By Dale Haines (lmscdale@gmail.com)
LMSC staff coach and head coach of the U10 Swarm boys team

Contributor: Anthony Haines (anthonyhaines17@gmail.com)
Long time LMSC club and former travel team player with the LMSC Magic. Currently playing at 1776 United FC.



Prelude
I visited Brazil 4 years ago when my son Anthony went on a YSC-sponsored trip to Fluminense Academy in Xerém outside of Rio de Janeiro (Rio) to train for a week and to experience the Brazilian soccer culture. While Anthony stayed at the Academy, I traveled around Rio and the surrounding area. I really fell in love with the country, city and culture, and set my sights on going back for the 2014 World Cup. I applied for 2 venue specific tickets (5 games at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro). The chance of winning the right to buy such tickets was only about 5%, but as any coach will tell you, if don't shoot, you won't score.

I got a call from my wife sometime at the end of October saying that our credit card was denied. After checking into this situation further, the card was taken off line due to a suspected fraudulent charge from a vendor named FIFA in Switzerland. I immediately called and said that this charge was valid and should be processed. Luckily, we caught this immediately after the first charge was denied so the second charge 12 hours later went through. I heard that this happened to many customers and in those cases where FIFA was unable to put through a charge request two times in a 24 hour period, the application was denied. A suggestion for those that will apply for World Cup lottery tickets in the future: call your credit card company ahead of time and alert them of a possible charge that may come down the line!

It did take another week or so before I received email notification from FIFA that my application was successful. The total cost of my category 2 tickets for 5 games (2 per game) was $1,350. Initially only my son and I were going to go but hearing of my success, my wife and two daughters suddenly developed a strong interest in soccer (or going to Rio for a good party?) and I was now looking at a vacation for five. I quickly booked airline tickets for $1,600 each and started looking for a place to stay. No hotels were available as they were all running their own stay and game packages and 1 bedroom places in the Rio hotspots (Leblon, Ipanema) were running about $15,000 for 2 weeks. In the end, I was able to find a large 2 bedroom apartment in Flamengo (a family oriented neighborhood right off the bay) for $3500. This was all done on-line through vacationrentals.com and of course depended on a good bit of trust with the person that I would be renting from.

When you apply for tickets in the Summer and even win tickets in the Fall, the brackets and where teams will play have yet to be determined. The teams and brackets were chosen early in December and I was paying close attention to this. While I was disappointed that the US did not get a game in Rio, I was thrilled with the games that would be seeing: Argentina-Bosnia, Spain-Chile, France-Ecuador, Belgium-Russia, and a round of 16 game.

Day 1
We left Philadelphia at 6:40 pm on June 14th and arrived in Rio the next day at 8:50 AM. We were lucky to have smooth flights and only a modest line getting through immigration. We then took a cab to our place (I speak no Portuguese and learned from a past mistake in Rio to write down addresses so that cab drivers can read them directly without trying to interpret my pronunciation) and met our landlord. She spoke very good English was a very nice and warm person. The street and building (minus a few graffiti markings) were charming and the apartment was great. Low on the modern amenities, but very spacious inside and with a lot of character. Our landlord graciously showed us around the neighborhood including the metro (and how to purchase the very important metro card), bank, grocery store and good restaurants. The neighborhood was very nice and reminded me of Europe in terms of its architecture and squares. We then went off to lunch to enjoy some steak, Brazilian style. A good steak meal and a few drinks in this part of town is about 50% of what one would pay in Philadelphia. We then ventured to Flamengo Beach near our house and within a few minutes Anthony found a pick-up soccer game that he enjoyed for an hour or so. The weather was warm in the mid 70's to low 80's. However, it did get dark around 5:30 pm as it is winter in Brazil. We were then off to the Argentina-Bosnia game. We took the metro to Maracanã stadium, which was packed with boisterous Argentina fans. The walk from the metro to the stadium was peppered with many security points where the police checked to see that each person had legitimate tickets. We found our way to the stadium and our seats easily and were there in plenty of time to catch warm-ups, including Lionel taking some shooting practice. It was a fantastic game and seeing Messi score the winning goal right in front of us was and unforgettable moment. Argentina won the contest 2-1.

