Players Gain Great Experience vs. Men's National Team
CJ PHELPS STARTS AN OFFENSIVE ACTION FOR SCHULZ ACADEMY VS. HONDURAS
Schulz Academy got an invitation to play against the National Team of Honduras on Thursday, January 8 at Florida International University as part of the preparation for the Honduras National Team for the all deciding World Cup Qualifiers later this year.
The game was pretty even in the first 30 minutes but the first goal scoring opportunity for Honduras lead to their lead. 2 corner kicks in a row resulted in a loose ball outside the box, and a solid shot from 20 yards found the back of the net for the 1-0 for Honduras.
Christian Koulouvaris (left) tries to block a cross vs. Honduras in Thursday’s game
Christian Koulouvaris, defender of the U16 Schulz Academy Team: ”What I learned in this game is the fact, that you need to be much closer to your opponent in order to control him. You also need to read plays already much earlier, because if the player is in full speed it’s almost impossible to catch him. But all in all I think we did pretty good against this quality side”.
Michael Channell (left) runs down a forward of the Honduras National Team
Michael Channell: ”Games like this just show you that you have to be 100% fit. One or 2 players getting tired and loosing their positions for one minute, leads to goals. They punish you for every little mistake. But this is how you learn”.
Juan Carlos Lopez (# 25) dribbles his way through 2 Honduras opponents. TJ Merrigan on the left.
“For me as a 15 year old to play against these quality players was a special thing. Although it was very tough sometimes, I enjoyed every single minute of it. And I know I learned a lot, too, which is very important”, says Diego Lopez, one of the youngest players in the U16 Schulz Academy Team.
Michael Channell protects the ball under pressure in the midfield
The Schulz Academy Team fielded in each half a different team, in order to give all the players the chance to take advantage of this excellent opportunity. The score in each half was 3-0 for the Honduras National Team.
“I think the game served both sides. The Honduras National Team faced an opponent where they could work on specific things without being too much under pressure, and for our young players it was a great experience to play against a high quality Men’s National Team” resumes Josef Schulz.
“We knew from the beginning that the score is not that important, because we are talking about one of the favorites for a World Cup spot in 2010 in South Africa. The key was the experience we could gain in this match, and it was tremendous. Against players like this you need to read the play earlier in order to have a chance to have a chance to stay in the game. The players are thinking faster, and therefore the speed of play is much higher than in normal games . But this is what it’s all about for a young player, learning in each practice and especially in matches like this” states JC Phelps, one of the most talented players in the country.
“In games like this players learn more than in other competitive games during the year, because little mistakes are punished immediately. The Honduras players showed extraordinary quality and proved that they are one of the favorites to grab one of the 3 spots in the Qualification Round for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa”, said Dr. Schulz after the game.
