us or built us.  i think we built up together as a team, a family from something no other team in this league has had to go through and so publicly.  i have no doubt we will play great soccer tonight and do so as a team.  we've got the heart to win and hopefully the soccer gods are looking kindly on us as well :) 

woah looooong post, but it was necessary considering :D i'll try to be more consistent with the posts, i'm not on break any more and hopefully no more hurdles to jump over any time soon :) love you all and be writing soon!

katie

 okay, so last night i went to a monster truck show . . . i know very hill billy of me but it was awesome, ANYWAY so to start the show they were doing tricks with regular cars, motorbikes, 4-wheelers, and fire and stuff so the guy asks for 6 female volunteers so i was there with my teammate Erla and we decided to give it a go and see what happens. the next 2 mins i did not take a breath because i was laughing so hard because i was so scared because i was riding in a BMW on 2 wheels . . . yes that's right i was CRAZY but so cool at the same time.  hahaha anyway, that's my cool thing of the day going to training soon so might take a nap be writing soon!

PTK 

alright, pinky promise totally broken, but i have a legit excuse . . . i did SO much in paris everyday that i couldn't function when i got back to the hotel haha. so enough excuses heres how everything happened:

saturday afternoon arrives in paris, checked into the hotel, had a great meal at a little cafe, every meal i had was amazing while i was there, seriously no complaints! then went to see the Arc de Triomph and the Eiffel Tower. amazing, then stopped on the way back to the hotel for dinner at a greek restaurant and had spectacular baklava

sunday slept in and got lost on a run around where our hotel is haha had the BEST breakfast ever at yet another little cafe, went up the arc de triomph then walkedthe champs elysees which by the way is freaking LONG! but it had to be done, at the end of the champs elysees is the Louvre were we stayed until closing. it was soooo huge but very cool as well.  after that we started to walk towards the eiffel tower where we stopped to have lunch/dinner, my first french crepe it was awesome :) went up the eiffel tower at sunset and was on top of the tower when it lit up for the night, very cool. i seriously think that we walked close to 8k, and that doesn't include the amount of standing in line for the louvre, or the arc, or the eiffel. 

monday slept in too late, over did it on sunday i think haha, decided to stay close to the hotel for the rest of the morning and afternoon because versailles and the musee d'orsay were closed on mondays . . . had brunch then massages, it was lovely, then went to the Notre Dame Cathedral to arrive just as then were closing the doors for a funeral . . . boo, so we went to the Pantheon and walked around the Latin Quarter where there are just so many beautiful cathedrals. we ate dinner across from the ND Cathedral had strawberry jelly crepes and watched as it lit up after dark, it was a beautiful view.  tried to do a seine boat tour but all the tours close to where we were, were done for the night.  so headed back to the hotel, def got lost on the way back, but finally made it back in one piece.

tuesday was champagne tour day! we left paris at 7.45a and drove 2 hours to Moet and Chardon where we had a cellar tour and a tasting.  This is also where Don Perignon was first made and is still produced today. such a cool place and the champagne was to die for. then we drove about 20 mins to Reims where we saw the cathedral that all except 3 french kings had their coronations in, huge gorgeous church, bigger than ND. then we ate lunch in Reims, then went to the Mumm cellar tour and tasting. finally got back to Paris around 6p went back to the hotel to shower and change, then ate dinner on the Champs Elysees where we had a hilarious waiter, our tour guide was also amazing as well, not boring at all but gave us a lot of info . . . after dinner went on a boat tour on the Seine river and saw the Eiffel go crazy with blinking lights and such at 10p and 11p. it was the best day in paris.

wednesday was a packed day, went to breakfast near the ND cathedral then went into the Saint-Chapelle where Maria Antoinette was held as prisoner, then went to ND where we waited in line forever to go up, but had hot dogs and nutella crepes while we waited :) saw an gorgeous view of paris and the towers of ND was incredibly build. after that we sprinted over to musee d'orsay which is a museum where the impressionists are housed like renoir, degas, manet, monet, and van gogh. i enjoyed thsi museum better than the louvre, it was really amazing, then we headed out to versailles, we missed getting into the actually building, but the grounds were still open and that's the most beautiful part about versailles. then we ate dinner with a view of the Eiffel, but then it started to rain so our plants to go up the eiffel were a bit ruined but still an amazing day nonetheless. 

okay so highlights of paris were:
- Eiffel Tower blinking like crazy
- Musee D'Orsay's paintings
- Crepes
- Notre Dame Cathedral
- Champagne tour in general
- French breakfasts :)

i'll try not to wait so long on updates, while i was in paris the team had to go on strike because we hadn't gotten paid for july, luckily it only lasted a week because when everyone in K-town found out we were in financial despair, like couldn't pay us, they came to the rescue and have got us settled for the rest of this season and next year as well, thank god, i was seriously beginning to wonder where in the world i would be next week, but no need to worry now because were no longer on strike so we trained yesterday and get paid today! anyway, we've got some tickets to sell for our game this afternoon so i must be on my way, miss and love you all who are reading this! be in touch soon :)

PTK

p.s. pictures to come soon on facebook!
 

 i've totally been neglecting my blogging responsibilities!!! okay so here is the good stuff from the past few weeks:

(chronological order of course :D)

- went to helsingborg with erla and jenny where i went to my first swedish concert, the sounds and the arc played, they were awesome, the company was awesome, it was an awesome weekend :)

- it was great to have training again, its tough but great, and so nice to have all my kdff girls back, esp the family . .  well its just kirsty and i for now, but ante will be back next week!

- handboll tourney: it was sooooooo fun esp with all the girls, bad part was the stupid weather, it rained the ENTIRE day, but the night was amazing so it made up for it!

- and currently, i'm in PARIS!!!!!!! i saw the eiffel tower yesterday and it literally took my breath away, cheesy as anything i know but its true.  today going UP the eiffel and the arc de triomph . . . the louvre and musee d'orsay are free on the first sunday of each month so i think i wanna try to get there as well. 

anyway, better get going if i'd like to get all this done haha! i'll blog tomorrow pinky swear :D

PTK