The game ended around 9 PM. Finding our way home that night after the game ended was a bit more complicated than arriving at the game. First, we had troubles finding the metro stop and at some point were off on a side street with more prostitutes than soccer fans. We eventually found the metro stop and starting making our way home. The second problem is that I assumed the metro stop that was closest to our place and shown to us by our landlord was the Flamengo stop. It wasn't, it was the one north of it. We got off at the Flamengo stop and as soon as we got above ground, I knew that something was not right. No one that we asked spoke English or had any clues of where our address was located. For some reason, my Google maps on iPhone was not working so we had no idea how to get back to the apartment. In the end, we just hailed a cab, showed him the address, and got home quickly. In the end, it only cost us $5 in a cab ride but wandering around in Rio at 11 pm is not a comfortable feeling.

Day 2
We woke up late after a busy first day and decided to venture down to the FIFA Fan Fest at Copacabana beach. It was very easy to get there by metro. We walked around Copacabana beach area in the afternoon then headed in to Fan Fest, an oversized open air venue, to watch the end of the Iran-Nigeria game. It wasn't terribly crowded at the time but after this game ended, fans started piling in to watch the USA-Ghana game. The Fan Fest is a really unique environment that FIFA has set up in 12 host cities in Brazil I would equate it to the Preakness stakes: a lot of beer and crazed fans, with very little security. Throw in a Michael Jackson cover band, zip-lines, and Foosball stations and you have a varsity party zone. Fifteen minutes prior to the start game time, the entertainment swung over to the DJ for some Bruce Springsteen, Guns and Roses and Nirvana. The packed house was certainly fired up for the US National Anthem and Dempsey did not disappoint with an early goal. We sweat it out the rest of the time, but the last minute header by Brooks was fantastic and all Americans celebrated! We left there around 9 PM, took the metro back to our correct stop (fast learners), and celebrated with a delicious traditional Brazilian steak meal.

Day 3
We did some business in the morning and then headed down to the beaches. At this point in time, it had only been Anthony and myself. My wife and two daughters would arrive in two days and we wanted to check out the beach scene. Copacabana was attracting the Brazilian and Mexican fans for the game later that day, and the southern beaches of Ipanema and Leblon were very nice. Also, we purchased some very good imitation jerseys from a street vender at Copacabana beach. I got a Brazil Neymar Jr. jersey, and Anthony an Eto'o Cameroon jersey for about $20 each. We also caught the end of the very exciting Belgium-Algeria game at a small food/drink stand off the beach. We then went back to catch the Brazil vs. Mexico game at a local spot in Flamengo. This was a 4 PM game and I think the whole country stopped working at noon that day. Every place that we walked by was packed, and horns and firecrackers could be consistently heard from start to finish. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, but it was a very exciting game to watch with the Brazilians.

As you will see from the previous picture, F-FIFA graffiti was apparent throughout the city. Many Brazilians opposed hosting the World Cup as the country spent billions in stadiums and other World Cup-related activities, yet there are millions of people in the country that live in poverty, without access to decent housing, food, health care and education. Although we did not see unrest while going to our first game, there were reports of protestors and clashes between them and riot police.

Day 4 (by Anthony)
Today started off a little slow. We decided to not do anything until we met up with a friend who we met on the flight to Rio in the afternoon to go to the 4 pm Chile-Spain game. He texted us saying he took a cab (from what we can decipher, he is afraid to take the metro) and would be running late. He was stuck in traffic and told us to catch the metro without him, so we did just that. We thought we had mastered the metro system, and for the most part we had, but apparently we didn't transfer to the other line and instead went past the spot the metro that would normally turn on its way to Maracanã. Luckily, we met a group of Chileans on the way to the game as well who spoke English well enough to show us how to get there through this alternative route. So we got off at the same metro stop as they did, and walked with them on the way to the stadium. There were large crowds outside the stadium and it took about 30 minutes to get through very tight security.

