Thursday: Marco and Lars Go to the Round of 8

Well, after losing three straight games in a row in the first half of the week, Marin FC's luck has changed. They continued their single elimination playoff schedule and played two games today, winning both! The first game was against another Swedish team (Gunnilse IS), and Marin FC scored its two goals in the first half, Marco assisting on one. Both teams also picked up yellow cards in this match, which was rougher than the evening game. The Lions Girls came out to the Kviberg fields to cheer on their fellow Lions. Here are a few pictures from the first match:

The team was really excited to stay alive in the tournament, and Phil herded them back to the school to get lunch and prepare for their evening game, so I didn't get a chance to check in with the boys before they were booking for the bus.

The second game was also against a Swedish team (Kärra KIF), who were not quite as strong as Gunnisle IS. Marin scored its lone goal right away in the first half--about three minutes into the match--and though they took plenty of shots on goal (upwards of 10), they didn't score again. At the end of the game, after shaking hands with the Kärra KIF players, the boys, who seemed somewhat incredulous, collapsed to the ground:

Then they posed for a few photos:

The Marin FC girls' team came to support the boys' Marin FC team for this second game, and they made up a fangirl cheer:

After the game, the cheering group mobbed Lars:

And, a few of our Lions Boys, who graciously posed for me even though they have to get up at 5:50, as Marco informed me, to get to their next game tomorrow at 8:00.

Good night, and Go Lions!

--tj