The MOST exciting game was not Chelsea or Germany, not even Nederlands or Canada and it wasn’t even the Whitecaps. It was my two sons first games of the season.  They played so much better than last year and improved beyond my expectations.
    Ryley’s passes were good and strong just like his checks.  He ran back for defense and pushed ahead for attacking.  He always seemed to be in the right spot but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t score.  He did stop a lot of goals from the other team.  He saved so many  my wife said he had a “shutout”.  (I missed his goaltending half. A casualty from having four kids, you can’t be everywhere at once.)
    Our other son Noam was playing for the first time in the league after playing for a couple of years in the YMCA league.  The YMCA is a good fun intro to soccer that usually runs in the spring.  We didn’t realize for starters, just how much he had grown.  Noam was almost a head taller than the other kids his age.  It may have even worked to his advantage.  In net it was obvious how size helped but I never thought other kids would be scared to go and check him lest he should knock them over.  He is usually quite aggressive but this thankfully was subdued when checking other kids.  I think he was worried about squashing them underfoot. He he.