After an intersquad game (blues versus white) at the stadium, and a beautiful evening at a suave outdoor patio on the Bosphorus River, we were ready for a championship day.
Today we had a match against the host team, Bogaziçi University, who we beat 4-0. Goals were scored by Christina, Mary Anne, Erica, and Juliana. We advanced to the final match, facing Belgium once again. We had a pretty good crowd out with a few different countries supporting us. Our biggest fans were our tour guides.
Our performance peaked in the final match and we played especially well in the first half. Mel scored 2 goals, one of which was an incredible diving header. Juliana added one more goal in the second half to top it off at 3-0 for the gold medal. A tournament victory was a great way to end off this busy week.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this week happen - especially our coaches, Bonnie and Eva, who came to Istanbul with us. Our tour guides Can (pronounced John), Ayden, and Gani were amazing and helped us out with everything. I don’t think any other country had tour guides that worked as hard as them.
Tonight we are going out to celebrate as a team and tomorrow we break off into smaller groups, with the majority of us staying to explore and travel in different parts of Europe. I will be heading off to Greece to explore the islands.
I’ve given you a little taste of Turkey and an inside look at our team. Hope you’ve enjoyed the adventure!
Until next time,
Hosçakal!
-Jenn
