Pics

Here are a few of the tournament pictures.

All tournament games were played here at The High School of Glasgow:



Game action:






This picture was taken together with the Aston Villa team after the finals:

Final vs. Aston Villa

The final was a tremendous match against the local Aston Villa development team. Unfortunately, RMBU fell short by a score of 2-0. RMBU had numerous chances to score but just couldn't find the back of the net. Aston Villa scored two high quality goals which proved to be enough for the win.

We are all so proud of the boys for their performance, competitiveness and conduct. It has been a tremendous experience for everyone and it will be something they carry with them for the rest of their lives. Despite the loss today, the boys were pleased to have accomplished a second place finish.

The group is having a celebratory dinner tonight and then we'll scatter throughout Europe on our separate family vacations. The Ng family is off to Holland tomorrow to get in touch with the Mathot roots. There'll be one more blog post with some pictures of the tournament action and then that will be it for me.

Thanks again to all you for supporting this trip. It has truly been a once in a lifetime experience that Andy will never forget.

Games 3 & 4

The boys have continued their remarkable run with 2 more victories on Saturday. A 2-0 win against Clydebank and a 6-0 victory against Vale of Clyde. That sets up Sunday's game against Aston Villa for the Tournament championship. Aston Villa has won all 4 of their games up to this point so RMBU needs nothing less than a victory to take the title. A tie is not good enough.

The weather has been near perfect for the first 3 days of the tournament but it couldn't hold for one more day. It's a wet and dreary day today but spirits remain high. The wet weather won't be factor for our boys as it's just like home.

Andy re-aggravated his injury in Saturday's first game and didn't play at all in the second game. He's feeling good this morning and will give it his best shot for the final.

Off we go.

We Are So Close

Post from Andy:

Well I can only use so many words to describe how amazing this trip has been. Unfortunately I can’t use priceless. The team has not lost one game so far out of the 6 we have played. Unfortunately we tied our first tournament game which didn’t give us the best start. But we caught up. We have 10 points which puts us at second place. If we beat Aston Villa ( the first place team ) we win the tournament we worked so hard and long for. I keep imagining what that would feel like, holding the first place trophy with the rest of the team…

Unfortunately I am suffering from a lower back injury. I don’t exactly know what happened or what happened to my hip. All I know is that the day day before our first game it felt like a muscle in my hip started twisting a little bit. It is slowing me down and I am getting to know the sideling very well.

We play our final game tomorow morning for first place which means we would have 13 points and Villa will have 12.

I am having an amzing time here and I hope everything is fine back at home.

Andy Ng #9

Game #2 - vs. Helensburgh

Blowout city. RMBU was dominant against a smaller and younger Helensburgh team. Final score was 6-0. A fun game for the boys to play at this point in the tournament and in the trip. The team sits in second place at the moment with 3 more games to play. Two tough games are on the schedule for today. If the team can win both games today, the last game on Sunday against Aston Villa will likely determine the tournament champion.

Andy played a pretty good game today. His injury flared up again as he swung his leg to take a corner kick. The good news was that his friend, Zach, scored off of the kick but the bad news was that Andy came off immediately after that and was in a lot of discomfort. Andy is able to walk and get around ok, but when he exerts himself (strong kick, jumping and twisting) the pain starts up. He'll get some more treatment today and will hopefully be able to contribute in today's games.

Technical difficulties are keeping me from getting more pictures up here but I'm continuing to work on it. Hopefully soon.

Game #1 - vs. Rangers FITC

Game #1 for Richmond MB United was against the host team, the Rangers FITC team. FITC (Football in the Community) is the Rangers developmental and feeder system for their Youth Program, so several of the players on the FITC team will find themselves as part of the Rangers Youth Team this season.

The game started fairly evenly, but it was readily apparent that RMBU was nervous and tentative again to start the match. As the game progressed, our boys gained confidence and authority. While the first half was fairly even, RMBU pretty much dominated the second half. We had 7-8 opportunities on goal but were unable to finish any of them. FITC really did not generate much of anything. The final score was 0-0, but that did not reflect the run of play. RMBU were unfortunate not to win this first game.

Andy's injury is getting better and he played about half the game. He had a glorious chance to score in the second half but he, like the others, was unable to finish his opportunity. Andy was in front of the goal on a corner kick and, as the kick came his way, he was unable to volley his opportunity in to the net. He tried to one-time the ball while it was in the air but had the ball go off of his shin instead of his boot. Tough luck.

