Although the US is now out of World Cup contention there is much soccer yet to be played. It is so rare for the entire team to be in the same place at the same time that every opportunity will be taken to get time on the ball. This morning the US faced Germany in an officiated international friendly. Looking relaxed and confident, the US cruised to a 5-1 victory with Nicolai scoring twice, the second a very pretty header off a perfect cross from team mate Noah Grove, the youngest member of the squad. Rather than shooting photos today, I manned the video camera and have a new appreciation for the fine work done by Maya and Kyle over the past week. It is extremely hard to follow the action with the camera if you are trying to actually watch the game. I shot the second half in 4K video and the results are stunning. I will post all games on the blog when we return from Mexico where internet service at our hotel is ridiculously intermittent.

After lunch Kyle and I ventured out to find a barber shop. His beard needed a trim and I needed a hair cut. Even though the prices here are one quarter the going rate in the states, it irritates me that Kyle’s trim cost one third of my haircut even though he had three times as much hair removed.

Nico organized a keeper’s practice at the main stadium late in the afternoon. I drove the guys over and assisted with the training which was interrupted every five minutes for photographs with Mexican fans who are so soccer crazy that they will intently watch practices for hours. I decided to use this to our advantage and recruited some of the younger fans to shag balls for us.