Once we were inside the stadium at our seats, there were about 45 minutes left until the start of the game and we got to see some of the warm-ups     Additional Picture. The Chileans were piling in, and it was clear that they had the majority over the Spaniards . We later learned that about 200 of them without tickets had crashed a gait to get in and many were successful in evading security once inside. This explained while so many Chilean fans were packing the isles around us rather than being in their seats. The atmosphere inside the stadium was just as loud and exciting as the Argentina game. It was a thrilling 2-0 win for Chile, and the defending champions were done in their hopes to make it on to the round of 16. The way back home was extremely smooth. No problems to report there. The last part of the night was, of course, dinner. So there are three major food places around us, and for the first two, we got the exact same thing, so we wanted to get the same thing at the last one to compare them all. We thought that when it said an order for two for both of the first restaurants, it was actually an order of two. However, at those restaurants, they knew that an order of two was actually way too big for just us two, so they downsized it to an order of one. At this restaurant, the waiter stuck to the order of two, and we walked home with about 7 steaks and a bunch of fries and rice. Tip: buy the minimum amount of food first, it's usually bigger than you think, and you can always get more.

Day 5
Today was the first day it rained; and boy it did, all day, in buckets. The rest of the crew (wife and two daughters) arrived around 11 am. It was difficult to get motivated to do anything, and with their jet lag, we just hung around the apartment and watched games. We went out for dinner and then went to bed early.

Day 6
We went on one of three tours today, this one to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain. The tour started at 9 AM on Copacabana beach, and pick-up soccer games were already in full swing. Going to the top of Sugar Loaf is a must-see for anyone traveling to Rio. Two tram rides take you to the top of the mountain, which gives beautiful views of the entire city. This picture looks towards Copacabana beach, and if you look close, you can see the Fan Fest zone. This picture looks at the Christ statue while this picture looks at the bay side. We ended the day on a sidewalk café on Copacabana beach right outside of Fan Fest eating dinner.

Day 7
Today started with a visit to the market at the Uruguaiara metro stop. This is a huge market that encompasses several city blocks near the town center. Vendors sell a variety of things, from watches, jewelry, and electronics to, of course, World Cup gear and various Brazilian team merchandise. It is cheap and tough to tell what is authentic or not, but the whole family picked up Brazil jerseys from $15-20. We also picked up gifts here for friends and grabbed some Brazilian empanadas and pastries for lunch. I would definitely recommend hitting this market if you are ever in Rio, especially if you want to pick up souvenirs and gifts. We then took a walk around downtown Rio, which has a number of very beautiful European style buildings and churches. This picture shows Candelária church.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on Flamengo beach. This is a short two block walk from our apartment and has beautiful views of the bay with a military fort in the background, Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ statue.     Additional Picture.

Day 8
Big soccer day! The family is going to the Belgium-Russia match at Maracanã and all of us are going to watch the important USA-Portugal match at Fan Fest on Copacabana beach. As I mentioned in the prelude, I bought two tickets for five games. My wife and daughters wanted to go to at least one match, so during the spring I investigated purchasing extra tickets for one of our games. As you can imagine, prices were fairly outrageous, easily 10 times greater than face value. The other issue is that FIFA discourages second-hand selling of tickets. Each ticket has your name printed on them. Also, they say that you should bring ID to the games, but it hard to imagine that they would be checking ID's of over 75,000 soccer-crazed fans on their way in to Maracanã. I found 2 tickets on Craigslist- Philadelphia and met the seller at Fado's in center city for the exchange before we left for Brazil. He charged $570 for the pair (2 times face value). I knew that the tickets would be in different names, but was not aware that he was selling them second hand. Thus, my wife and daughter will be using tickets with the name Michael Taylor and Gregory Reiss, respectively, both from Grand Rapids Michigan. My son was going to use his ticket while my other daughter was going to use the ticket in my name. At least at the games we attended so far, I saw no evidence that they were checking IDs. I was however a bit worried about them being third hand tickets.