So a tie against a Rangers developmental squad is not a terrible result by any means but the team certainly feels unfortunate to not get the win. But they move on. Game #2 is this afternoon against an English squad. I'll try and post some pictures from the game later today. In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures from the past week:

RMBU at Ibrox:


In the Rangers dressing room:


Emily at training:

Two for two

Richmond Mercedes Benz United has wrapped up the friendly portion of the Scotland tour with a 6-2 win over Queen's Park. It sounds like the boys are genuinely surprised at their success and are full of confidence as they head into the Rangers Tournament which starts on Thursday.

Being a group of Canadian kids playing soccer in Scotland, the boys were expecting to have a difficult time with their Scottish opposition. But after the two friendly games, they have proven to themselves and everyone else that they are perfectly capable of playing at this high level. Things may change once the tournament starts, but at this point, they are genuinely chuffed with their performance.

As far as Andy is concerned, he has a slight strain in his lower back. He is able to walk normally but is having trouble running at full speed and kicking with his right leg. He was able to play for 30 minutes in tonight's game, which is certainly positive, after having played only 5 minutes in the previous game. Here's hoping that he continues to get better and that he is closer to 100% by Thursday.

In response to those of you who have asked about Emily, she reports that she is having a grand time. She is hanging out with two other girls who are on the trip and she is also practicing with the team during all of their training sessions. She has also told me that Glasgow has awesome candy shops. So there's that.

I'm off on my nine hour flight tomorrow so my next post will be from Glasgow. Huge thanks to Cuzzin' Carol who has agreed to kill, er, water all of our plants while we're away. Thanks, Carol!

Tuesday's Update

The folks over in Scotland have started to post some stuff on the team's website: www.richmondunitedfc.com. Check it out.

It looks like Andy injured his lower back/hip in training on Saturday. He was only able to play for about 5 minutes in Sunday's game. But by all accounts, he was excellent for those 5 minutes!

The team is touring the Scottish national stadium, Hampden, this afternoon and will be playing a friendly against Queen's Park tonight at Lesser Hampden.



Lesser Hampden is the field to the left of the main stadium.

I hope to talk with the family after tonight's game so I'll be able to update everyone then. Let's hope Andy's injury is not too serious and that he can play for more than 5 minutes.

Friendly #1 vs. Stenhousemuir FC

Richmond MB United FC (that's Richmond Mercedes-Benz United Football Club) played their first Scottish match Sunday afternoon against Stenhousemuir FC. Stenhousemuir is a town located 45 minutes northeast of Glasgow. I'm sure everyone was a bit nervous at the thought of their first European game and no one was too sure as to how well the boys would play. But everyone was sure that the boys would look terrific in their new RMBU uniforms and track suits (pictures will be posted once I get there on Thursday).

Below is a game report posted by one of the parents with the group. Holy cow they won, 3-0. I'm trying to get more information on the "Andy Ng has provided excellent support to Mitchell despite playing with his previous days training injury" part but am having trouble getting a hold of the Scotland contingent. Having too much fun, I guess (I hope).

Next match is a second friendly against Queen's Park which is 15 minutes south of Glasgow. Then the tournament gets going on Thursday. Here's the game report:

Team introductions and the customary exchange of Team Banners occurred at Mid Field before a balanced crowd of over 200, in the Grand Old Stadium at Stenhousemuir.

2:05 pm Opening kick taken by RMBU, the kick is too soft and intercepted by SHM

2:10 pm Sustained pressure by SHM, but they are unable to penetrate the 18 yd box, and no shots yet

2:15 pm RMBU looking a little disorganized, bending but not breaking. Cole Metcalfe and Max Tagesen are holding the line

2:20 pm RMBU have settled down, the nerves are gone and they are starting to take the game to SHM

2:25 pm SHM are still a little quicker to the ball, but RMBU close down quick and prevent any threats from occuring. RMBU are even faster to counter, their passing accuracy is a little off, but are showing they can be a threat when their timing gets better. If one of those passes can get to Glen Kirkland, he has the space to make his trade mark run down line.

2:30 pm A couple minor scares as Jason Roberts is called to step up, with Jessie Levinkind and Conor McFadyen cleaning up the scraps.

