After four days in country, the US team was excited to take the pitch for their first match, facing a strong team from Kenya.  Nicolai got things off to a good start with a goal about ten minutes in.

Unfortunately, Kenya was able to equalize and then pull ahead with a second goal.  With less than a minute left in the game, Nicolai received a nice pass which he trapped from his knee to his head and then flicked over his defender to set up a shot directly in front of the keeper.  As the photo below illustrates, his defender used his arm and crutch to hold Nicolai preventing him from turning to kick the ball.  The referee’s failure to award a penalty kick for this clear infraction was a game-changer that would cost the US dearly.

Earlier in the day I went for a four-mile walk along the river which flows through the city.  I encountered a great number of herons and a flock of parakeets which were too far away to photograph well.  

Later I did a little street photography focusing on two of my favorite subjects, families on motorcycles and kids.