Luckily, things were fine. I received a text from my wife about an hour after they left the apartment that everyone was able to get in. I will let Anthony take it from here with some details and pictures about the Belgium-Russia match.

(Anthony) We left for the game around 10:30 AM. The subway ride was smooth and quiet because we got a car without any Belgian fans. Everything was fine with tickets and we got in with about an hour and a half before the start of the game. The Belgian fans far outnumbered the Russians, but it was not even one-quarter as loud as the Chile or Argentina games. Sadly, warm-ups were the most interesting part of the game until the 85th minute or so. I got some good shots of Vincent Kompany , who is widely considered one of the best center backs. After the national anthems, the game started and I could instantly tell it was going to be a slow one. It was a slow, short passing game with very few quick breaks and shots on goals. The crowd was bored, and at one point on the screen, it showed a Colombian fan sleeping in the stands. In the 85th minute, Hazard made a nice run and crossed it to Origi for a smooth finish. By this point, the crowd was just ecstatic that something actually happened. The next 8 minutes or so were the most interesting of the game with Russia attacking fiercely to get the tying goal. The Russians did not prevail, and the Belgians took home an unconvincing 1-0 victory, making them not seem like the powerhouse they were thought to be.

After the game, we ate quickly (Subway sandwiches), and headed down to the Fan Fest on Copacabana beach to watch the USA-Portugal match. We were later in arriving than the previous time. It took a long time to pile in with the masses. The USA representation was strong and we watched a thrilling, but in the end very disappointing 2-2 draw as Portugal was able to score a header in the last seconds on a cross from Ronaldo. It was the first time my sisters watched a game at Fan Fest and they were also caught up in the excitement of the game.

Day 9
I woke up under the weather and unfortunately did not feel well enough to go on our second tour. The family went and had a blast. Anthony takes over from here…… We arrived at Copacabana Palace (the meeting place for the tour) via the metro with about 20 minutes to spare, and the excitement in the town was apparent even at 9 AM for the Brazil- Cameroon game. First thing on the tour was the Christ statue. Our tour guide took a very windy road, and our driver went very fast. He was probably the best driver I've ever been with in a car and he got us everywhere safely. Usually you can trust the drivers here, they may go fast, but they are careful and precise. On the way up the steps towards the statue, we saw monkeys and really nice views. Once we got to the top, the statue and the views were eveng more impressive. I would suggest everyone to go and see the statue and views if you ever happen to stay in Rio, it's truly amazing.

We then went down some more windy and thin roads on the way to the artistic neighborhood of Santa Teresa. We went to the mosaic steps created by Chilean artist Jorge Selarón. They were amazing, colorful, artistic, and detail-oriented. There were some vendors on the side selling jewelry and other hand-made stuff.

After the steps, we went to a Kilo for lunch. It is essentially a buffet, but at the end they weigh the food on your plate and keep tabs for drink and dessert. There is a extremely wide variety of foods and I would suggest going to one of these. Our tour guide said to go for lunch, however, because by dinner the food isn't completely fresh anymore. This was a really good lunch and was very filling.

