Semi-Finals

Last night, was a rough night for me. I woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach and rushed to the bathroom to be sick. It is no fun being sick, but particularly when you are in a hotel room. Fortunately that seemed to make things better, but 7am came very quickly as you can imagine.

Once again, we had training albeit with a much smaller group. Some of the referees were already heading home. We said our goodbyes to those who were leaving. On the training agenda today….aerobics, always a crowd favorite. Let me tell you, the referee group is not the most coordinated group so aerobics is always a good laugh. Today did not disappoint. I just wish I had my camera! After aerobics, those of us who have a game tomorrow did a brief speed workout (typical -1 match preparation).

We returned to the hotel around 11am. I went straight for a massage and then caught a little shut eye before lunch. After lunch I had a couple of hours to catch up on emails and pack my bags. At 5pm, we were once again heading off to the airport. Many of the departing referees were also going to the airport at the same time so instead of being transported in a van, we all went together in a bus. There were even some referees who were staying in Santiago that joined us for a trip to the airport. It was a great show of support from our fellow referees. After the 30 minute trip to the airport, we bid our friends farewell and headed off to Temuco.

We arrived in the hotel in Temuco at 9:30pm. After dropping our bags off in the room, we headed down to the restaurant for dinner. Once again, our choices for dinner were: fish, chicken or beef. You may think I am kidding, but I'm not. Although I think the chicken from the night before had made me sick, I chose the chicken. The meal arrived with a plain piece of chicken and white rice. This is a no frills hotel - just my style after the prior night. :)

It's Thursday morning and our team is gearing up for another big match. We are ready! We started the day with breakfast at 9am and a pregame meeting at 10am. We will be leaving the hotel at 2pm (just 2 hours away). We are hoping for the best, but preparing for everything.