2:35 pm The RMBU players have stepped up to the physical side of the game, this was a concern of the coaches going into the game but they must be pleased with how their boys have held their ground. Jordan Demello is definately putting his hockey training to use. The SHM players are showing how quick they are on the ball, their rust is their only weakness, after a few weeks training, they will be a different team than we are seeing this afternoon.

2:40 pm Theo Lorenz puts away a cracking shot from 30 yards out, into the top right hand corner, the keeper makes a valient effort but really doesn’t have a chance, I doubt Petr Cech would get that one.

2:45 pm Brad Kirkland has to be pleased going into the dressing room up by one, it would be interesting to hear his half time talk.

2:55 pm The RMBU boys have a swagger to their walk back to the bench, the talk must have done its job

3:00 pm So much for the talk, it would appear that the SHM coach talked a little louder, RMBU look lost on the field. Jason Roberts is called to action a couple times, I am sure the RMBU staff is concerned now. Evan Dhaliwal is settling down the midfield, getting the boys to focus on their game. Matt Young has called for a substitution, it looks like injuries will prevent him from finishing on the field.

3:05 pm Wow, the RMBU team not only held off the pressure, but have given themselves some breathing room. Andrew Lipton makes a brilliant run, at times it looks like he will lose the ball but his tenacity doesn’t prevent him from his task, the keeper makes a last man challenge, touching the ball, but not controlling it, Andrew finishes the job by bringing the ball under control and walks it across the line unchallenged. You can see the relief on the coaches faces, standing taller at their bench

3:10 pm RMBU are playing more comfortably now, a 2 goal lead has given them confidence. It helps that SHM have to open up a bit more in an effort to get back into the game. Zachary Pang adds to his injury woes with a gallant effort blocking a sure goal if it got through. Fraser Kirkland is playing bigger than his size, showing some of the older boys how to penetrate the opposition

3:15 pm RMBU are passing better, as well as playing more physical, the officials have called a great game, very fair. SHM have the offside trap down pat, catching RMBU unaware and taking away threat after threat. If Mitchell Jesson gets one of those onside, he will be sure to get his name on the score sheet. Andy Ng has provided excellent support to Mitchell despite playing with his previous days training injury.

3:20 pm The game is going back and forth now, really opened up with both teams taking chances. The RMBU bench is looking thin, with a couple injuries this could be a long trip if any are serious. It looks like Andrew Lipton is trying to emmulate Theo with a long range shot of his own, catching the cross bar with his effort.

3:25 pm Well it looks like the game is put away now, Andrew Lipton figures it out on his second attempt from 20 yards out, I think the coaching staff is back breathing, the St Andrews Ambulance service is no longer required

3:30 pm The game has become accademic, RMBU will be pleased to get inside without any further injuries

3:35 pm The final whistle, a great start to the tour, the lads have done Canada proud.

How do I do this?

Oh gawd! Have I really started a blog? Looks like it.

Welcome. I'm going to try and do this in order to update everyone on the progress of Andy's trip to Scotland for the Glasgow Rangers International Youth Tournament. This was the best way I could think of to keep you updated on the trip and the tournament without carpet-bombing everyone's Inboxes. So come back as often as you like, whenever you like. Or don't. Whatever.

The team left YVR on Wednesday the 15th. An impressive-looking group:


And the Paparazzi were out in full force, as well:



Thanks, again, for your contributions and support that helped to make this trip a reality. After a year-and-a-half of planning and fundraising, it was wonderful to see the boys at the airport and on their way.

The team arrived in Glasgow on Thursday morning, checked in to the hotel, and immediately went shopping for soccer stuff. They had a light practice in the afternoon, had dinner, and then crashed. Andy tells me they were up for 26 hours straight. So everyone slept well on the first night.

Friday morning was another training session followed by an afternoon tour of the Rangers home stadium, Ibrox:


Ibrox seats 51,000 and is one of the most famous football stadiums in all of Europe. The group got to see the Rangers museum, trophy room, dressing rooms and training facilities. I'm told the highlight was when the team got to run down the players tunnel and onto the field. Andy said they got to touch the grass.

I didn't hear from my family until Saturday. It took Dana that long to figure out how to use the calling card she bought. And she was too cheap to pay for 20 minutes at an Internet terminal. However, all is well, they're having a great time and they're looking forward to their first friendly match on Sunday in Stenhousemuir.