Next we were on our way to the Favela of Santa Maria, which really stole the show of the tour. As soon as we got there, we saw a somewhat beaten up turf field where kids were playing. As we walked down the steps (that was the plan, start from the top, and walk down all the steps to the bottom) by the field, the kids invited us to play a game. It turned out to be a full-out intense match, probably 8 per side, the "Gringos" vs the Natives. We probably played for at least 40 minutes, and it was amazing. The kids ages varied, most of them 8-10 but a couple 16 year olds and our tour guide for the Favela who was probably around 30. Our side consisted of me (16) and probably everyone else was at least 25+. Our outstanding keeper was at least 6'2, and he helped seal our 5-1 victory. These kids were all so passionate and intense about the game and everyone went hard, even though one guy on my team should've taken it a little easier as he probably decked five kids… At the end, we all (with a few of the residents missing) took a group picture. This, for me, was the most amazing part of the day. The way everyone can unite over one sport, no matter of race, age, or class, is just amazing. After the game we started the scheduled tour of the Favela. The Santa Marta Favela was nicer than you would think. Everyone lives together with their families, with each generation on a level built above the next. The outsides of the houses may not have looked the best, but the insides were nice, with TV's, cable, and fresh water (Note: some of the kids also had iPhone's, not sure if they were their parents or actually theirs, but it still shows poverty in these places is not as exaggerated as it seems). The government basically cleaned up the favelas and installed several modern conveniences: an elevator where workers travel from the top of the mountain to the bottom or vice-versa, concrete steps as opposed to the previously used wooden ones, new houses, railings to protect people from falling through cracks, clean water, cable, and police who cleared out the entire community of drug lords. It's actually not a bad place to live, and for these people, it's very nice and great to stay in one community with family and friends. As we walked down the stairs of the favela community, the houses became nicer and nicer as those houses are more expensive because they are closer to the city (a myth is that the people in the favela actually want to get away from the city, when they actually want to be close to it to travel easily to and from work). Finally, on the bottom, it was very nice with bars, barbershops, a nice square, colorful buildings, and some food stands. The view to the top of the Santa Marta favela is fantastic, and after traversing through the heart of it, it makes you really appreciate the infrastructure and community. This was one of the greatest parts of the trip for me so far, and if you come down here, I would highly suggest take a favela tour. The people inside are very warm and welcoming, and is not a scary place at all.

After the favela tour, we just came home. The girls went out for the first hour of so for the Brazil-Cameroon game while my dad and I just stayed home. It was a good 4-1 victory for Brazil, which clinched them first in their group. After every goal, and at the end of the game, fireworks and horns and loud sounds just erupted throughout all of Rio. After the game, we just relaxed for the rest of the night.

Day 10
It was a beach day…not your typical beach day from a Philadelphia perspective. First, we packed our beach gear around 10:30 AM and took the metro to Ipanema (about a 20 minute ride). It is then a 3 block walk from the metro to Ipanema beach. Upon arrival, you find the closest distributor of beach chairs, which in our case was run by Sol, and he sets you up from his tent not only with beach chairs, but and a tab for the day for all drinks, including water, coconuts, beer, and caprihinas. After that, it is rest and relaxation. The views were spectacular, the surf was great for some body surfing, and the water was clear and warm (low 70's). No menacing Jersey life guards, so everyone could spread out in the water and plenty of merchandise and drinks were available for those relaxing on the beach. I am not a beach fan normally, but this was absolutely superb. After a great day at the beach, it was back to Flamengo for an excellent family dinner. The only soccer news to note is that while we were at the beach, Anthony was able to walk up to the street-side spot and watch the Uruguay-Italy game.

Day 11
We went back to spend more time at Santa Teresa in the morning. It is a difficult to get there via the metro so we took a cab there, which costs only about $6. This community of Rio is built on a mountain and you can walk from the top to the bottom. The cab dropped us off about half way and we walked around from there. Many of the houses are very colorful and have lots of character. The one side of Santa Teresa has excellent views of the bay. Although we did not eat here, Santa Theresa has some of the better modern restaurants in Rio. We then descended to the famous stairs of Lapa: View looking towards the bottom, View looking towards the top. Beginning in the 1990's a Chilean artist, Jorge Selarón, made it his life work to create mosaic tile art on the steps. He would also exchange already laid ones with tiles brought from world travelers. Our tour guide the previous day told us that he would work on the tiled steps "only until the day of my death." He committed suicide on the stairs in 2013. Santa Theresa is also a must see during a visit to Rio. Besides the steps and restaurants, it also has many murals and beautiful vistas.

We got back in the early afternoon and set off to our last game of group play, France vs Ecuador. France had already clinched first place in their group so they did not have much to play for. Ecuador did, as a win would clinch them second place. Anthony got a picture of one of his favorite players, Pogba, during warm-ups. This picture was taken during the National Anthems while this picture was at the start of the game. France was clearly the better team and controlled the first half, although neither team had any serious scoring chances. Ecuador's Antonio Valencia was given a red card 5 minutes in to the second half and that made it very difficult for Ecuador. They hung on, despite France's numerous scoring chances, but just could only muster 1 or 2 counterattacks. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, and with Switzerland winning the other game in the group, Ecuador was eliminated. Their fans were however loud and boisterous, much more so than the French.

Day 12
Today was the big US-Germany game and we went down to Ipanema to find a good spot to watch the game. I found a Irish sports bar through the internet and when we arrived there at 11 AM, there were already about 50-75 Americans in line to get in. It didn't open until noon so we waited in line. After talking to a few people around us who had been at the place before, it seemed that it may not be the right spot for a family of 5. It was on the small side, and as it turned out, was only selling drinks and no food. We then moved on to more of a street-side café that had a good TV and was serving both food and drinks. We settled there with many new US friends. It wasn't a very good game and the US lost 0-1. However, excitement was still high as we were all following the Ghana-Portugal game as well. A tie or a Portugal win would still send us through and Portugal ended up winning the game 2-1. US fans were thus very happy at the end!

We then went down to the beach for the rest of the day. Anthony found a beach soccer game   (additional picture) and the rest of us relaxed by the water.

Day 13
I had been feeling OK the last few days, but not great. My youngest Camille also wasn't feeling the best so we both took a rest day at home. The other three went to see the botanical gardens, where there were more monkeys than tourists. They ended the day with dinner. Anthony ordered chicken hearts unexpectedly, but he reports they were better tasting than he expected, however gross they were.

Day 14
I was feeling much better today and ready for the last big soccer day in Rio. It is the first day of the knock-out round. Brazil was to play Chile at 1 PM while Anthony and I had tickets to the Columbia-Uruguay game at 5 PM at Maracanã. We watched the first half of the Brazil-Chile game at home before leaving for the game. It was 1-1 when we left and after arriving at Maracanã, the score remained the same. We were able to watch the end of the game on the big screen in the stadium, including the very exciting penalty kicks. Everyone was rooting for Brazil and there was a huge relief and celebration once the last shooter for Chile hit the post. I will certainly be rooting for Brazil the rest of the way (unless of course they play the US in the finals). While I am certainly impressed with their team, I am more impressed with their fans. They live and die for this sport in this country and certainly deserve to enjoy the thrill of watching another World Cup champion. They are such nice and warm people as well.

We then watched warm-ups and stood for the National Anthems and tap off. The Columbian fans were in the majority and fired up. Their team did not disappoint. James Rodriguez scored a beautiful goal right in front of us in the first half and added another in the second. Columbia dominated in all aspects of the match and posted a final 2-0 win. I did feel at home because it was like a Flyers-Rangers match at the Wells Fargo Center. There were a good number of fights that broke out at the end of the game between the two South American fan groups.

Day 15
Today Julia and I went on a hiking tour of Tijuca Forrest and to the top of the highest peak in Rio. Our tour guide picked us up outside our apartment building at 8:15 AM. We then picked up another hiker in Ipanema and then met up with the second tour guide and his group of 4 Canadians in the park. The tour guide gave us a brief 15 minute history on Brazil before we set off on the hike. We hiked through the jungle, by waterfalls, and then starting making the climb to the top of Tijuca peak. The last part goes right up the mountain via a series of stairs that have been cut out of the rock (look at the top left of the mountain). The views at the top overlooking the ocean and entire city of Rio     are superb. We ate our packed lunch at the top, prior to descending to another overlook point. We then hiked backed to the cars, where the tour guides had some cold beers waiting for us. Overall, it was a very enjoyable 5 mile hike that took about 4 hours. It was great to get in some exercise and some fresh air! It was then back home for our last dinner in Rio. I had the traditional and very delicious steak dinner.

Day 16
It is our last day in Rio and it is sad to be leaving. Our flight is not until 8 PM so we went to Ipanema beach for the last time to get in one more swim in the warm ocean. It was then off to the airport and a long trip home….8 hours to Miami, a 4 hr lay-over, then a 2.5 hour flight to Philadelphia. Overall, it was a fantastic trip with great soccer and non-soccer memories and experiences to last a lifetime. If you haven't been to Rio, I would highly recommend it as it has been the best city that I have visited. It offers so many different experiences and even two weeks is not enough time to experience everything. I expect to be back at some point and can't wait until my return!


ENDING SOCCER THOUGHTS
We did get home in time to watch the US-Belgium round of 16 game. It was a thrilling, but very disappointing, 2-1 loss in extra time to an excellent European squad. Based on the overall US performance in this World Cup, many, including in the media, are very optimistic that the US team will be contenders for World Cup glory in the near future. I am very pessimistic that this will be the case. I think US Soccer has a number of problems that will prevent us from being consistent contenders at the highest level for a long time. Sure, we can play some competitive matches in the World Cup, but to be a true and consistent contender requires things that are just not in place for us at this point in time. First, we are still not attracting our best athletes, many from the inner city or poor rural areas, to the sport. The goods news is I think that this is and will continue to improve, especially with parents steering their sons away from the potential health hazards of football. Also, there is no doubt that the interest in watching soccer and the game itself continues to rise in all demographics. However, we are still a long ways away of having the required number of truly exceptional athletes entering the player development pool as soccer players. The even bigger problem in my opinion is the economic engine driving player development in this country; i.e. suburban moms and dads that have very little knowledge and expertise in player development at the highest level. This is ok for developing good high school and even college players, but not those that can compete well at the international level. Clubs and even the developmental academies currently cater to their clients of parents of the many and not to the development of the elite few. Also, exceptional athletes with limited financial means are generally excluded in the US soccer development system. In other parts of the world, it is generally the wealthy professional clubs that are the economic engines of the developmental process, with a focus on finding and developing the elite player regardless of their financial situation. As stated in the prelude, Anthony visited the Developmental Academy of the professional club Fluminense four years ago (this picture shows him celebrating a goal with his teammates at the end of the session tournament comprised of a mix of Fluminense academy and YSC players). This club has developed a number of international players over the years, including Marcelo on the current Brazilian squad. Fluminense sends buses every day into all parts of the city, including to the favelas, to pick-up 1000's of passionate youth soccer players between the ages of 9 and 12 and transport them to their academy for free training. Starting at around age 13, they offer a free full time boarding opportunity for a select few (30-40 players). Players train and compete all year around as well as receive a free education at the Academy. The best of the best of these move on to professional clubs in Brazil or Europe for further development and potential national team selection. This is happening all over Brazil with tens of thousands exceptional athletes and soccer players and numerous professional clubs participating in the process. While the numbers of youth are not nearly as high, this is also happening across Europe. Until we dramatically increase the number of truly superb players in the pipeline and have a similar professionally led developmental system in place (MLS clubs just do not have the resources for this currently), I suspect that our national team will continue to be solid, but not Cup contending, for a long time.

On a much more positive note, my son Anthony has played soccer in the US club system since he was 5 years old, the majority of the time with the LMSC Magic and Coach Mark Weinmann. The skills that he has learned as well as the knowledge and respect for the game allowed him to fit right in with the Brazilians and other foreign travelers in pick-up soccer games in the favelas, hard courts of Flamengo and on the beaches of Ipanema. Despite not being able to communicate with words, players from various countries were able to bond, communicate in a positive and friendly way via the game, and develop a mutual respect for one another and their cultures. Anthony's comment above after playing the game in the Favela "The way everyone can unite over one sport, no matter of race, age, or class, is just amazing" is an indication that our soccer programs have indeed accomplished something very positive at the international level, perhaps even more important in the big picture than a championship or two.